Bobtail Lizards

Bobtails can be up to approx 310mm long from its snout to vent.

Bobtail tracks

Bobtails are low animals to the ground, scraping their bellies along the ground as the walk.

Bobtails have strong jaws and sharp teeth. When they bite they clamp on like a 'bull-dog' clip and unless you relax they will not let go.

The teeth are set on the edges of the jaw bone and are not set in grooved sockets like in mammals. They are not true teeth like our teeth. The reptiles teeth are not used for chewing their food but for holding their food.

This bobtail Tiliqua rugosa rugosa was found on the side of the road at Dryandra Woodlands in the wheatbelt. This is the lower jaw.

Reptiles teeth are all the same i.e. no incisors, canines, premolars and molars. They don't have the longer roots that mammal teeth have, they have a single root attaching the tooth to the jaw so after they die the teeth can fall out quicker.

This bobtail is the subspecies Tiliqua rugosa konowi found on Rottnest Island.

Reptiles don't have a set number of teeth. We have our baby teeth and then our adult teeth and if they fall out that's it for us, reptiles keep replacing their teeth.

(Snakes have fangs).

We have seen them sleep in these small pits. This bobtail on the right was disturbed from snoozing in the sun at Cardup Nature Reserve near Byford Perth in October.

This photograph was taken by Mary Heslan where a bobtail had been sleeping in her yard in Leeming Perth.

This skink produces two live young in summer, occasionally 1 or 3 and rarely 4 are born. Bobtails fend for themselves from birth.

Apparently bobtails don't urinate but they do pass a clear liquid. (Especially when being handled in shopping centre displays).

Go to our Reptiles of Western Australia pages to see a lot more about these reptiles.

Bobtail skin

Bobtails shed or slough their skin in pieces not in one piece like most snakes.