Beardie eating sand

[TerryG]

My bearded dragon, Shacky, is about 18" long now. I'm not really sure how old she is but I got her back in July from a pet store and she was 9" long then. Recently she has seemed a little chubby but I'm not sure if she is just eating too much or if she is even old enough to be getting ready to lay. She hasn't been restless for long periods of time or stopped eating, but she started eating her sheds which I think I saw somewhere was a sign they need more calcium so I started dusting her feeders with calcium more often. Just in case, I made her a lay box with plays sand but she doesn't seem interested in digging or burrowing at all. I had read that sometimes you just have to put them in the box for periods of time and then when they're ready they will do it. I tried doing that, but she just seems to want to eat the sand. She's done it twice and both times I took her out of the box and gave her some superworms. I'm worried that she won't be able to safely use the lay box because of her interest in consuming the sand. Is there something else I can use instead that she will be able to safely digest if she happens to eat some of it?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Is she's ingesting the sand - remove it until she's REALLY ready to lay.

Here in Australia (just checked on the local beardie board) the favoured laybox substrates are :

..... damp compacted play-sand (play sand here might be different to the stuff sold over there) in a 10L Tupperware or similar tub
or
..... damp compacted vermiculite (preferred for incubator substrate from what they say on that board)
or
..... damp compacted coir peat
see

Brunnings Easy Wetta 9L Coir Peat Brick - Don't be put off by 'Potting Mix Additive' written on the packaging, it needs a second glance, it's stating that the Coir itself is ideal as a 'Potting Mix Additive'.
Brunnings 90L Easywetta Garden Soil Coir Block - If you need lots of the stuff.

in http://www.australianbeardies.net/forum/showthread.php?5826-Easy-low-mess-laybox \
This is what a happy beardie who is ready to lay her eggs looks like in her laybox apparently ,


http://www.australianbeardies.net/forum/showthread.php?5826-Easy-low-mess-laybox&p=53925&viewfull=1#post53925

.... note how fine the substrate is

 

[TerryG]

Oh thanks! I had read other people's descriptions of how to build a lay box and they said to get "play sand like they sell at Home Depot" which is exactly what I got. It's very course--like the texture of Sugar In The Raw! The picture from your link shows substrate that looks more like dirt. When I first got her I had her in very fine textured "calci sand" and she never tried to eat that. I'll look for the soil type stuff you suggested and try that. Thank you so much!

 

[kingofnobbys]

Oh thanks! I had read other people's descriptions of how to build a lay box and they said to get "play sand like they sell at Home Depot" which is exactly what I got. It's very course--like the texture of Sugar In The Raw! The picture from your link shows substrate that looks more like dirt. When I first got her I had her in very fine textured "calci sand" and she never tried to eat that. I'll look for the soil type stuff you suggested and try that. Thank you so much!

Definitely DON'T use calci-sand .... the stuff is lethal to beardies when ingested.

The stuff in the photo is what I use mixed with leaf litter from my big bluegum for my bedding for Wriggles (my rescued eastern water skink - she loves it's feel.
It's exactly the same stuff local gardeners here use to raise seedlings and to grow plants from seed in small pots.

 

[TerryG]

Oh I know that! When I bought my Beardie the kit they gave me had that but once I got on here people told me it was dangerous so I switched it out. She is on fabric now. I was just mentioning it because of the finer texture than the play sand is.