BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

My BTS's belly and under tail are really rough, almost like fish scales when you rub them the wrong way, and I cannot seem to keep his humidity up in the tank. I am living in central alberta, just outside of red deer, and I am wondering if anyone living in this area knows any tips.

I have a large shallow water dish AND a cigar humidifier already installed and the substrate I am using is a mix of aspen and coconut husk which was soaked in water (that kept the humidity up for a few days but then it went back to super low) The monitor that I have currently says that its at 0% but it seems to fluctuate between that and about 5 or 10%

I am thinking about installing a humid hide for him, is this a viable idea? Or are there some other easier options?

Thanks

I'd suggest a humid hide, that way he can regulate his own humidity.

I was just going to make one from a Tupperware container. Will this suffice?

what kind of humidity reader are you using? Digital is way more accurate....its normally pretty hard to hit 0-10% (in my experience). Where I live in WA state, my ambient humidity is about 35%.

Most of the "pet industry" humidity gauges aren't very accurate (unless you spent big $$ on some high end equipment) so I wouldn't get too worried about the humidity readings. I just use dry Aspen shavings but also offer a humid hide for my little Northern babies, which they all seem to use. Just a plastic container with damp (not soaking wet) Sphagnum moss I find works well. There are endless ways of achieving the same thing, only limited by one's imagination & creativity. I'm with Mel though, offer a humid hide and it can regulate on it's own.

If you could post pics of the belly scales we might be able to have a better idea of what might be going on. I have concerns that we might possibly be looking at minor scale rot if you've been soaking the substrate and using a cigar humidifier (if this was one of my Northern babies?). I keep my Northerns dry in our Alberta climate with no issues, just a large water dish and for the wee ones a humid hide.

you can get a $15 dollar humidity/temp gauge at Walmart, they are in the gardening section. They are called Accu-rites or something like that. I use them for humidity and ambient temp range. I do NOT use them for basking spot readings as they arent very accurate for that.