Importance of Proper Humidity and Maintenance

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One of the most common ways for keeping adequate humidity levels in the tank of your Blue Tongue Skink is green substrate and plants. Some of the more common bedding or substrate options that you have include Aspen shavings, Lizard Litter, Bed-A-Beast or Repti-Bark which are famous substrate products for reptiles. You can also get your hands on coconut fiber to substitute as substrate for the tank.

Out of all of these options, Aspen shavings are the most preferred ones simply for the reason that they are absorbent, cheap and light. The skink can have a pretty good time burrowing themselves in them and cleaning up after the reptile in these shavings is a simple job as well. However, you have to see which kind of Aspen shavings you are getting; make sure they are the filtered type. They should also not be the rabbit type of Aspen shavings because these kinds are like splinters and the reptile can actually hurt itself trying to burrow in it.

It is a good idea not to use newspaper as the bedding on the tank’s floor because it will leave ink. While you can consider other natural substrate and plants for the tank, stay away from aromatic products and pine and cedar products since them simply to not agree with the blue tongued skink. If you want the tank of the lizard to look good with substrate and to provide the optimal humidity, a good idea is to talk to a skink expert of a vet about the options that you have.

Remember, the tank of the reptile must never be too damp because a damp terrarium with substrate invites the growth of bacteria. So do not pour water in the tank or spray the substrate with water; if you have a water bowl then that combines with Aspen shavings will provide all the humidity the reptile needs.

Another way of increasing humidity is ultraviolet rays which you can set up using UV lamps and adequate bulbs. As with the heat lamps, it is your job to make sure that the UV rays are not too close or too far away from the blue tongue skink reptile. All in all, the humidity levels in the tank should be 25% to 40% and if they are low, you will notice the drying up of the reptile’s scales. In such a case, you can use cigar humidifiers which work effectively and you can use digital hygrometers to keep track of the humidity levels inside the tank.