BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello!

I am soon getting a Northern BTS, and I am very excited! I have read a bunch of articles and the care page of BTS.net twice now. my setup is a 75 gallon tank, I am using Aspen as my substrate (I know that is controversial so PLEASE tell me your opinions on it!!), I have a basking rock, 2 half logs, a pretty large water bowl, I have a 100 W Heat Bulb, and a 5.0 UVB light, with deep dome lamps. I am thinking of purchasing decor such as fake plants that have the suction cups to stick on the walls for a better look to the terrarium. Thoughts?

Do NOT sugar coat anything please! I am open to all suggestions!

What aspen shavings? Shredded or shaved? If the pieces are too small it might get onto your skink's eyes. The tank might also get dry so mist it (not too much. Since it's aspen it might get moldy or gross) What are the dimensions of the tank? You want floor space more than hight. I recomend fake plants since my Northern loves to hide in it. Any fake plants will do just make sure there are no sharp points (got mine from Michael's and trimmed down any pointy parks). When you say basking rock you mean a regular rock under the heat lamp and not a heat rock right? People will use heat rocks which are terrible and should never be used.

Now that I look at my Aspen shavings they do look quite small . I do not want to take risks. What substrate do you reccomend?
As for the basking rock it is NOT a heat rock because I am against those.

Bedding : depends on the age of the BT you hope to get .

If a baby or juvenile, can't beat paper toweling as substrate for starters.

If an adult , I use course Kritters' Krumble , my guys are easterns , careful with humidity , northerns are much like easterns so too high a humidity is bad for them, easterns need 5% UVB, northerns need 10-12% UVB.

A T8 uvb tube in a reflector hood , or a T5HO uvb tube in a reflector hood are your best bets , tubes about 1/2 - 2/3 the viv's length with one end right next to the basking globe.

This will give you an indication of the natural range of NBTS http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid: ... 35f0adcde0 , the climate data is readily available at http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_a ... /index.jsp

You can sue paper towels when they are young (like how it was recommended above). I use repti bark (fir bark), but cypress mulch and coco fiber works too. I have heard people use top soil too. If the shavings can fit into there eye or some what around the size of their eye, then it's not safe to use. I wouldn't really take any risks.

Thank you all for responding! I am trying to find a 1-2 month Northern so I will use the paper towel method for a bit, and then use the cypress mulch. Since they are borrowers should I add more hides to the tank if I am just using paper towel?

I actually recommend large aspen shreds. Skinks love to burrow and aspen seems to do the job. My 4 month old northern does good on large aspen chips. I actually find that the humidity is a bit high with aspen and I am currently trying to lower it make sure you buy a large food bowl and put the food in the middle. This way they have to climb in to get the food and you don't have to worry about them getting impacted. I use a large terra cotta pot base. Fake plants should be fine as long as the are not sharp and do not provide an escape route for your skink. Besides that, everything seems to be great!
Hope this helped!

Thank you so much Jaidyn!

Hi there. For my bedding for my eastern girls I use this stuff
https://cdn.petbarn.com.au/media/catalo ... litres.jpg
As recommended by my vet. It has a reptile brand of the bedding and is all minerals. Its small, doesn't swell with water exposure, its also very soft and blunt so it doesn't hurt them to dig in it (Which they LOVE). It also doesn't stick to itself when wet or dry, so no compaction. It does not grow moldy or smelly, I change mine monthly and scrub the cages down otherwise I just spot clean and shuffle every time I have some free time. It does raise a lot of controversy, but most beddings do in truth. You can raise a huff about ANY bedding. From paper to this stuff to even just dirt.

As for plants and such, it is 100% down to the lizard. My old girl doesn't care for plants but LOVES rocks and logs. My youngster however ADORES climbing plants. I recommend if you can, spending time with your lizzy before you buy them/bring them home so that you have a solid idea of what they'll like. I bought mine from stores, so I was able to spend a few weekends visiting before I prepped their cages.

Something however about youngsters. Younger lizards are more likely to snap if they weren't handled correctly, especially with a top open cage. When you pick them up, you come above them like a bird, so their instincts can kick in and lead them to be snappy and squirmy. I've found my baby to be a snap monster, not a bub I want to take my eyes off, whereas with my older girl I am more than happy to have a nap on the floor with her. So keep in mind your agegroups can play differences in their attitudes towards you as well. For a first timer, I'd suggest a lizard who is larger and older so that the handling groundwork is there, and their personality has formed into something more predictable.

AliahLovesHerps wrote:Thank you all for responding! I am trying to find a 1-2 month Northern so I will use the paper towel method for a bit, and then use the cypress mulch. Since they are borrowers should I add more hides to the tank if I am just using paper towel?

Hard to go wrong with a northern or an eastern , and as babies and juveniles they love paper toweling , I had my two in 100L rearing tubs lined with 3 layers of paper toweling , and they soon worked out how to tunnel under the top layer , and even how to separate the two layers in each sheet to get an nice cozy place to curl up.

A 2 - 3 month is going to win your heart very quick , my easterns at the same age loved curling up and going to sleep in my breast pocket on t-shirt or in my up turned hand. They are super inquisitive and goofy at that age too.