Common Five-lined Skink Images

Common Five-lined Skink Images, Facts and Information:

Plestiodon fasciatus

• Common Five-lined Skinks are generally gray, brown, or black, in background color with five white or yellowish stripes, two on each side and one down the center of the back. Young have a bright blue tail while adult males often loose their stripes and develop reddish or orange coloration on the head.
• Common Five-lined Skinks are primarily found in the eastern and central regions of the United States. Their range extends from southern Ontario, Canada, to northern Florida and westward to the eastern edge of the Great Plains. Common Five-lined Skinks prefer habitats such as forests, woodlands, meadows, and rocky areas, where they can find suitable shelter and basking spots.
• These skinks have a varied diet, consisting mainly of small invertebrates such as insects, spiders, and snails. They are also known to consume small vertebrates, including other lizards, small snakes, and occasionally even young birds. Their foraging behavior is active and agile, as they search for prey both on the ground and in trees.
• Common Five-lined Skinks reproduce through a reproductive strategy called oviparity. Females lay clutches of elongated eggs, typically numbering between five and 15, in hidden underground nests during the spring or early summer. The eggs are left to develop and hatch on their own, with the hatchlings emerging in mid to late summer.

I hope you enjoy viewing my Common Five-lined Skink photos.