3 Skinks Found in Ohio! (ID Guide)

What kinds of skinks are there in Ohio?”

common skinks in Ohio

There’s no question that skinks are one of the most misunderstood animals in Ohio! Are they snakes, or lizards, or some sort of combination?

Interestingly, these creatures are considered lizards, but it’s easy to misidentify them as snakes. They have short limbs, move with a zig-zag pattern, and like to hide under debris just like snakes!

Today, you’ll learn the 3 kinds of skinks in Ohio!


#1. Common Five-Lined Skink

  • Plestiodon fasciatus

types of skinks in Ohio

Identifying Characteristics:

  • Adults are up to 8.75 inches long.
  • 5 stripes are most apparent in hatchlings and fade as the skinks grow.
  • Males have orange-red coloring on the jaw during the breeding season.
  • Hatchlings are black with light stripes. The black coloring often fades to gray, and the lighter stripes darken.

Look for Common Five-Lined Skinks in Ohio in wooded areas near rotting stumps, outcrops of rock, and sometimes piles of boards or sawdust. Its diet consists of spiders, beetles, crickets, and other insects.

Credit: Virginia Herpetological Society

Females attend to their eggs throughout their incubation period.

They spend almost all their time defending and caring for the eggs until they hatch!

If you happen to come across a nest, you may notice the mother curled up on top of or around the eggs. She also rolls the eggs to maintain their humidity, moves them back to the nest if they become disturbed, and even eats eggs that aren’t viable!


#2. Broad-Headed Skink

  • Plestiodon laticeps

species of skinks in Ohio

Identifying Characteristics:

  • Adults are up to 12.75 inches long.
  • Coloring in males is uniform brown or olive. Females often keep some form of stripes that are more apparent in hatchlings.
  • The tail is gray in adults and blue in young.
  • Males develop orange-red coloring on the jawline during the breeding season. Sometimes the entire head turns bright orange.

Look for Broad-Headed Skinks in southern Ohio in swamp forests, woodlands, or vacant lots with debris.

You can easily recognize this species by its triangular head!

Credit: Virginia Herpetological Society

Broad-Headed Skinks are one of the few skink species at home among trees! They will often climb trees for cover and protection from predators. They forage on the ground for their food, searching leaf litter and debris for insects and spiders.

YouTube video

#3. Little Brown Skink

  • Scincella lateralis

common skinks in Ohio

Identifying Characteristics:

  • Adults are up to 5.75 inches long.
  • Coloring is golden-brown to almost black with dark stripes that usually blend in with the main body color.
  • The belly is white, sometimes with a yellowish cast.

In southern Ohio, Little Brown Skinks are often called Ground Skinks because they live on the forest floor.

They can also be found in gardens and urban areas with lots of debris or litter to hide in.

Credit: Virginia Herpetological Society

Believe it or not, Little Brown Skinks have the interesting talent of seeing with their eyes closed! But honestly, it just looks like their eyes are closed. Technically, they have a window in their lower eyelids that allows them to see at all times.

That’s a very handy adaptation for one of the smallest reptiles in Ohio. The Little Brown Skink has many predators, including snakes, larger lizards, and birds of prey. When they try to sneak up on a “sleeping” Little Brown Skink, often the skink can run away using the element of surprise!

YouTube video

Do you need additional help identifying skinks?

Try this field guide!


Which of these skinks have you seen in Ohio?

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One Comment

  1. We have a ground skink in our garage and today I discovered she has a little baby skink running next to her now I’m not sure if she laid multiple eggs and I was hoping to remove them to my garden