How to Set Ideal Humidity For Blue Tongue Skink Species?

Humidity is another very important aspect of a blue tongue skink’s enclosure. Ideal humidity levels will allow your blue tongue skink to stay healthy, while very low or high levels can cause problems. In this post, we will cover ideal humidity for various blue tongue skink species, how to measure them, keep them optimal, as well as how to raise or lower humidity in a blue tongue skink tank.

Ideal humidity levels for various blue tongue skink species

The most important thing to remember is that you MUST NOT keep humidity levels high CONSTANTLY for species that need higher levels. You should try increasing humidity for few hours to peak at highest level (can be at night). But let the cage dry out during the day.

This will avoid bacterial or fungal growth, that can lead to skin or respiratory infections! Humidity + high temps = bacterial growth.

So, as you can see, blue tongue skinks generally require quite moderate humidity levels, apart from Indonesian subspecies (mainly true Indonesian, Merauke, Kei island and especially Halmahera). Irian Jay and Tanimbar blue tongues also need higher levels of humidity.

Please note that not all of these blue tongue skink species are great to keep as pets. Some blue tongue skink species or subspecies are vulnerable or even endangered in the wild, so you should avoid keeping them as pets.

For example, Centralian, Western, Adelaide pygmy are quite rare in the wild and market, and should not be normally kept as pets.

How to monitor humidity levels in a blue tongue skink tank?

To monitor humidity levels in a blue tongue skink tank, you will need to place hygrometers (humidity gauges) in the cage. Most thermometers come with humidity gauges, but if not, you can get separate humidity gauges.

Make sure to get digital hygrometers with a probe like this, to get more accurate readings. A probe can be placed in a specific spot of the tank to measure humidity. Don’t get analog hygrometers, as they tend to be very inaccurate.

To be getting a complete view of humidity in the tank, please get 2-3 hygrometers. Place one in a hot spot near the ground, one in cool spot near the ground, and one in the middle. This is because humidity will be different in various sides of the tank.

How to reach ideal humidity levels in a blue tongue skink tank?

First of all, depending on your blue tongue skink species, you will need to make the right choice when choosing substrate. There are also different ways to raise or lower humidity, which will be discussed below.

How to increase humidity in a blue tongue skink tank?

Even if you need to increase humidity levels, never pour water on the substrate or keep the tank wet all the time. This will only harbor bacteria and cause various infections in your skink.

Increasing humidity is preferred during the evening/night for few hours, and letting the tank dry during the day. For blue tongues that need higher humidity, let the humidity be at around 60% during the day, and peak at 70-80%, or even 90-100% for Halmahera skinks.

Increasing humidity is important when your blue tongue skink starts shedding. Dry scales indicate that your blue tongue needs more humidity. Few of the methods to increase humidity in a cage are:

Tip 1: Use correct substrate

With blue tongue species that need higher humidity, please choose filtered aspen wood shavings or coco fiber. Although aspen shavings are not the best to hold moisture, they are still one of the best substrates for blue tongues. The best substrates for blue tongue skinks with higher humidity requirements are:

• Coco fiber like this – coco fiber can also be mixed with 30% peat moss, sphagnum moss or topsoil – or you can mix some of all.
• Coconut fiber/chip substrate like this
• Cypress much like this, mix with some topsoil or sphagnum moss
• Bioactive substrate mix – can be made with coco fiber, leaf litter, sphagnum moss all mixed together
• Aspen wood shavings mixed with some sphagnum moss

Please do not get Reptibark for your blue tongue skink, or any sand, conifer wood shavings, cat litter, sawdust and more. You can still use filtered aspen wood shavings (good for blue tongues), and raise humidity in other way if required.

You can find a full list of good and bad substrates for your blue tongue skink here.

Tip 2: Introduce a large water bowl

Introducing a large water bowl in a tank will help to increase humidity levels in a tank. Blue tongue skinks enjoy soaking in water, but they are bad swimmers.

So, make sure to place a large dish that your blue tongue can lay in at least partially, but it must not be wider than 2-3 inches (5cm-7.7cm). If your blue tongue skink is not very big, you can get an extra large reptile water dish like this.

But if your blue tongue skink is big and enjoys soaking, you might use a large ceramic dish or casserole dish like this, that will allow soaking and will add humidity to the tank.

To increase humidity with a water bowl, place it in the middle of the tank. That will help more water evaporate from the dish. Don’t place it on a cool side (too cold to help evaporate), or hot side (too much water will evaporate and water will get hot).

Tip 3: Get a humidifier or fogger

Once again, if you have a blue tongue skink that needs higher humidity, you need to raise levels for half of the day, letting the tank dry during the other half.

You can turn on a fogger or humidifier for few hours, to let the tank reach higher humidity levels. But don’t forget about ventilation. Don’t shut off ventilation, because it will create stagnant air and very temperatures. Example of foggers include:

• High pressure misting system like this
• Reptile fogger like this

Depending on your skink’s needs, you can use various setting misting options and programmable cycles. Please let the tank to dry out after misting it.

A good tip when using foggers is to put it on a low setting at night, because with low night temperatures, water won’t evaporate too fast and you will get higher humidity levels.

Also, you might consider putting the fogger hose on top of a water bowl, because it can leak some water. You don’t want the substrate to get wet, so that’s a good way to prevent that.

How to lower humidity in a blue tongue skink tank?

For blue tongue species that need lower humidity levels, you will need to think about keeping them lower.

Tip 1: Use correct substrate

For blue tongues that need lower humidity levels, the best substrate options are:

• Filtered aspen wood shavings, larger chips like this
• Cypress much without any additions
• ReptiChip like this
• Sugar cane mulch

If your blue tongue needs very low humidity, such as Shingleback skinks, definitely settle with pure cypress mulch or aspen wood shavings. Other species will be fine with some extra humidity.

You can read a full post on best substrates for blue tongue skinks here.

Tip 2: Allow proper air flow

While air flow is crucial for both low and high humidity requiring skinks, low humidity requiring ones need it especially.

To create proper air flow in the tank, make sure to have an air screen on top of the tank, which is often a mesh top. If you have a DIY tank, you can add extra vents by drilling and installing vent openings.

What is more, you can use air conditioning in the room, to help ventilate the area better and allow humidity to leave the tank. You can even also use a fan in the room.

Tip 3: Put a water bowl on a cool side

Do not put your blue tongue’s water dish under the hot lamp or near a basking spot. This will cause water to evaporate quickly, causing higher humidity levels. If your blue tongue is not a fan of soaking, you can also use a smaller water dish, or at least move it away from the hot spot.

Tip 4: Don’t soak the substrate

Please avoiding pouring any water or soaking the substrate. This will harbor lots of bacteria and cause infections in your skink. Just having a water bowl will help your blue tongue soak and hydrate.

Tip 5: Use a dehumidifier

While there’s most probably won’t be a need to use a dehumidifier, it’s still an option. The only species of blue tongue skinks that need very low humidity levels are Shingleback blue tongues (20-30%).

If your humidity gets higher and you cannot lower it other way, you can start using a dehumidifier in a tank or outside the tank. To use outside the tank, you can get any dehumidifier that will lower humidity in the room in general.

But there are also dehumidifiers that you can use in a tank, such as this compact renewable gel dehumidifier. This can be left in cool side of the tank, or be hung using heavy duty strips.