Female being territorial?

IzzyLou24":1uoj8a4i said:

kingofnobbys":1uoj8a4i said:

IzzyLou24":1uoj8a4i said:

kingofnobbys":1uoj8a4i said:

Another point, what's the gravelly stuff I can see in the picture.

Not a good or safe substrate for bearded dragons , high impaction risk. I'd get rid of that stuff and replace with nonparticulate substate.

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It's corn cob, very soft, foam like substrate. Not caused any problems with my partner's 6yo beardie who's been on it for 5 years but I'm planning on swapping out half the vivarium for tiles (the side with the food). Saphira loves to hide under her log and dig out the substrate to create a wall for hiding so I don't want to take that away from her

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Corn cob bedding is highly absorbant = a perfect media for bacteria, viruses and mold, and will be also make it harder to control the relative humidity in the tank. For those reasons alone I'd be ditching it , might be for rodents and mammals and birds , but not for arid zone reptiles to live on.

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So what loose substrate would you recommend? NONE . , I've never used particulate substrates for my dragons , closest they get is a few layers of kitchen grade paper toweling spread over their rearing tubs' bases or over the tiles in the big timber tanks.

Thank you for the advice and diagrams ?

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kingofnobbys":1zr9grtb said:

IzzyLou24":1zr9grtb said:

kingofnobbys":1zr9grtb said:

IzzyLou24":1zr9grtb said:

kingofnobbys":1zr9grtb said:

Another point, what's the gravelly stuff I can see in the picture.

Not a good or safe substrate for bearded dragons , high impaction risk. I'd get rid of that stuff and replace with nonparticulate substate.

Click to expand...

It's corn cob, very soft, foam like substrate. Not caused any problems with my partner's 6yo beardie who's been on it for 5 years but I'm planning on swapping out half the vivarium for tiles (the side with the food). Saphira loves to hide under her log and dig out the substrate to create a wall for hiding so I don't want to take that away from her

Click to expand...

Corn cob bedding is highly absorbant = a perfect media for bacteria, viruses and mold, and will be also make it harder to control the relative humidity in the tank. For those reasons alone I'd be ditching it , might be for rodents and mammals and birds , but not for arid zone reptiles to live on.

Click to expand...

So what loose substrate would you recommend? NONE . , I've never used particulate substrates for my dragons , closest they get is a few layers of kitchen grade paper toweling spread over their rearing tubs' bases or over the tiles in the big timber tanks.

Thank you for the advice and diagrams ?

Click to expand...

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Okay, so what do you recommend I do to encourage Saphira's digging? Clearly she enjoys it and I won't take away one of the activities that helps her feels safe. She's a very anxious beardie who was raised corn cob, so she's been digging up a wall to keep her safe as long as she can remember. I'm not taking that away from her

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IzzyLou24":2aehnpwa said:

Clearly she enjoys it and I won't take away one of the activities that helps her feels safe. She's a very anxious beardie who was raised corn cob, so she's been digging up a wall to keep her safe as long as she can remember. I'm not taking that away from her

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claudiusx":2o2n36iy said:

IzzyLou24":2o2n36iy said:

Clearly she enjoys it and I won't take away one of the activities that helps her feels safe. She's a very anxious beardie who was raised corn cob, so she's been digging up a wall to keep her safe as long as she can remember. I'm not taking that away from her

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She is your dragon. You know her and you are who is solely in charge of her care. Of course loose substrates are more of a risk than solid substrates, but that's not to say they are in fact risky. I personally dont use loose substrate with my dragons, but I also respect the fact that some do. I did in the past and had no issues with it. I like solid now for ease of cleaning and the lack of dust.

Continue to use the loose substrate if you want, just pay attention to your dragon it's as simple as that. If issues start arising from it you can always change it out. I know a lot of breeders who use a type of alfalfa pellet of sorts for their dragons. And I know some who only use solid surface substrates like I do.

I have no experience with the corn cob substrate so cant speak much for that. I used to use playsand.

-Brandon

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