BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Shall we list them? Reasons why? Thanks

Not in order of favourites but:

ReptiBark- Pros: Nice looking, easy to clean, little dust; Cons: if cleaning with hands you will get splinters, sometimes hard finding feces, doesn't hold tunnels

Shaved Aspen- Pros: inexpensive if you get the rodent kind, holds tunnels; Cons: some dust, if it gets wet it can mold if not removed

Soil/Coconut Fibre- holds moisture well, natural, great for digging, no dust; Cons: make sure there's enough air so it doesn't mold, messy

CareFresh- great for holding and digging tunnels; Cons: a lot of dust, do not get too wet

1) Kritters Crumble/Coco Soft: absorbent and no noticeable odor, natural looking, very low dust, eco friendly, easy to burrow in, soft, light, and can hold moisture if needed.

2) Fir bark/ Repti-Bark: absorbent and natural but rather dusty and can be rather hard.

3) Cypress: holds moisture well and is nice for them to burrow in. It looks pretty natural but can have rather large and small chunks.

I didn't like aspen. It made a mess and was always stuck to my socks! I thought it looked odd. It also was very dry and I had to add extra moisture to their hides for shed periods.

do you all have links to the substrate? I'll looking for the best fit lol Thanks for the replies!

This is the one I am currently using and like the most:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004A8ZQD ... ref=plSrch

Aspen shavings:
Pro:
- I love the smell and the look.
- Holds tunnels great.
- I've not had any mould issues (even with a misting every now and then, but I assume it all dried out during the inbetween periods)
- Cheap (rodent variety)
- Easy to spot poop

Cons:
- A bit dusty
- there's cheaper stuff out there
- Not good if you need higher humidity levels

50% Peat Moss / 25% Cyrpruss Mulch // 15% Reptibark // 10% Tree Fern (Aka ABS minus the charcoal and coco bark)

Pros:
- Holds good tunnels
- Looks very natural
- Holds moisture
- super easy to grow plants if you wanted to

Cons:
- Expensive initially to get all the supplies (but once you have them they last forever)
- Peat moss is NOT environmentally friendly at all
- Tree fern can be a pain in the ass to find in Canada (not sure about other places)
- Dusty
- I'll give you 10$ if you can find the poop

Coco Coir (bought at a garden center)

Pro:
- CHEAP, so cheap. Cheap cheap cheap.
- Environmentally better then peat moss
- holds moisture
- the stuff I buy is chunks, so there is less stuff to get up his nose
- CHEAP
- Natural looking

Cons:
- Poops are still going to be a bit harder to find
- Can't grow anything, if that was something you wanted to do
- Comes in blocks that need to be hydrated with boiling water then cooked in the oven to dehydrate again (AKA time consuming to prepare)

I used the blended substrate initially but I ran out of materials so switched to the aspen shavings. Now i'm almost out of my last bag and will be moving to coco coir which I use in my gecko tanks and have used in the past.

I use to have my childrens python and Beardie on Sani Chips, and the Blueys and Tegu on Cypress Mulch, but I recently bit the bullet and decided to put ALL my reptiles on the same "substrate", I am trying to get some bioactive soil going, but as of now it is a mixture of sand, topsoil, peat moss, and leaf litter. (I will be adding springtails, worms, etc once I get my last 3 cages built) Holds moisture well, but doesn't get muddy, holds burrows well, clean up is easy, and as soon as I switched my animals over they were actively digging and exploring. I doubt I will ever go back to a wood type substrate.