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The Common Garden Skink or Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink (Lampropholis guichenoti) is a small common skink often seen in suburban gardens in Melbourne, Australia, but is common across most of Southern Australia and some of New South Wales. It grows to a maximum of 14 cm, but rarely exceeds 9 cm. The females lay about six eggs in a communal clutch, which may contain as many as 250 eggs altogether. Like most other skinks, the tail will drop if grasped roughly. The tail then twitches vigorously for a while, to hold the attention of the predator while the lizard makes its escape. Garden skinks feed on small invertebrates including crickets, moths, slaters, earthworms, flies, grubs and caterpillars, grasshoppers, cockroaches, earwigs, small spiders,ladybeetles and many others. Garden skinks rely purely on the movement of their prey when hunting. If their prey is not moving, they will not see it as edible and will not strike. When hunting, the skinks will either hide and wait for prey to come by or actively pursue it (this depends on how hungry they are). Once they have caught their prey, they shake it around vigorously to kill it before swallowing it whole. Once they have had one meal, they begin to actively pursue prey for a short while with their newfound energy. The skinks only need one prey item per 4 or 5 days, but will eat every day if conditions are good. They are often seen under leaves and long grass so that they can watch their prey. As all reptiles are cold blooded, you may see them on top of rocks or paths in the morning trying to warm their blood. Cats prey on lizards meaning you may have a lot of dead lizards in your house (if you have a cat and if it hasn't eaten them.) Skinks enjoy large areas with a lot of leaves and soft dirt.
