Blue Tongue Skink Cage Maintenance

Proper cage maintenance plays an important role in keeping your blue tongue skink healthy. Keeping your skink in a clean healthy environment will virtually eliminate many of the health issues skinks are susceptible to such as, parasites, stomatitis, mites, scale rot and respiratory infections.

Daily Spot Cleaning

Simply use toilet paper or paper towels to remove fecal matter and the substrate surrounding it. If you have a juvenile skink, then you probably already know, they seem to enjoy showing off their artwork by leaving you poop murals almost on a daily basis. In this case, you can use hot water with a little soap to clean, but be sure to rinse the area very well.

You can also use a product called F10 SC. This is a disinfectant used by veterinarians and is safe for all animals, including reptiles. It kills all types of bacteria, fungi and spores. In fact, this is what I have been using for several years and highly recommend it. It is a safe and effective way to disinfect your skinks enclosure without any fear of leaving harmful residue behind, as long as you dilute it correctly. I keep a spray bottle of the diluted F10 SC solution and a roll of paper towels in every room I have animals in, just for convenience.

Monthly Cage Maintenance

Once a month or so, you will need to break down the entire enclosure and give it a thorough cleaning. Remove all furniture, food and water bowls and substrate. The easiest way I have found to remove the substrate is to just vacuum it out with a shop vac. 

Clean the tank with hot soapy water and rinse well. Be sure not to leave any soapy residue behind. Disinfect with F10 SC if you have it. Many people use a mild bleach/water mixture to disinfect but you have to be very diligent in rinsing if you choose to go this route. Be sure there isn't any smell of the bleach left in the tank before you put you skink back inside.

Scrub all furnishings prior to replacing them as well. You may find that some of your furnishing can simply be put in the dishwasher, even the rocks. You might want to give them a quick rinse before hand.

Schedule Maintenance

The easiest way to remember to do cage maintenance is to put yourself on a schedule, and stick to it.

For daily cleaning, pick a time that you know will work for you every day. Maybe you are an early riser and want to do your cleaning first thing in the morning before leaving the house or maybe evenings work better for you. Which ever it is, pick a time and make it part of your daily routine. If you clean at the same time everyday, it will just become habit.

For monthly cage breakdown, choose a day of the month, whether it be the 1st, 15th or the 30th, break the enclosure down on the same day every month. Then you won't have to try to remember when the last cleaning took place.

Another easy way to remember when it's time for a complete breakdown is to clean after each shed, which would be every 4-6 weeks, and is fine as long as you are doing daily cage maintenance.

In Conclusion

Your blue tongue skink is relying on you 100% when it comes to its health. It doesn't matter if you are tired, busy, sick or just feeling lazy, it is your responsibility to keep your skink happy and healthy. Get yourself into a routine that works for you and your skink, and stick to it.

Click here for a complete care guide on Blue Tongue Skink Care