BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

The substrate woes continue. -.- since I moved Jambi to bark chips, his belly scales felt rougher and dried out, his eye started looking irritated, and he was always covered in dust. Last night I tried to remove the dust from the bottom, and the whole area around the tank was coated with a fine layer of dust, and I have had brown bark chip dust coming out of my nose since then I hope the Skink didnt inhale any of it.

So I switched him to jungle mix.
Anyone else have this experience with bark chips...?

I have been using bark chips this winter, and it has helped with humidity levels (I mist the bark every couple of days). I do hate the dust though, it is every where! I will be going back to aspen shavings in March or April when the humidity level starts to get higher here.

Ugh, bark chips! They gave me bad splinters, I hate them. That and they're dusty.

I have only ever used Sani-Chips for all my reptiles. Never had a problem with dust or anything. I will say they seem to dry out belly scales on my guy though. Nothing more misting and soaks couldn't take care of though. For a while I did reptile safe millet but didn't like the look of it. Also have tried alfalfa pellets and though I liked it they made my bedroom smell like a barn.

PlinkoPachinko wrote:Ugh, bark chips! They gave me bad splinters, I hate them. That and they're dusty.

This. The splinters. So many splinters...



The thing that freaked me out the most was the black dusty stuff coming from my nose. It's like I was a chimney sweep or something. How can that be good for our reptiles?

I've been using Reptibark to keep the humidity up a bit, but I have considered trying out cat litter pellets made from 100% recycled paper once spring starts to roll around.

So I should get rid of the Reptibark? I am a new BTS owner and have not used anything else. Have only had the terrarium set up for about 5 days, but if it is going to give my BTS respiratory problems I will change it ASAP. I live in New Orleans and it can get extremely humid down here. As far as the humidity levels inside my apartment I'm not exactly sure. I plan on getting a nice thermometer and hydrometer soon, but it is not that bad right now. Just wondering if I will have the same dust issue with the humidity level here, or if it will be a good combo to have in this location to help keep the humidity down for the reptile.

Lots of people have used Reptibark for years and love it. If you like it, there is no reason to change. There are a number of different substrates that work well for bts. Some people like one better, and some another. You just need to find the one that works for both you and your skink. Reptibark is definitely one of the many substrates that is ok for your skink.

Ty!

I love bark chips, I haven't used reptibark much, but I much prefer a mulch type bark substrate over aspen or others. It all comes down to personal preference and your climate, but Reptibark is just fine.