I'm glad her cuts aren't as bad as I imagined, I assume that she is cutting her head on the objects in her tank that she is burrowing under.
As far as the calcium sand (Vitasand is the same thing) it's horrible stuff, just as deadly as the crushed walnut shells. The problem with calcium sand is that the added calcium in the sand causes it to turn into a cement when it gets wet. So imagine regular old sand, like play sand or beach sand. When it gets wet it gets dense and heavy, and that can be hard for them to pass if they eat it...But Vitasand or any type of calcium sand is meant to attract them to eat it, the scent and taste is designed for them to like it. So there is a much better chance that they'll eat it. But the horrible thing about that is when the calcium sand gets wet it cakes up and Actually hardens! You can see that for yourself if you wet some down, it immediately turns to a caked-up cement. And that's how it dries. So when they swallow it and it sits in their stomachs like that, they have absolutely no chance of passing it on their own, and the only way to save them is by surgery. At least with screen washed play sand, like they sell at Home Depot or Lowe's, they aren't tempted to eat it because there are no additives that are meant to tempt them. And if they do swallow a little accidentally, the play sand is fine enough that they can usually pass a few specs. They eat a ton of the calcium sand and they're dead. Or you have a $1,000+ vet bill to surgically remove it because it's in their stomach hard as a rock.
Now something else to think about here...If you must use sand in his tank then please, I beg you, immediately remove the calcium sand and put down paper towels until you can get to Lowe's or Home Depot to buy some screen-washed play sand. I've seen so many Beardies killed by calcium sand, crushed walnut shells, and different types of bark that I cannot tell you how important it is for you to remove all of that stuff immediately. I assume that in the next year or so they will not even sell it anymore, and if they do there will be a lot of warnings and directions on the bag as to not use it for Beardies. But also, in your situation, your beardie is actually hurting herself by digging into her sand, underneath her bowls, caves, etc. in her tank. So my best advice to you is to use NO SAND AT ALL, only solid substrates like tiles, paper towels, even Reptile carpet is better (personally I love paper towels because I just remove them, throw them away, and put new in their tanks; use a double or triple layer and you hardly have to clean the bottom of their tank but maybe a quick wipe down once a week). I'm willing to bet that if you remove all sand and use a solid substrate in her tank like paper towels she will stop digging under her stuff and stop cutting her head! You should then get a Rubbermaid or plastic container separate from her tank (cheap at Walmart or Big Lots) and fill it with play sand (50 pound bag is $3.75 at Home Depot!) and wet the sand slightly, and then use this as her lay box when you think she's ready to lay. Don't put any caves, bowls, rocks, etc., nothing in the lay box, and she'll just lay her eggs, won't cut herself any more, and then she'll have a 100% safe enclosure. And if you want something that looks really nice for her enclosure floor you can eventually go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy some stick-on floor tiles that look really nice for her substrate. Then you just wipe them up with disinfectant and you're done, and some of the tiles look really awesome, like a sandy or rocky floor. But no risk of severe impaction and death, or constant bacterial and fungal infections that any type of sand is prone to harboring, no smells (that calcium sand stinks), and best of all, no vet bills for a sick, I hired, or dying beardie...
Seriously, I have a master's degree in Animal Health Science and worked at the Animal Diagnostics Lab at Penn State University. I've owned reptiles all my life, I'm now 37 and have 3 Beardies, 2 I've owned since they were a month old and they're both huge, healthy, happy, beautiful Beardies, my oldest girl is 8 months old and is almost 400 grams and over 18 inches long and she's not done growing, and my other little girl who is only 2 months old is heading in the same direction. Unfortunately my third beardie, an 11 month old male named Nix that I adopted from a family who loved him very much but didn't know how to care for him, well I've had Nix for a little over a month now, and the entire first week and a half I had him I thought I was going to lose him every single day due to what was easily the worst impaction I have ever seen. Nix is older than my girl but is only 14 inches long and now skinny as a rail. I got him on a Saturday night, drove him back home the 3 hour drive I made to pick him up, and I immediately started intense treatment for impaction, as he had no use of his back legs at all. His first real bowel movement was Sunday night after 3 feedings of different meds and laxative foods, he went to my Certified Reptile Vet Monday, then again Thursday and again Friday. I spent over $500 and we decided on surgery the next week to remove the impaction. On Saturday he again had a bowel movement, then again on Sunday, and started using his legs again...So he had 3 bowel movements in the first week I had him after intensive, all-day treatments for severe impaction. I cannot describe to you how large these 3 bowel movements were, or how rock solid, but I swear if you combined the 3 bowel movements he had that week it would equal the size of at least 2 of him, maybe 3 of him. I've never seen anything like it, and that stuff was inside him for at least a month based on what his previous family told me. He could pass tiny, normal bowel movements past the mass in his intestines, but not a normal bowel movement and the mass pressed against his spine and partially paralyzed him. He can now walk but not well, he uses his front legs only. He lost half his body weight when he passed the impaction, so his prior family had no idea how skinny he actually was because the mass of calcium sand inside his gastrointestinal tract was so large that it made him look like he was of normal weight, when in reality he was extremely thin and malnourished. Yes, it was brown calcium sand, it was Zoomed brand (Zoomed is a great Reptile company) and it's actually called "Bearded Dragon Calcium Sand"...So I spent over $500, almost a lot more had he not passed the impaction, and poor Nix has permanent damage to his spine because of this sand. And the worst part by far was watching this sweetheart of a beardie struggling to pass that junk. His beard would suddenly turn black as coal and he would strain so hard that his hips would snap and crack...He suffered so much because of a product that is marketed as being safe for him...So please, ditch all of the sand ASAP...
