i am having troubles deciding what substrate to switch over to. i have my blue tongue skink on shredded aspen and according to a guy in petland and some websites dedicated to BTS that is not good. do any of you have repti bark or desert snow for your lizards. is it good. thank you
Rep ti bark sucks and desert snow is effective but messy and on big enclosures quite expensive.Both hold humidity very well and are easy to clean.Repti bark gets way to hot way to fast and ounce while i was cleaning out an enclosure i had it in i got a whole bunch of splinters from that stuff.Desert snow is good but it's really messy, With desert snow trust me you will know when he poops and you have to clean it out immediately or else it will tick out like a sore thumb lol.
I would go with either these three for BTS
Cypress
Desert snow
Care fresh
Check out this care sheet for BTS it is like 5pgs long literally and one of the best i have read!
http://www.bluetongueskinks.net/care.htm pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Oh i have heard the opposite of aspen for BTS's aspen is one of the preferred substrates for them, I really would not listen to Petland to much the one buy me does not even know what "substrate" means! Nor do the understand proper Uv lighting!
I have used both of these substrates. Blue tongues like to burrow sometimes like most skinks do. Repti-bark makes it a little hard for them to burrow. This substrate is mainly for high humidity reptiles because you can mist it and it will then kick humidity out and into the reptile's enclosure. Some batches of Repti-Bark contain a little dust too. Desert Snow will allow for BTS to naturally get into the substrate and hide. Desert Snow does not really have the same humidity bearing features as Repti-Bark but, it is okay to use. An optional tweak for using Desert Snow is, line the bottom of the tank with a thin layer of Bed-A-Beast for retaining just a little damp moisture and then place the Desert Snow over the Bed-A-Beast. Now, whenever the cage gets too dry you can mist it a little. The moisture from the misting will be retained mainly and a little longer on the thin layer of Bed-A-Beast under the Desert Snow. Desert Snow dries up kinda quick if it has to be misted. Forest floor and jungle mix substrates are pretty good too.
