I remember that while living in the countryside, adults used to warn us not to get too close to grass bushes, or the poisonous “color changing lizards” (Elegant Five-tailed skinks) would bite us. Therefore we used to throw rocks at them from afar. In reality, five-tailed skinks are non-venomous (the real poisonous animals are venomous snakes like the banded kraits); the intention of the adults was for us to stay clear of the bushes, where real danger may await. These places are favored by the skinks and thus they become subjects of warning. After twenty years, such warnings are no longer useful for us to teach our next generation, because the skinks are gradually declining in number, due to overuse of pesticides, sewage pollution of creeks, removal of patches of striped abutilons, and destruction of habitats. Fortunately, these lizards are widely distributed in the world, from flat lands to areas 2500m above sea level. In China , they are found in regions south of the Yangtze River, and also on Okinawa Islands as well. Our experiment ground is located at the 2100 m high National Taiwan University 's Mei-Feng Experimental Farm, situated in Ren-Ai Township of Central Taiwan's Nantou County . The five-tailed skinks were first discovered and named in China by Boulegier, a British national, back in 1887. The holotype specimen is now preserved at the British Museum .
Diet
During March and April, the red or yellow flowers of foxgloves (digitalis) are blooming, and the left over cabbages from harvests also blossoms with white flowers. Elsewhere, unknown purple flowers dotted the scenery, not to mention the full blossoms of Baby's breath in the fields. These flowers attract the attention of bees, moths, and butterflies. Even humans can be lost in the tides of blossoms. During daytime when the temperature is high, the coldness of the night air is fully dispersed, and the skinks that hide under the rocks and dirt mounds begin to forage and go about their daily routine. It is interesting to note that most of the skinks in the vegetable patches are adults; juveniles are rarely seen here, which could be due to differences in activity levels or intra species competitions. The food consumed by these lizards is turned into energy, stored in adipose tissues and livers. With the abundance of food in the months between July and October, these skinks forage constantly and their adipose masses increase dramatically. Natural enemies like the Stink rat snake, Asian Tiger snake and the Oriental Turtle dove are also present, which increase the chance of being eaten. However, since these areas are suitable for living, the population of these skinks is also quite large.
Color
The elegant Five-tailed skink do not change colors like that of the short-legged japalura, instead it is colored according to its ages; the juveniles have bluish black dorsal color, blue tails and five conspicuous golden stripes along their backsides. They typically measure about 4.0 to 10mm long. The adult males are colored bluish black, have brown tails and no golden stripes; they measure about 9.1 to 19.1 mm long and have red reproductive spots on their cheeks. The smaller adult males measure about 7.0 to 9.7 mm long, are colored in bluish black, and the stripes and the tails fade in colors. The adult females measure about 7.0 to 12.6mm long, have five visible stripes and light blue tails. Since these lizards are brightly colored, they like to move about in grass bushes. After November, the temperature drops, and skinks are rarely found. Sometimes we can find them frozen and curled up underneath boulders, and they would not defrost even when put under direct sunlight. They will become active only when the temperature rises again in March of the following year.
Habitat
The Mei-Feng area provides skinks with excellent habitats. The mountain cliffs are rocky and fragile, so farmers usually build rock walls beneath the mountain sides to prevent rock slides. The crevices between the stone walls become safe havens for the skinks. They can also be found in brick walls beneath the flower patches and in weed patches around rock piles. They have the habit of digging lairs and can usually be seen inhabiting holes underneath large boulders. These lizards are also territorial and will return to their hiding places; often when we fail to catch them, we can usually find them again at the same places. We once tagged and released 210 skinks, only to catch 11 when we went to look for them again. All were caught at the original place of discovery except for one, who has a slightly larger range of activities. Despite our efforts, there is not yet enough data to support our findings.
Activity
Similar to the Indian forest skinks, the five-tailed skinks are very sensitive to intruders, hiding in caves before they come close. Therefore, it is quite difficult to catch them on the stone walls. Only when they come out to forage in the vegetable fields can we stand a chance catching them. Due to overlapping masses of weeds in the fields, the movements of the skinks are slowed, allowing us to catch them. There are many water reservoirs that are made out of concrete in the farm. During seasons of drought, because temperature increases faster in a warmed-up concrete, many skinks will come to the bottom of the pool to warm up their bodies. When there is water, however, sometimes we will find skinks that have drowned.
Breeding
The author once witnessed no mature eggs or embryos in females during a full year of research; however, past literature stated that these lizards can spawn up to twice each year, laying 4 to 8 eggs at a time. Our data showed that juvenile skinks can be collected from March to October, especially during the months of September and October (16 and 31 individuals, respectively). Therefore, it is possible that these skinks breed all year round, with August and September being the height of the spawning periods.
To summarize the above , the annual activities of five-tailed skink are: (1) Hibernation, November to February; (2) reproductive periods, March to October.