Broadhead Skink

Snapshot

Georgia’s largest skink — to about 13 inches — adult males with wide, orange-red heads; strongly arboreal on trees and outbuildings. Native; leave alone.

Description and identification

SREL: largest native lizard in the Southeast, reaching up to about 13 inches; short legs. Males larger than females; olive or brown bodies; during mating season males turn bright orange or red on the broadened head. Females and younger males retain dorsal stripes. Juveniles striped with blue tails like other five-lined types. Long-lived for a skink (individuals known to ~8 years).

Look-alikes

Five-lined skink — smaller adults (~5–8.5 in); less extreme male head width; more ground/log oriented. Southeastern five-lined skink — smaller; drier sandy sites. Size and breeding-male head breadth are the practical splits; juveniles remain hard.

Range in Georgia

Widespread in Georgia woodlands from cypress swamps and moist hardwoods to pine stands. SREL notes absence from higher Appalachians (TN/western VA) and the southern half of Florida — Georgia still fine. Full southeastern U.S. range.

Habitat preferences

Hollow logs, rotting hardwood, herbaceous debris, large trees, woodpiles, and wooded suburbs. Prefers trees; when scared often runs to the top of a tree. Cypress swamps, moist hardwoods, and pine stands all appear in the regional habitat list — structure and cover matter more than a single forest name.

Natural history

Active from late March or April. Basks and forages in leaf litter at times but is strongly arboreal. Mating April–May; females lay a single clutch of about 6–16 eggs in hollow logs, trunk cavities, or under hardwood debris and attend the clutch until hatch.

Food preferences

Omnivorous lean: insects and arthropods, plus occasional small mammals, lizards, small birds, and fruits (SREL).

Temperament and encounters

Can bite harder than small skinks if handled — don’t. Tree-top flight is normal; enjoy from the ground. Large breeding males with wide orange-red heads are memorable and often misidentified as something exotic — they are native woodland skinks doing spring courtship colors. Side-by-side with five-lined males, head width and overall size are the practical cues.

Conservation and legal notes

Common where mature trees and cover persist; habitat loss, pets, and pesticides are noted concerns.

In Georgia, native nongame lizards are wildlife. Possession and take rules differ from popular pet-trade assumptions — check current Georgia DNR guidance (native wildlife / legal pets) before any collection. Do not invent statutes. Habitat loss, roads, and free-ranging cats drive many local declines. Educational observation from a distance is the default.

If you meet one

Watch from a distance; do not grab lizards by the tail (many species drop tails as defense — costly to the animal). Keep pets from chasing wildlife. Local educators — including community resources around Cartersville such as Etowah Valley Exotics when appropriate — can help with distant photo ID. This profile is educational, not a husbandry or collecting guide.