Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just Got my first BTS! It was a fathers day / college graduation present. The guy my bts came from said to use aspen shavings for the substrate, but would it be ok to use sand or some other type of dessert style substrate from a pet store? I just do not want to get something that may cause impactions. I've had a lot of expierience with snakes, but the only other lizard was a 6 foot iguana that died of old age a few years ago. For Bud I used astro turf but he spent all his time climbing on branches where as my new little skink would rather dig.

Hello RST:
I've kept Blue-Tongues on a variety of substrates, I've kept them on newspaper, indoor-outdoor carpet, and cypress mulch. I never tried sand or gravel.
I tend to like mulch substrates the best because they are cheap and easily disposed of. The skinks can also burrow down into the substrate easily if they want to.
Some people worry about mites in mulch. You can put it on a cooking sheet in the oven on low heat for maybe half an hour. This would kill most intruders living in the substrate. I have had no problems myself using mulch.
Hope this info helps. Good Luck!!!

I keep mine on crushed walnut shell bedding. It gives the feel of a sand-like substrate, but it is easily digested and won't cause impactions, since blue-tongues are messy eaters. Also, it is easy to sift old food, skin shed, and feces out of with a made for cage cleaning sand sifter. It is a very good light texture for easy burrowing. Aubrey

Walnut shells are not digestable. The small pieces mean that they can pass them in small quantities, but they will not breakdown in a skinks gut.

Also, be careful with them as they do have sharp edges, and can do serious damage to a skinks insides if a lot are consumed, or can iritate and do damage to their eyes.
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Craig Loose
The Blue Tongue Pages