Two-Headed Bobtail

The two-headed bobtail a type of skink native to Australia, also known as the Shingleback was found in Australia. It is now housed at the reptile park in Henley Brook, Perth. It's doing well - despite the fact that two-headed lizards tend to not have very long life expectancies. The lizard not only have two heads, but has a set of forelegs on either side of each head and is even able to eat with both mouths. The major downside of having two heads is that it makes moving around quite difficult, and the larger of the two heads has a tendency to try and attack the smaller head.

The Bobtail lizard is one of the most well known and recognized lizards in Australia. They are one of the larger skinks in Australia and are commonly kept as pets. Bobtails are often known by other names such as shingleback, stumpy tails, pinecone lizard and boggi.

They have a very robust body, a large triangular shaped head, a short, rounded and quite blunt ended tail and their scales are large and wrinkly with a dull gloss. The body colour is usually olive brown to black and has irregular pale bands on the body and tail. The head is often lighter in colour and can have orange flecks on the top and sides. Colours vary from location to location; they are seen in black, caramel, brown and also some stunning red and orange specimens from Western Australia. They can reach a length of 45cm and can live for over 20yrs.

They occur in dry to arid parts of southern Australia, but where there is winter rainfall, and in open forest, hummock grassland, shrublands and coastal dunes. Bobtails are terrestrial, living amongst vegetation and leaf litter, under fallen timber and in animal burrows.

They eat insects, carrion, flowers, fungi and other herbal type vegetation, and also berries and other fruits. Bobtails will quickly open their mouths and show their bright blue tongues when they feel threatened.