After you have bought or built a terrarium (read about choosing and getting a terrarium) for your future blue tongue skink companion, you need to start setting it up. There are different substrate options that you might use and ones that you must avoid. In this post, we will cover the best and worst substrate for your blue tongue skink’s terrarium.
Blue tongue skinks need somewhere to hide – these places are often hideouts and under the substrate. Providing your blue tongue skink with loose substrate that it can burrow in will allow your skink to dig and enjoy hiding.
What are the best substrates for your blue tongue skink?
Most species of blue tongue skinks need high temperatures and low humidity. This is why you will need to choose the substrate that will allow easy cleaning, won’t retain humidity and will be non-toxic.
But few blue tongue skink species require higher humidity, so you might choose something that can retain some humidity. You will find this information later in the post.
With loose substrate, use a feeding bowl to minimize the chance of ingestion. If you can see that your blue tongue is ingesting too much of the substrate, switch to another type of bedding.
Best blue tongue substrates
- Paper towels for your blue tongues
- Aspen wood bedding – shavings, chips
- Recycled paper (not dusty types)
- Leaf litter
- Cypress mulch
- Coco fiber
Aspen wood bedding
Aspen wood bedding is one of the best choices for any species of blue tongue skinks. It’s light, absorbs the waste and smell, and is perfect for burrowing. It also helps create a naturalistic terrarium.
Your skink’s waste will be absorbed, and you will need to clean the clumps with a scoop like this. There are two types of aspen wood bedding – shredded and shavings. Always choose filtered and hypo-allergenic (less dust that causes respiratory issues) larger shavings or chips.
This is because there will be less dust and larger pieces are less likely to be ingested or get stuck in your blue tongue skink’s nose when it’s burrowing. Don’t buy thin and dusty aspen bedding. Larger chips are better, such as this Zilla Snake and Lizard Aspen Litter.
Paper towels
Not very appealing but cheap and easy to change. Paper towels are one of the best substrate types for young blue tongue skinks, for monitoring waste or for quarantining blue tongues. You can also use paper towels if your blue tongue is sick with parasites or if you need to monitor its poop.
Newspaper is not the best choice because it contains ink that could be potentially toxic over a long period of time.
Use simple paper towels, and switch to a different substrate once your blue tongue turns around 3-4 months old. You can also use paper towels if your blue tongue is sick with parasites or if you need to monitor its poop.
Recycled paper
Recycled paper bedding is also close to paper towels, but is often shredded. It’s absorbent, light and allows burrowing. It’s also made from renewable sources. Choose shavings that are contain larger pieces. But in general, choose this substrate if you can’t find other ones.
Cypress mulch
Cypress mulch is a good option for skinks that need lower humidity, because you must keep this bedding dry (otherwise can cause bugs and mites).
Most suitable for Northern, Centralian, Shingleback, Western and Blotched blue tongue skinks. One of the good choices is this product called Forest floor.
Coco fiber
Better for lizards that need higher humidity. However, this substrate can promote growth of microorganisms and can be ingested. Used to create a bioactive setup.
What are bad substrates for your blue tongue skink terrarium?
- Reptile carpet or AstroTurf – while it can’t be ingested, it also won’t create a naturalistic environment. Blue tongues love digging and burrowing, and this takes away any chance to do so. If using reptile carpet, you will need to wash it regularly and push it down properly so that your skink can’t climb under it. Not the best substrate for a blue tongue skink.
- Walnut shells – high risk of impaction in blue tongue skinks. Blue tongue skink can ingest this substrate when eating or hunting for insects.
- Sawdust – dusty and can cause respiratory issues when your skinks inhales it.
- Conifer wood shavings – cedar, fir, pines etc. (such as Repti Bark) – they can be toxic and cause respiratory problems as they contain phenols (aromatic compounds that produce smells).
- Cat litter – dusty and can cause respiratory issues when inhaled.
- Orchid bark – impaction and injury risk.
- Soil from outside – it can be infested with microorganisms and insects.
- Large rocks – blue tongue skinks are likely to try swallowing both small and large rocks. Large rocks especially, are likely to cause impaction or choking. While not recommended, you might use small pebbles but monitor your skink and use a feeding dish.
- Sand – fine sand is very likely to cause impaction. Not recommended to use sand, but if you decide to, never use fine or sharp silica sand.
To sum it up, there are many substrates that you should avoid. But what is more, the choice of the substrate will also depend on species of your blue tongue skink.
Which substrate for a specific blue tongue species?
Most blue tongue skink species need lower humidity, but some also need higher humidity levels. The substrate choice might be different for species belonging to different humidity groups.
Blue tongue skink species that require low to medium humidity:
Northern blue tongue skink – the most popular species that need humidity of around 35-45%.
Shingleback blue tongue skink – live in dry conditions – require low humidity of around 20-30%.
Blotched blue tongue skink – need humidity of around 35-45%.
Centralian blue tongue skink – 25-40%.
Western blue tongue skink – 25-40%.
Blue tongue skink species that require higher humidity:
Irian Jaya – 40-50%, peaking to 70-80%
Eastern blue tongue skink – 40-50%.
Tanimbar blue tongue skink – 45-50%, with spikes to 70-80%.
Classic Indonesian blue tongue skink – 40-50%, with peaks to 70-80%.
Kei island blue tongue skink – 40-50%, with peaks to 70-80%.
Merauke blue tongue skink – 60-70%, with peaks to 80-90%.
Halmahera (T.gigas gigas) blue tongue skink – 65-80%, with spikes to 90-100%.
It is always better to keep the substrate bit dry rather than wet, as it’s easy to cause bacterial growth in a warm and humid enclosure. Never pour water on the substrate, and even if you raise humidity levels, let the tank dry during the day and ensure proper ventilation.
If you see your blue tongue having issues with shedding (check belly and limb scales for dryness regularly), then you might increase humidity.
Otherwise, there is no need to worry and it’s better to keep humidity in the lower range.
Best substrate for high humidity requiring blue tongue skink species:
These would be the best substrates for:
Indonesian blue tongue skink
Kei island blue tongue skink
Merauke blue tongue skink
Tanimbar blue tongue skink
Irian Jaya blue tongue skink
and especially, Halmahera blue tongue skink (need highest humidity levels of all)
- Coco fiber like this mixed with some cypress mulch, peat moss or sphagnum moss.
- Cypress mulch like this, mixed with coco fiber, sphagnum moss, topsoil
- Coconut fiber or chips substrate like this
- Leaf litter mixed with topsoil, sphagnum moss and coco fiber, to create a bioactive setup. You can also find ready bioactive substrate for sale
Depending on how much humidity your blue tongue needs (look at the table above), add more of a specific type of bedding if you decide to mix them. For example, best moisture holding substrates would be coco fiber, sphagnum moss, topsoil and peat moss.
So for Halmahera for example, the best would be mainly coco fiber (60-70%), mixed with around 20% sphagnum moss and some peat moss/cypress mulch/topsoil.
Best substrates for lower humidity requiring blue tongue skinks:
These would be the best substrates for:
Centralian blue tongue skink
Western blue tongue skink
Northern blue tongue skink
Blotched blue tongue skink
Eastern blue tongue skink
and especially, Shingleback blue tongue skink
- Cypress mulch with no additives
- Aspen wood shavings or chips with no additives, such as ReptiChip like this
- Sugar cane mulch
- Recycled paper bedding
If you would like to read a post on reaching ideal humidity levels (raising, lowering) and keeping them optimal for your blue tongue skink, read this post.