The gait of Tiliqua gigas has been described as “shuffling” and “slow” (Gorseman 1998). Although T. gigas is typically terrestrial, individuals have been observed climbing up to 80cm off of the ground in a terrarium, apparently by standing against a tree trunk and pulling themselves up with their legs. They are capable of tail autotomy (i.e., loss of the tail) and regeneration. Some keepers of T. gigas have reported instances of aggression between captive individuals (Gorseman 1998).

While relatively little is known about the behavior of Tiliqua gigas in particular, blue-tongued skinks in general tend to be medium- to large-sized omnivorous lizards. Many spend substantial amounts of time resting in burrows, although they are likely to forage relatively actively during the day, especially during the wet season when food resources are more abundant (Christian et al. 2003). The most striking aspect of blue-tongued skink behavior, though, is the threat display: when threatened, blue-tongued skinks hiss loudly while opening their mouths to display their bright blue tongues (Brongersma 1958, Broaddus 1994).