Any form of safe, loose substrate?

[chrism1]

Hey everybody!

The title pretty much says it all: is there any kind of safe, or at least ok, loose substrate to use?

 

[megagoodfeeling]

Well sifted and washed play sand is a semi decent loose substrate to use. Resembles a part of their natural habitat at least in some way and is what you are asking about.

Before I go on, I realize you might already know this, but I feel I should say it anyway. If you are going to use loose substrate, regular full substrate replacement will be MANDATORY in the enclosure that you are using it. So that means about once a month or so you will have to change out the bedding entirely, this is to minimize the risk of bacteria growth in the enclosure...which of course would lead to further health problems for the reptile.

Also, there is something called Sani-Chip; which is a blend of beech, birch, maple and very little aspen cut to a small square-like shape and heat treated. I use it for some of my reptiles and it works very well, doesn't get stuck in their stomach, the reptiles are comfortable on the substrate and it passes through their digestive system very easily. A lot of breeders use sanichip as well.

I usually pick mine up from a reptile show in PA here for about 20 bucks for a 30 lb bag (not sure the amount tbh) I believe online is around that price as well.

There is talk of using alfalfa meal, but I find that it is very dusty and holds moisture way too much. When I changed out the bedding it was very hard and clumpy (luckily no mold) so long story short I learned my lesson and will never use that again.

Straight shredded aspen (the kind for hamsters and whatnot) is not a very good choice due to the toxins it gives off because it is not treated properly to withstand the high temps of basking lights for reptiles! please don't use that kind of loose substrate

*if you are going to use playsand* please sift it very well and then wash it very very very well and let it bake in the sun outside for a day or two (24 hours, not just 8 hours while you are at work).

other than that there really isn't many other options that I have personally heard of for loose substrate. You will get people that will preach using tile and whatnot, while it is safer, I know some people who get grossed out by wiping the stool off by hand using baby wipes and some that just don't want to cut the tile to size or get it cut(i've heard this excuse). I personally use loose substrate because my bearded dragon seems to be a LOT more comfy on it then tile (it really stressed him out for some reason, I tried everything).

Best of luck! I've tried every substrate on the market to my knowledge so if you have any questions please ask!

 

[chrism1]

Hey, thanks for the reply! And sorry for my late response!

I've heard about Sani-chips, as well. Many of the people I've spoken to told me to avoid any loose substrate because beardies might ingest them, but they've never used them. But your experience kinda settled my fears about it, so I went ahead and got some for my dragon.

So far Domo lives it! He burrows into it, and all though he licks the substrate sometimes, he doesn't eat it, which is what the other people had me worried about. He has also been pooping normally, even though I noticed he had ingested some of the chips while hunting crickets. I'm kinda worried though because I've noticed some longer, non-square shaped pieces of the substrate here and there and I hope this doesn't bother him if he were to ingest it.

Thanks for your help though! Sani-chips seem great so far

 

[ozzybabe77]

I've never heard of Sani-Chips before... I've been looking to see if there was any kind of substrate I could use (I'm currently using tile, but Ozzy doesn't seem to like it - he hardly moves at all, choosing to sit under the basking light all day unless you take him out). I was wondering how big the chips are? I Googled them, and it seems like there are lots of different grades of the stuff, and I'm worried that if I were to get them too small, he may eat them?
Also, if someone could explain this to me, I've never understood what's so bad about the walnut shell bedding?

 

[Mistyck]

There is still the possibility of the dragon licking the substrate and ingesting it. No matter what particle substrate you use, there is that possibility. That then gives way to the possibility of the dragon becoming impacted.

There is no "safe" form of loose substrate out there because of the possibilities.

And if you're going to use the argument of what's natural...Dragons don't live nearly as long in the wild as they do in captivity.