Prospective new Eastern owner

[aronoiiel]

Hello! I am looking into adopting an Eastern BTS at some point in the near future. I am still tryin gto understand the diet sith how varied it is. What I am curious about is bioactive aetups and Easterns. The Bio dude has a set up for bearded dragons that keeps their humidity proper and I was curious if thst would be ok for an Eastern? I just do not like shavings if I can get out of it but I do NOT want to endanger a baby.
I have not put my bearded dragon on this becsuae she eats EVERYTHING andI jist do not think it will be good for her. She even tries to eat the sand in her lay bin. And I do not mean lick like they do to see whats up. I mean eat
Anyway was just wondering given their lower humidity needs if it would be ok? Im not set on it and will deal with wood shaving sif I have to as that is what the breeder uses. I just dont see how its confortsble for them as far as real burrowing. Thank you in advance!

[splashy07]

I would not use wood shavings. Have had shedding issues when using such and excessive sneezing. I use repti bark, coco husk, cypress mulch or a combination thereof. Shedding time gets misting to help along if needed, but my easterns usually shed perfect all on their own. As far as bioactive, I generally do not use for my BTs in the way bioactive is thought of. I have a colony of buffalo beetles (sometimes called lesser mealworm) that do similar work to that of dermestids. They eat random shed pieces, fecal matter, leftover food scraps and whatnot. They do not bother the lizards. In my more humid enclosures for frogs, anoles, water dragons, inverts etc. I use isopods.

[aronoiiel]

Hi thank you so so much for the respinse! The breeder I want to get one for uses oh I think its aspen shavings? So I wanted that set up for when baby arrives to ease the change. Again still in the future. Should I just do the soft mix instead then? I really want to avoid any ahedding problems thar scares the beana out of mean. I have been lucky my beardie hasnt had any bit I am very attentive to when she is in shed to.

And if I may ask so you can do like a partial bioactive aeruo where you have a clean up crew but no plants? Do you worry about the skinks eating the bugs and getting substrate ingested? Thats my biggest worry given the fewrs of impaction.
Tha k you alot foe your answer I appreciate it alot! Im still nee to the reptile keeping world and have been researching foe over a year for a skink I want to do this right like my dragon ^_^

[splashy07]

I would not use plants for the simple reason that they'll just be constantly digging them up. Simple setups are best. I would not use aspen under any circumstances for BTs. Some use it because it is easy clean up. Not good. Babies should not be kept on substrate at all, I keep my new babies on newspaper. Easy to see what comes out of them, and no worries about dropped food into the substrate and being ingested. The cleanup bugs I use are for my adults only and the skinks would not bother with such a tiny insect, the bugs are quite secretive anyway.

[aronoiiel]

So neespaper is best then got it. At what age roughly should they be on substrate? Aspen is 100% out then. Which is fine I love the idea of giving them a good burrowing substrate with less chance of eye poking. Oh cool about the bugs thank you for that info! Thank you alot for this its the only issue I havent been able to figure out with all the options so it means alot taking the time explaining things to me ^_^ my beardie is on tile so loose substrate will be new for me

[splashy07]

At around 5-8 months I'll switch them over to substrate, give or take.