My new skink, Scout!

[19russell94]

Yesterday, my first ever reptile, a baby northern bts from Debbie Mandigo came, and I couldn't be happier! He came out of the container and just chilled with me for a few seconds, then crawled onto my chest and just laid there. He spent the rest of the day calmly checking out his tank and napping on his basking rock. I put good in the tank for him, which he ignored, so I took him out a few hours later and fed him some snail bits, just to get some food in his belly. Today, I left him alone besides feeding time, when I took him out for his food. I let him explore a little bit after that.

On a side note, I half jokingly think he is potty trained. Yesterday and today he pooped only on the towel I laid out for him, when I set him on it after exploring. Today, I even saw him lift his tail up while on the floor, only for him to walk over to the towel to do his business, lol. He seems to be adjusting well, and really likes to check out all the dark spaces in my room.

I have one question, though: my humidity is currently fluctuating between 45-65% ( I'm in Fl., where the outside humidity is about 80%), so I was wondering if that was too high, and if it is, how do I bring it down? Also, what are symptoms of te humidity affecting him?

I will post pics soon, I'm still in the process of getting them from my phone to a computer!

Thanks!

[TJreptiles]

Welcome to the forum! The humidity should be fine and when he is shedding maybe even try to bring it up a bit, and the way humidity would affect him is if it was too dry. Dehydration, sunken in eyes, wrinkled skin, are some of the effects of not enough humidity.

[Fatal_S]

Excessive humidity can cause mold issues and scale rot (when the substrate is too damp), and respiratory infections (especially if the air is also cool). People in dry climates often use substrates that hold moisture (bark or mulch), while people in humid climates can use dry substrates (aspen shavings for example) to reduce the humidity in the tank.

That said, northerns are a very hardy species, so humidity is not usually a big deal for them either way. Your humidity sounds fine. Congratulations on your new baby Post pictures sometime!

[Richard.C]

X 2 what mel(fatal S) said,your humidity sounds fine,northerns are quite tolerent of reasonably dry climates any how

[Ray Gurgui]

Scout will do great here in Pinellas county, I'm only 20 minutes away from you and mine have
been here since 1992 in my garage, you know how hot it gets and how humid the air is, our weather
is made for BTS.

[Dakota]

our weather
is made for BTS.

I'm a few counties south, but I agree!

[19russell94]

Thank you guys! Your responses definitely make me feel better. The humidity is the only thing that doesn't match care sheets, so I didn't want to make him sick!