Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My dad and I run a bonsai business in Florida. We has a greenhouse to grow certain plants for the bonsai. There are 8 ft boards that run around the bottoms of the sides. One day when I wasn't there, he walked in and saw two lizards on one of the boards facing each other. They took up all but a few inches of the board. This means that they were both near 4-ft. long! He wasn't able to catch them, but he described them to me. After that, we started seeing small versions of them. One day, he caught one but it measured less than a foot. He put it in an aquarium at the nursery and people were fascinated by it, but nobody knew what it was. One day, a guy recognized it as a skink. Yesterday, I Googled skinks and found out that there are many different types. The ones that we see all the time at the business are broad-headed skinks. The females look different, but I recognized them too. Until then, I thought they were just salamanders. Can male broad-headed skinks measure 4-ft. long? Or were they something else that looked like male broad-headed skinks?

I can't imagine what they might, but I doubt broadheads get that long.

Quig

WOW. i live in FL. where in FL did you see this? alls i see here are lil anoles, iguanas, cornsnakes, and gators, and sometimes a big old nile monitor that some kid probably released a few years ago haha.
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1 Blue Tongue Skink
1 Savannah Monitor

You should catch that nile monitor. It doesnt belong out in the wilds of Florida. Either that or call animal control. Florida has enough non-native crap.

well.... the last time i saw him(the nile) was about a year or two ago in a friends pool, his mom thought it was a gator and freaked out! apparently theres a bunch of niles in FL. and there are groups that capture them. and yeah... FL is EFed up. we have like 15ft pythons in the everglades and 8ft nile monitors. and MANY inguanas. and i heard that the iguana isnt even native to any parts of N america. i could easliy go to a lake or canal and spot about 10 3-5 footers basking on the concrete walls above the water.
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1 Blue Tongue Skink
1 Savannah Monitor

4 foot broadhead skink? That's sheer blasphemy. Broadheads dont get larger than about 16-18 inches with the tail. It's impossible for a boradhead to get to four feet.

I don't know for a fact that they were broadheads, but they looked like them. They could have been some other kind of lizard, but they had the same shape and color as male broadheads.

Best thing to do, is take a picture of these super large skinks. Broad headed skinks don't get anywhere near 4' so what you saw is not likely one of these.
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PHLdyPayne

oh wow thats neat but it couldnt be a broadhead but than you never know for sure .
I have seen in last 6 yrs here in Miami -Tokays-of course Cuban treefrogs-Knight anole-Ca king in Glades- Matamata turtle in Glades- Iguanas- Jackson chamaleon but sadly never a monitor but I heard they are here so that sounds like it.

Lots of released stuff as you enter Glades imagine owners release them there and they prosper . I am still looking for albino Ball pythons $ lol but chances are slim to none.

So many non native stuff here in Florida that maybe some established non native lizard skink .

I never caught any just saw them some in passing some stayed there for awhile still .

I wonder if it was a large glass lizard you saw . I love Bonsais to but for me were hard to keep . I know a few Bonsai clubs in Florida .