The blotched blue-tongue lizard resides in open country with lots of ground cover such as leaf litter and shrubs. At night, they find shelter under the leaf litter, rocks and logs. Because they cannot produce their own body heat, these skinks live in areas where they can bathe in sunlight during periods of the day in the summer. They need to maintain a body temperature of 30 - 35 degrees Celsius when active (Shea 1997).

Because of the great degree of human activity in New South Wales (e.g. the city of Sydney) and Tasmania, blue-tongues no longer live exclusively in the wild. Tiliqua nigrolutea have also adapted to suburban life. They can frequently be found in backyards where some will reside for many years. They will bathe in the sun on the lawns and paths while cooling off in the rockeries, pipes and cavities under the house (Jones & Edwards 1998).