Can you imagine yourself happy living in a single large room with no color, furniture, decoration, and substrate? Yes, the same feeling your blue tongue skink can also experience every once in a while if you keep them in a tank having no decor. It is essential to add more color and decoration to their tank to stimulate their world. Consider looking for the Best Plants For Blue Tongue Skink.
If a blue tongue skink feels upset or down in their enclosure, they can handle stress. Unfortunately for skink alike, keeping them in such an environment can even lead to health problems.
Here, we will talk about inexpensive plant options that are not only going to add personality to your blue tongue skink enclosure but also make skinks happy to live there.
In this article, I will tell you the best plants for blue tongue skinks that make them feel more comfortable in no time. Here, I will talk about the plants that are not only safe to eat but also look great in their cage. These kinds of plants are very safe to decorate the tank and can be consumed by reptiles. Let’s take a look at the best plants for blue tongue skink.
Best Plants For Blue Tongue Skink
Here are the following plants that you can use to decorate your blue tongue skink tank and are safe to consume. Although all these plants mentioned below are safe to finish, you must observe your blue tongue skink’s poop as Its stool can tell many things about its health. It means that they are not going to feel any issue or health even if they eat any matter of those plants.
Sometimes, the following plant mentioned below can level up your skink water intake and cause their feces to be runny. If you find this kind of instance, obliterate the plant and try decorating the tank with the new plants. Let’s take a look at the 7 safest plants for blue tongue skink.
7 Safe Plants For Blue Tongue Skinks
- Tillandsia Ionantha: It is also popularly known as an air plant which would be great for a blue tongue skink environment. It gives off a cleansing, but the misting will be required. Another benefit of adding this plant to your skink’s tank is that it is difficult to nibble on due to its solid and tough leaves.
- Callisia Repens / Turtle Vine: These plants are widely found in most areas and are edible. It is also ideal for feeding other reptiles like tortoises and herbivorous lizards. You can even place its whole pot in your blue tongue skink enclosure.
Some blue tongue skink owners also consider growing some turtle Vine on their windowsill and cutting off its stems to feed their skinks. - Aloe Vera: It is safe to include in your blue tongue skink tank because it is a nontoxic plant. However, if your skink consumes too much, it will give them diarrhea too. If you want your skink not to face diarrhea, then avoid keeping live plants.
Eating a lot of plant matter will always result in diarrhea, whether it’s aloe vera plant or other species. If you are noticing your skink eating a lot of aloe vera plant matter, you might need to remove it from their tank entirely as well. - Parsley: As you know, blue tongue skink also needs protein in their diet; parsley can also be a good protein source. Although it contains a tiny amount of protein, it’s an essential nutrient for blue tongue lizards.
As you know, blue tongue skink babies need higher protein intake in their diet to help them grow faster, including it in the tank, and their diet will always be healthy. - Rosemary: Any homegrown herb like Rosemary is always a great option to include in your blue tongue skink enclosure. I have noticed blue tongue skink munching on Rosemary plants many times in my lifetime.
The most significant advantage of the Rosemary plant is its wide availability. Make sure your skink is not consuming RoseMary every time because it has excessive calcium to phosphorus ratio. It is best on an occasional basis. - Oregano: Oregano plants are a great addition to any Skink’s tank because munching on them is my favorite habit as or herbivore & omnivorous lizard. Plus, it can be grown quickly. Due to being high in calcium, it is not good to include it in their regular diet.
- Red Rooster Ornamental Grass / Carex Buchananii: The only reason to add this plant to our list is that it’s appearance closely mimics the grass found in a blue tongue skink native habitat.
It is a stand-out amongst blue tongue skinks and one of the best plants you can put in the closer enclosure. This plant is a great addition that mimics grasses found in your blue tongue skink’s natural wild native environment.
Are Succulents Safe For Blue Tongue Skinks?
Yes, succulents are safe for blue tongue skink as long as the species is nontoxic. If you are planning to decorate their tank with succulents, then make sure to monitor them closely. You need to watch if they are eating it too much or not. Overeating succulents can lead to diarrhea for your skinks.
If you are planning on decorating their tank with succulents, here are a few safe options.
3 Best Succulents For Blue Tongue Skinks
- Jade Plants
- Echeveria
- Haworthia
What Live Plants Are Safe For Blue Tongue Skinks?
