BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

From anyone's experience, how well to Blue tongues do in desert sand

From what I have read, sand is a very bad idea.

I agree that sand isn't generally a good idea; calcium sand is especially bad.

Some people successfully use a mix of more natural sands with other substrates, but there is still risk with using any fine substrate that it will get in your skinks nose/mouth/eyes/ears. Crushed walnut shells are another example of a similar substrate. Unless you're planning on a bioactive enclosure I'd recommend you just stick with coconut fiber or cypress.

Also, sand is a very dry substrate so species matters. Non-Australian species need higher humidity which I don't think sand would ever be able to hold.

AustinB wrote:From anyone's experience, how well to Blue tongues do in desert sand

Are youn considering an Eastern BTS (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides)
or Northern BTS (Tiliqua scincoides intermedia)
or Blotched BTS (Tiliqua nigrolutea)
or Shingleback (Tiliqua rugosa) ?

I count my EWS as a mini-bluetongue (she has a very cute little blue tongue.

Western & Central and Dwarf BTS are endangered and hard to get a licence to keep.

The Indonesian species are not permitted into Australia so these are not something you can hold legally on a licence in any Australian state or territory.

I don't use sand at all for either my beardies or my eastern bluetongues skink or my water skink. Forget about keeping a BTS on any type of sand substrate (no suitable for them).

Some people advocate Bunnings Playsand (dried) for dragons - I DO NOT.

My bluetongues are both on a mixture of Course Kritters' Krumble & natural bluegum leaf litter (complete with long twigs) .... I collect the leaf litter from my own front yard where i have mature bluegum which drops copious volumes of leaves and twigs rear round. I regularly add lawn clippings to the mix too.
My BTS (2x) and EWS (1x) love this mix and often bury themselves in it (all you see is a nose or head poking out.

I know a lady who breeds EWS and she uses a mix of damp playsand and coir peat for her water skinks.

Wouldn't use it. For a million reasons, but the one that comes mostly to mind is skinks aren't the neatest eaters. They drop food outside their bowls then pick it up and eat it. If mine ate something covered in sand I'd have a stroke. Another thing they do is wipe their mouths on whatever is around when done, and if it's sand, there is goes all over their face, in their eyes, etc. Trying to keep it clean would be another issue. Things are much different in nature than in captivity.