substrate

[johnnyboy4783]

Honestly what does everyone use for a beardie enclosure? Thinking about getting one. i know people are gonna go nuts about the sand stuff, but it is their natural habitat but i also saw something about some gravel.

 

[geckoboy16]

i just got carpet for mine but the guy that gave me them had them in sand for 5 years with no problems.

 

[acpart]

I use ceramic tiles. I have a few that fit tightly and some smaller ones that can lift up which helps when I have to clean up the droppings.

Aliza

 

[Baker14]

Well, first off, sand is a dangerous substrate. When ingested while either chasing crickets or licking of the sand, it will cause impaction. Impaction means there is a blockage in the intetines causing lethargic geckos and eventually death. This goes for any loose substrate such as coconut husk, walnut shells, sand, calci sand, bark, moss, etc. All loose substrate is a bad idea period! It will not only cause imapction, but is hard to clean "thoroughly." It will harbor bacteria, mold, and paracites. It will accidently get caught in the geckos eye, leading to eye infections. Please be aware of these consiquences of using sand. It does not matter how old a gecko is, whether it is a baby, juvi, or an adult, sand WILL cause impaction. Some suggested substrates to use are repti-carpet, paper towels, newspaper, tile(rough tile such as slate), and non-adhesive shelf liner.
Bearded dragons live on hard packed down clay with a light layer of sand brushed over it. Besides, beardies have been known to live up to 10-20 years, while the death rate in the wild is around 3-5 years. It is impossible to create an exact habitat for a beardie as it has in the wild. The habitat needs to be functional, "safe", and realistic. It is possible for beardies to survive on sand, even if it was for 5 years, but sand DOES cause impaction, so why take the risk. Impaction doesnt jsut occur over night, it builds up little buy little over time.

 

[Baker14]

Oops, I had wrote that for geckos, then copied it over to this post, so I didnt have to write it again, and forgot to change all the words "geckos" to beardies. Disregard the geckos, think of it as for beardies.

 

[johnnyboy4783]

we all know about impaction. Impaction is probably the first thing you learn when you get into reps. not saying i would use sand, but thought about using some and and some tile to separte the substrate a little bit for something different

 

[Baker14]

Since you have geckos, and you know how bad the risk of impaction is, why would you risk it with a different species of lizard? They can both eat the sand regardless of species. I say just go with tile, there really is no need for sand.

 

[T&KBrouse]

I know this is very "unorthodox" and I will probably catch alot of flack for this. We tried calci-sand with our boy, but it was messy, stinky and just an all around PITA.
We switched to ceramic tiles, and those worked great. Easy to clean. Lots of colors. They're great at retaining heat.
Then... His tank got broken.
We got him a new tank. He hates it. In the time between his tank breaking and getting a new one, he decided the couch was his. He tolerates us sitting on it, as long as we bring him offerings of food (no more Oreos). If you don't bring him food, he crawls all over you, digging through shirt pockets, etc. trying to find where you have hid his "sitting fee."
And I am so whipped by my reptile kids, I have actually rearranged furniture to accomodate him with a good basking spot.
He has his own bed and blanket. He has a UVB light in that area, and his basking area runs about 85-90 degrees.
He also has an area set up on the back lanai to sunbathe.

Wow... I need therapy...

 

[johnnyboy4783]

HA i need to see pics of that set up

 

[reptilelovers1225]

Sand actually isnt in their natural habitat. In Australia they live on hard packed clay. They best thing to use if not repti carpet or paper towels would be textured tiles.

 

[Houdini]

A friend raised and bred beardies using sand. But you should make sure it is as fine as possible. I use sand for my beardie too and I have no problems with it. Here are some pictures of my set-up. :main_thumbsup: