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Q: Best Substrate for Blue-Tongued Skinks?
Posted By:

Sonja K. Reptiles

In Relation To:

Denim
I am wondering what the best substrate would be for a Blue Tongue Skink? Or, maybe something to improve upon my current care or set-up?

My BTS has been having difficulty in shedding around its eyes and has had a lot of retained sheds on his toes. (Sheds fine in other areas.) I do my best to try and catch it on his toes, but I'm afraid I must have missed some a couple times because it's looking like he may lose a toe or (two?) now. I have clipped his nails, and I try soaking or misting to help with the toes, but I guess it's not enough.

This seems to have become a problem over the past 2 months. I have used aspen, primarily. I tried newspaper (shredded) once for about a week - when we had run out of the aspen, and that was horrible! He got "crusty" around his eyes and his appetite became very poor. Switched back to aspen, and he was eating again the next day. 

Living in Minnesota, the air does get very dry in the winter, but we have a humidifier running in the room, and the room's humidity is typically in the 50's. The temp. of the room is generally between 76 - 78 degrees F. He has a basking spot that is in the mid 90s. (~ 12 hour light cycle). He has a 5.0 UVB (the tube one - mounted inside the cage, so it's under the screen.) I read that a screen top was best for proper air flow.

He uses both hides, and also LOVES to burrow in the substrate.

I give my BTS the same mix of finely chopped veggies/fruits that Melissa Kaplan recommends in her iguana salad, as well as small pieces of dark greens, on a daily basis, and I add a protein item every other day. (Also sprinkle with vitamins about 3 times/week) 

If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do differently, I would appreciate hearing them!

Olive oil was mentioned recently for snakes, has anyone used it to remove retained shed from a skink's toes?
Attached Photos:
Points: 50
Topics: Skin , Limbs , Caging
Tags: Substrate
Species: Lizards > Lizards > Tiliqua scincoides scincoides
Administrative: Show/Hide
Accepted Answer 1/5/2009 12:50:19 PM

magsj387
A good friend of mine keeps these guys, and has had very good success with similar conditions in addition to just providing a humid hide as well. He keep very natural looking enclosures so all his are; is some large chunks of cork bark and moss underneath that he moistens(mostly when they go into shed) but they have never lost a toes or had any problems to this day. I would say that would be pretty easy for you to achieve and even possibly just get a simple tuperware container cut a hole big enough in the side for him to crawl in fill halfway with damp moss and place that in the cage. I'm sure you could even get away with doing that only at times when he's in shed. That would be my suggestion.
 
Member Comment 1/5/2009 1:01:39 PM

Joseph Jenkins
We keep our BT's on Repti Bark
 
Assisted Answer 1/5/2009 6:28:16 PM

AAS
Our herp society takes in BTS rescues often and I'm told the most common problem stemming from husbandry is lost toes from lack of moisture.  So you need a moist place in the enclosure.  My fully-toed BTS' have been doing well on a substrate of coco fiber mixed with pet grade cypress mulch and purchased green moss.  I keep a watering can on hand and just water it down, mix it up as needed.  I use if for any reptile that needs moisture.  For burrowing I've kept a pile of pet grade hay in a corner, they seem to love that, and it looks okay and make a fine hide.  I know aspen is recommended on the BTS sites, but if you continue with it I think you need a moist place too.

I don't know about olive oil, why not?  But switching to a moist substrate might be a little easier.
 
Assisted Answer 1/8/2009 12:55:20 AM

deathscythe801
I also have a BTS that is quite a grandpa. He was given to me about 5 years ago as a rescue.  My brother saw the original owners a couple months ago, and the woman was amazed and stated that the lizard was definitely over 20 years old! I know what your talking about with the finger nails, as I have to trim Cell's regularly because they curl back into his hand. As for the shedding, I would drop an old wet rag into his hide box whenever he is shedding, I've had similar problems with sand boas and this seems to do the trick. As for your cage setup, mine is similar with aspen. one thing that would also help with the aspen would be to create a moist area by using some peat moss. And of course, regular misting, which you seem to be doing. I have many reptiles that require similar humidity, so I recomend using a large spray can like exterminators use. You can buy an inexpensive one from a home improvement store and it makes misting way easier and quicker. hope this heps.
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