substrate for babies

[lucasrusinak]

I am getting my first blue tongue skink tomorrow, its a baby northern. I have its tank all set up, but just read that the substrate you would use for an adult blue tongue isn't necessarily the same that you should use for young ones. I have carefresh right now, but i was wondering what i should switch it out with until my skink gets older

[StaceyLeigh]

It would depend on how young the baby is. Mine went to new homes starting at 4 weeks, at that point they were fine on Aspen. Just be careful they have a separate dish for feeding, never put food right on the substrate. You can also ask the breeder you are getting your skink from for their suggestion.

[Jeff]

My babies are born on carpet where I leave them for a few days, then I keep newborns on paper towels for a week or two after separating them. After that they are on aspen until they go to their new homes. The ones that I raise to adulthood get switched to cypress mulch around 6 months. That would not be necessary if I didn't live in a place that is so dry. My skink's bellies tend to dry out if I don't spray their substrate occassionally, and cypress works much better for that.

[lucasrusinak]

according to what the breeder told me when i first contacted him, they were about 10 days old then and that was just about 2 weeks ago, so just over 3 weeks old now. so they should be fine on the current bedding once it arrives tomorrow?

[Jeff]

In truth, he/she should be fine on anything mentioned. Each situation is a little different though, so you might want to try a few different things out before deciding what works best for you.