It is always recommended to place live plants that are safe to consume and decorate. A hand-picked selection of the best live plants for your blue tongue skink should be included in their enclosure.
The plants that are going to be placed in the tank should be meant for your skinks to eat, jump, thrive, and climb as well. Make sure to choose the plants that can also handle their weight, nails, and well-being.
Ensure all these live plants you decide to place in their enclosure are 100% organic without any fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. Many Live plants are not only safe to include in their tank but also safe for consumption.
3 Best Live Plants For Blue Tongue Skinks
- Opuntia Danicolor Spineless Plant
- Assorted Aloe or Succulents
- Elephant Feed Mini Jade
Fake/Decorative Plants For Blue Tongue Skink Enclosure
There are many different great ways to make your blue tongue skink enclosure look beautiful and natural. Many owners opt for fake decor plants because they either don’t want their skink to consume it or put effort into maintenance.
If you don’t want to deal with the troubles of the live plant, then the artificial plants are for you. Its appealing visual is one of the benefits of having such a type of plant in a reptile enclosure. The fake plant will act just like live plants and will create a sheltered, secluded area.
Here are the following benefits of having fake plants in their terrarium
5 Benefits of Having Fake / Decorative In Skink’s Tank
- Fake plants don’t interfere with the humidity level inside the enclosure.
- Your skink cannot eat the fake plant.
- Decorative or fake plants don’t need daily or weekly maintenance.
- Easy to clean feature of fake plants attracts many reptile owners to include in their pet’s tank.
- Fake plants create a secluded and selected area for your skink.
What Do You Put In A Blue Tongue Enclosure?
There are lots of things you need to do to completely set up a fruit and skink tank to support their growth and well-being. Here are the things that you should put in a blue tongue skink enclosure.
- UVB light – Here is the proper grade to choose the best UVB bulbs for blue tongue skink.
- Heating elements and devices like thermometer and hygrometer. 2 hygrometers and thermometer should be placed on each side of the tank.
- Basking rock or log. At the hotter end of the tank, you must place a branch or a rock for their basking.
- Shallow dishes. Make sure to provide them shadow dishes or bowls where they can get their feeder insects and water.
- Adequate space to exercise and roam around. Their tank must have enough room for skinks to hide and play.
- Live plants. I hope I have already told you the live plants that are safe to keep in your skink’s tank and you can also feed them.
- Substrates. Here is the guide to the best substrates for blue tongue skinks.
Do Blue Tongue Lizards Eat Plants?
Yes, Blue tongue lizards do eat plants, and it matters. In the wild, they primarily feed on wildberry plants and their other varieties. You are likely to find a bunch of these lizards acclimating and feeding on plants matter in the wild.
Plants like rhubarb, commerce sage, basil, aloe vera, philodendron, dwarf jade plants, basil, oregano, haworthia plant, and nontoxic succulents are safe to feed blue tongue lizards.
What Flowers Can Blue Tongue Skinks Eat?
The flower should not take a significant portion of the diet. Consider feeding them flowers as a treat only. Few flowers like roses & orchids are safe for your beard blue tongue skink to consume.
9 Best Flowers For Blue Tongue Skinks
- Spider plants
- Dandelions
- Roses
- Orchids
- Carnations
- Hibiscus
- Geraniums
- Peperomia
- Sunflower
Final Thoughts
Wrapping Up: many plants are safe to include and place in a blue tongue skink enclosure, but most of them will end up giving diarrhea to your skink if consumed excessively. A blue tongue skink eats lots of plant matter present in their tank, resulting in running feces. I would recommend you look at the fake plant options to decorate your tank.
The plants that have been mentioned above are entirely safe for your blue tongue skink consumption and environment. However, there are many plants too that are safe to consume and place in their tank.
I hope I have given you all the information needed on the best plants for blue tongue skinks. please share this article to help other fellows with their skinks and tanks. Most people end up placing the wrong plant in their skink enclosure which results in a serious threat to their pet’s health. Do check our other particle.
I have shared a comprehensive, detailed article on how to care for the blue tongue skink. I hope I will get another chance to help you out through another article; till then, take care and goodbye.
94% of pet owners say their animal pal makes them smile more than once a day. In 2007, I realized that I was made for saving Animals. My father is a Vet, and I think every pet deserves one. I started this blog, “InPetCare”, in 2019 with my father to enlighten a wider audience.