Confused over what substrate is best

[bluenose]

 

Ive been doing lots and lots of research into bearded dragons and the best care of them. Im struggling to figure out weather or not to use sand as a substrate.

My reptile shop recommends that i use sand as its more natural for them, its so fustrating as different web sites say different things. I dont want to use anything which will harm my beardie and want something thats best and natural for him

When we first had him (at the weekend) he had wood chips but we was advised by the pet store that they hurt their feet and cause death if swallowed so at the moment hes got sand from their recommendations.

Any advice given would be a big big help

[zebrajanie]

Non adhesive shelf liner, paper towels, ceramic tile ( you won't want to seal that in), sand is possible, but you'll want to research that some more.

Hope this helps.

[ladyknite]

The first question to ask is whether or not your dragon is a baby.  IF he's a baby, you'll want to stick with something solid.  Babies have bad aim when hunting and tend to get mouthfuls of loose substrate.  Knowing how to combat this problem is something that only time and trial can teach you.

If he's an adult, then he'll do ok on sand.  Keep in mind that as a particle substrate, his area will contain bug parts, feces, urates, bacteria and other matter that you will need to learn to control.  That's not saying it isn't possible, only that it's something you should think fully about.

[bluenose]

Hiya

Hes 2 years old. He seems happy enough on sand but im worried about him health wise. I have read a few posts on here and im considering tiles. We cleaned him out Saturday and he already has a wiff

[Cat]

I'm using repticarpet. My beardie is a baby, but you can use those for adults too.

I would use sand for her when older, but the repticarpet it easier to clean. Sanitized, washed play sand is best if you're going to use sand. AVOID CALCI-SAND. If you look at it under a microscope, it's like shards of glass. This means that one or two pieces won't hurt the dragon, but if he/she ingests a whole lot they cluster together like little puzzle pieces!

I hope this helps

[perfectly_flawed]

I prefer to avoid sands completely. Unless you're able to completely empty it from the enclosure, sanitize the enclosure, and replace with clean sand very often it will harbor a lot of bacteria. I prefer to know my enclosures are as clean as I can get them. Sand also isn't natural to them in large quantities - being desert animals doesn't always mean sand animals. Their natural environment is more like a hard packed clay soil. If you're from the US, think of Nevada or Arizona and how the soil is there - it's about the same.

[bluenose]

Thank you all. One pet shop suggested a type of modelling clay so you can build mounds and hills, apparently it goes quite hard. I think i would still worry about the cleaniness and hygiene of it all.

Im actually in the UK rain, rain and more rain unfortunatley  :'(

[Kimberly n Morgana]

I have been warned about all sands, so I bought repti-carpet..... Morganas claw/toe got stuck the other night so we got her unstuck and removed the carpet.... we now are useing newspaper. Easy to clean and basically free!  She can run better on it and gets her food(bugs) usally on the first try now cause her claws arent snagging on the carpet.

 We will be upgrading to tile when she gets older. But for now I like the paper the best.

[Cat]

You can trim her nails to keep them from getting caught on the repti-carpet

[Kimberly n Morgana]

I  understand that, but if you read more about repti-carpet and the bact. it holds and allows to breed it would blow your mind.
Most sites say you can clean it once a week others go on to say to clean it once a month..... that isnt safe for the dragon let alone very healthy....

if you can get the ink free newspaper or even regular newspaper its cheap and can just be thrown away everyday to every other day.

But to each his/her own.... I will stick with the newspaper, until she gets older then onto tile