BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So Buddy is getting a new enclosure in a few days, we're currently setting it up. It's actually for my savannah monitor, but he's just a baby so Buddy will be living here for quite a while, the monitor will be living in another enclosure until he's big enough to move in.

Poor thing will probably get lost in there, moving from a 4ft long to a 8.2x4ft
Doing the interior is gonna be so much fun! There's 6 built in spots in the ceiling, I will have 2 hanging lamps for heat and basking, a bath, caves and hides and other stuff.

Also, I have a question for you guys. The monitor will have cypress mulch for bedding. Will this be okay for the skink as well? Filling this one up with with wood chips is gonna cost me a fortune.

looks awesome, its so massively large (and so pretty)


build my enclosures too

The monitor should have dirt check this website out http://savannahmonitor.co/
The chips will be fine for the skink though.

Thank you Linnea I haven't built this thing myself though

xxmonitorlizardxx: Cypress mulch is a very popular substrate as well, I was thinking of getting a mixture of soil and mulch.
Soil and sand it says in the link, I know a lot of people use this mixture, but I'm kind of unsure of what kind and where to get it? Like what kind of sand and what kind of dirt?

And I wasn't planning of having wood chips in this enclosure at all.

you can use alot of different soil mixtures for monitors

ideally for burrowers if it can hold a burrow your on the right track,but they can do well on shallow substrates to,a few folk use leaf litter type substrates over soil or just leaf litter as well

thats one big enclosure,lol,looks great,cant wait to see how u set it up inside,the young savvana monitor will get pretty big before you know it to,monitors dont know how to stop eating

Yeah, but I've been trying to find out what kind of soil and where I can get it.. Around 10 inches is no problem.

Yeah, it's quite a lot bigger than I imagined it to be. But, the bigger the better, I'm quite happy with it. Will definitely get some pics up when it's all set up.

Lol tell me about it, there's no stopping this little guy when it comes to food.

That looks amazing.

Thank you! I'm dying to start with the interior

Very cool. I really wishi had room for a nice big display setup like that.

Thanks!

Well, let's just say that this one came with a few sacrifices I lost about half that room.. Still worth it though

Beautiful enclosure. Can't wait to see it completed.

Buddy wrote: xxmonitorlizardxx: Cypress mulch is a very popular substrate as well, I was thinking of getting a mixture of soil and mulch.
Soil and sand it says in the link, I know a lot of people use this mixture, but I'm kind of unsure of what kind and where to get it? Like what kind of sand and what kind of dirt?

Sandy soil like this:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varanid/ ... -dirt.html

But is it safe to take it from outside? Do I need to heat it up or something?

I wouldn't take it from the outside. When I used sandy soil in the past I got the really good organic stuff from a garden shop. You don't know what's in the soil outside.

you do know whats in the soil outside
worms? yes.
worms that are parasites as well? yes. springmask är så mysigt!
insect eggs? maybe.

lots of bacterias that may not be harmful but will smell very intense if in the right conditions? yup.

EricaBobrik wrote:I wouldn't take it from the outside. When I used sandy soil in the past I got the really good organic stuff from a garden shop. You don't know what's in the soil outside.

No that's what I mean, I don't want to risk him getting parasites and stuff. Don't know if sandy soil is something that's sold in garden shops around here, (i know cypress mulch is, that's why I was considering that in the first place) but I'll check it up. Thanks for the tip

Still wondering though if it's ok for my skink to have cypress mulch for bedding?

Cypress mulch is fine for skinks. Not eco-friendly, but many people use it because it's cheap and great for humidity.

Fatal_S wrote:Cypress mulch is fine for skinks. Not eco-friendly, but many people use it because it's cheap and great for humidity.

Thanks! If this was to be a permanent home for him I would go for the wood chips, but since it's only for a few months cypress mulch seems like a good alternative.

Other cheap options include aspen shavings (I use a $30 bag to fill 5 48x24 tanks, so it should work for a layer in that big tank) or coconut mulch (from home hardware store, cheap in big bags and eco-friendly). But cypress mulch is a great substrate, the only downside is the environmental issues.

Aspen shavings aren't that cheap here , and coconut mulch isn't sold in hardware stores either.. I think I'll go with the cypress mulch this time.