The base scale colouration is usually olive-brown or dark brown, sometimes with small, pearly-whitish spots, with three light-olive or dark-brown stripes running from the head to the bright, electric-blue tail.

It has been found in many countries and territories across the African continent; it is also considered an invasive species in Florida.

[2] The African five-lined skink is occasionally found in private collections and in the reptile and pet trade, though its popularity is fairly minimal; the species is not nearly as popular as other pet reptiles or lizard species, such as crested or leopard geckos, or blue-tongued skinks.

Still, it is believed that a group of escapee or released pet skinks—likely containing some gravid females—are responsible for sightings in Florida[3] and, recently, Southern California;[4] their effects on the endemic species of American five-lined skinks is not yet well-understood.

[3] This species' preferred prey are invertebrates, mainly arthropods, such as various ants, beetles, butterflies, crickets, flies, grasshoppers, moths, spiders, termites and occasional worms or larvae, with few to no differences between the diets of males and females.