These interesting and unique Australian reptiles have adapted well to the harsh heat and extreme climates of the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory is home to some fascinating reptiles. Both in remote and populated areas Darwin, you’ll spot some of these native reptiles which offer visitors a unique wildlife experience.
Thorny Devil
These very fascinating creatures are small and spiky! Although they might look sharp and dangerous, they’re completely harmless.
They are truly fascinating reptiles, as they can draw up water from their legs as they stand on moist sand. Their diet is minimal: the only thing they need to survive is black ants.
They’re very tiny creatures, so to spot one, you’ll have to look out for something small moving across the desert floor. These cool little reptiles are easy to distinguish because of their unique orange and yellow spikes. They’re diurnal (they’re active during the day) and they cruise around the sand in search of ants!
Frilled Lizard
This reptile is one of the most fascinating lizards in the Northern Territory! The frilled lizard certainly has plenty of personality.
They normally lie low as master reptilian camouflagers, jumping out at their unsuspecting prey.
Their frilly neck serves up a range of colours on a dinner-plate-size disc. Vivid oranges, blacks and yellows are all displayed on their neck, right underneath their chins. When the frilled lizard feels threatened, it will extend its frilly neck and make itself known, as a means of scaring off any threats or predators. They can be quite aggressive and intimidating lizards, but this is all for show.
Their legs are extremely flexible, which allows them to jump across different branches with ease. They have extremely strong muscles in their legs, which they use to launch themselves around. They’re normally quite difficult to spot in the wild, because of their chameleon-level camouflage skills – but if you’re lucky, you might spot one chasing its prey!
Water monitor lizard
A cousin of the Komodo Dragon, water monitor lizards are mainly found across the top end of the Northern Territory. They’re very interesting looking, charismatic creatures with a large body. They camouflage well into the trees due to their brown scales, and can grow up to 6 feet long. Tourists often get a shock when they see them because of how big they are!
Water monitor lizards are generally quite harmless creatures, although it’s advised not to approach them.
Mangrove snake
This crab-consuming water snake is unique in its diet: It only eats crabs! Even if the crabs are too large and tough for the snake to swallow, they’ll still do a good job of consuming it.
These crab carnivores are strong, as their prey has a thick shell of armour. But that’s no problem for the mighty mangrove snake, which dismembers the crab before swallowing it whole.
Mangrove snakes can differ in appearance. They often have white bellies, but their outer colour changes from murky brown to yellow skin or pale red scales.
If you want to spot a mangrove snake, you won’t have to look too far in Darwin, depending on the tides. If it’s high tide, they’ll hide in crab burrows to lay low. Then, they’ll hunt out more crabs when the water levels retreat – that’s when they’ll come back out onto the mud flats and feast on their next meal. They’re normally amongst the mangroves of Darwin – you’ll spot them from the boardwalks!
Join our tour to find the biggest reptiles in the Territory!
Come and climb aboard a tour! Search for the biggest reptiles in the Northern Territory, and spot crocodiles!