New member, enclosure critique requested

[Leigti]

Hello, I am a new member here on this forum. Earlier this week I got a three-month-old northern BTS. I named him or her Dobby. At what age can you tell if they are male or female? For now I am just saying "he". Here he is and this is his enclosure. How does it look? Any suggestions on improvement?

[BD99]

G'day mate.
In Australia, herp vets identify by putting a special dye up their clacker and then using a light to see if the ink surrounds a penis or not as far as I know.
Body shape and behaviour isn't reliable at all.

[Leigti]

Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm still going to call him Dobby even if he ends up being a girl.

[EricaLikeBurrito]

What's they humidity and temperatures? Northerns need 25%-40% humidity and 95-100 for basking and 72-82 degrees Fahrenheit for its cool side. Also, what substrate are you using? It looks like aspen shavings. Aspen can be a bit dry so watch out for dry scales on your lizard. Other than that, your skink looks healthy and your set up is great. I hope you enjoy your skink! They are an absolute joy to own :)

[Leigti]

What's they humidity and temperatures? Northerns need 25%-40% humidity and 95-100 for basking and 72-82 degrees Fahrenheit for its cool side. Also, what substrate are you using? It looks like aspen shavings. Aspen can be a bit dry so watch out for dry scales on your lizard. Other than that, your skink looks healthy and your set up is great. I hope you enjoy your skink! They are an absolute joy to own

Well, looks like I'm pretty good on the numbers. The darker rock is 95°, The cool and is 72°. On top of the bark. The humidity along the back wall is 40%.
I have not decided if I'm going to keep using the Aspen. I might try for bark or cypress mulch. Haven't decided yet.
He hasn't eaten yet, I've had him since Wednesday. I'm feeding the same thing the breeder did. Should I be worried yet?

[EricaLikeBurrito]

Both fir bark and cypress mulch are good. I use Zoo Med Repti Bark (fir bark), but it's a bit pricey so I might switch to cypress mulch. Leave food out for it (dry dog food or reptile pellets) so it can eat whenever it needs to. BTS can go a while without eating since they are suck hardy creatures.

[LittlePetDirt]

It's really hard to tell the genders of a blue tongue skink unless you actually try to breed them or get them checked by a vet. Sometime soon the hips are wider on a female, but not always. The enclosure looks amazing! Keep up the good work! I use aspen for my northern and I find the humidity is usually on the high side for some reason. Hope this helped!