A Big Skink!

May 3, 2025

A Broadhead Skink (Plestiodon laticeps), trying to blend in with the ledge it is resting on. You might notice that it is shedding its skin, which happens routinely from time to time.

These skinks eat a wide variety of insects, spiders, snails, small rodents and smaller reptiles including young skinks, hunting for meals in trees and on the ground.

They look similar to Five-lined Skinks (Plestiodon fasciatus), even with the bright blue tail as a juvenile. Size in the adults of the Five-lined are 5 to 8.5 inches while Broadheads are 6 to 13 inches. Adult Five-lined Skinks have a red-orange head during mating season.

The Broadhead Skink is native to the southeast United States and is the largest Skink in that region.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.