Possibly replacing play sand with some other substrate

Hello,

I am the proud mama of two juvenile beardies, newly separated, named Bandit and Banzai. For a good month now, they have been housed on children's play sand. I originally chose this substrate because Bandit likes to dig. Though they never eat on the sand, the people I talk to still seem leery of it. Right now I am leaning toward maybe replacing it with mostly tile with a box of sand or something else he can burrow in for one corner.

Any ideas or recommendations?

Thank you.

The concern with the play sand is if they poop in it or if food drops in it then it can harbor bacteria which can cause illness. I like using solid substrate (I have ceramic tile) because it's very easy to clean and keep sanitary. I put down fleece for digging. If you put a pile of fleece down they can dig and burrow a bit and it's easy to wash when needed. If you want to provide a temporary dig space then you could fill a tote bin with a mixture of damp play sand and organic topsoil. This is what is recommended for providing female dragons a place to dig and lay eggs when they need to. Keeping it separate from the main enclosure will help keep the enclosure sanitary and make it easy to replace the dig sand and keep it relatively clean.

CooperDragon":1lcy8nrn said:

The concern with the play sand is if they poop in it or if food drops in it then it can harbor bacteria which can cause illness. I like using solid substrate (I have ceramic tile) because it's very easy to clean and keep sanitary. I put down fleece for digging. If you put a pile of fleece down they can dig and burrow a bit and it's easy to wash when needed. If you want to provide a temporary dig space then you could fill a tote bin with a mixture of damp play sand and organic topsoil. This is what is recommended for providing female dragons a place to dig and lay eggs when they need to. Keeping it separate from the main enclosure will help keep the enclosure sanitary and make it easy to replace the dig sand and keep it relatively clean.

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I like those ideas. I'm not looking forward to trying to replace 50 lbs of sand every time we clean.

50lb?! I don't blame you. What a pain! Cleaning tile is easy. I spot clean it with a vinegar/water mixture and I sanitize it by baking it in the oven at 250 for about 45 min. I also keep F10SC on hand so I can spray down and sanitize the rest of the tank.

CooperDragon":2ei30k8n said:

50lb?! I don't blame you. What a pain! Cleaning tile is easy. I spot clean it with a vinegar/water mixture and I sanitize it by baking it in the oven at 250 for about 45 min. I also keep F10SC on hand so I can spray down and sanitize the rest of the tank.

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We've got a steam cleaner on order and I bet it would work great on tile too. Plus I could indulge my interior designer and try to pick good colors of tile for my babies.

I have a little 1000w steam cleaner too. It's great for getting into the nooks and crannies to do a thorough job disinfecting. It's effective against coccidia too (which I hope you don't have to deal with).

There are certainly a lot of options for tile. Slate and ceramic tend to be the best bet. Pattern is up to you but I suggest choosing something that provides a little bit of traction/friction so it's easier to walk on. That rules out the glazed stuff but still leaves lots of options. Cheap too. I picked up a 6 pack at Lowe's for around $10 and had it cut to size at the store giving me 3 sets of 2. Very easy to just swap in and out for cleaning.

CooperDragon":q4um4pk3 said:

I have a little 1000w steam cleaner too. It's great for getting into the nooks and crannies to do a thorough job disinfecting. It's effective against coccidia too (which I hope you don't have to deal with).

There are certainly a lot of options for tile. Slate and ceramic tend to be the best bet. Pattern is up to you but I suggest choosing something that provides a little bit of traction/friction so it's easier to walk on. That rules out the glazed stuff but still leaves lots of options. Cheap too. I picked up a 6 pack at Lowe's for around $10 and had it cut to size at the store giving me 3 sets of 2. Very easy to just swap in and out for cleaning.

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:lol: I am oh, so very tempted to go to Lowe's first things tomorrow morning. I can even tell myself it's better for my dragons--easier to clean, they won't have to wait for the hours it will take me to replace sand, I can find something basically slate textured that will wear down their claws a bit....I think I just look for excuses to buy them things sometimes.

Well, it's happening. I'm going to let all of you very nice, well-meaning people tell me what I should have known all along, which is that sand isn't really a good idea. I haven't seen Bandit dig in a long time anyway, but I saw a set-up I liked which involved putting some wadded-up fleece in a box for bedtime, and I think I will try something like that for him.

I found some good, heavily textured slate at Home Depot which should be steam cleanable, and we're going to install it this weekend. I just hope he doesn't get too stressed about the whole thing. :dontknow:

It will probably be cleaner and better for both my beardies in the long run, and that's what counts. I'm still debating whether to leave a little sand in the bottom of their hide-caves, since at least one of them likes to sleep there and digs around a bit to get comfortable. That's a more reasonable amount of sand that I could just vacuum up and replace at cleaning time. Thoughts? :?:

thats one fine looking piece of slate

ruben0311":3ryiwmu6 said:

thats one fine looking piece of slate

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I thought so. I just hope my beardies think the same.... :laughing6:

Bandit enjoying his super clean new tile substrate.

Well, it turns out we switched to ceramic tile pretty much just in time. Banzai and Bandit had their first wellness check with the vet and I got complimented on how healthy they are--but my Bandit had slightly elevated coccidia levels. The vet didn't seem to think it was a very serious case--he gave Bandit a single dose of medicine and sent me home with a single dose to administer two days later--but cleaning that tile so he doesn't reinfect himself is going to be way easier than trying to disinfect a pile of sand.

He also has a tendency to poop in his food dish--I never thought I'd be grateful for that but it's a lot easier on him to take out and disinfect his food dish every day than put him in a holding tank to rearrange his furniture to take out and disinfect the tile he pooped on.

Also, no verdict yet on Banzai's gender, but Bandit is definitely a boy lizard. The vet pointed out the glands and everything.

Hopefully this coccidia thing passes without serious incident--I've heard that some of the stronger medicines for it mess with their gut flora and he'll need supportive care if that happens. Not that I won't do whatever it takes, I just don't want him to have to go through a miserable experience.