Dig Box or Bio Active Tank?

[HenryLucifer]

Hello! i have a 5 month old bearded dragon and i heard that some of his behavior might be due to the fact he might need a dig box. someone told me that i should try a dig box, while someone else said i should try a bio active tank. Does anyone have advice? What would be the best substrate to use, flax seed? Thanks




also this is my tank setup

and this is Henry :lol:

 

[CooperDragon]

A bioactive setup takes a lot more time and effort to get set up properly but tends to work well in the long run if you want to put forth the effort to do it properly. Dig boxes for egg laying are usually damp play sand and topsoil mixture but that doesn't apply if your dragon is a male. The traditional dig box can be messy so you may want to put in a pile of something like fleece blankets or fleece scraps that will allow digging and burrowing. Those are soft and also easy to clean if needed.

 

[HenryLucifer]

A bioactive setup takes a lot more time and effort to get set up properly but tends to work well in the long run if you want to put forth the effort to do it properly. Dig boxes for egg laying are usually damp play sand and topsoil mixture but that doesn't apply if your dragon is a male. The traditional dig box can be messy so you may want to put in a pile of something like fleece blankets or fleece scraps that will allow digging and burrowing. Those are soft and also easy to clean if needed.

so if my baby is male he can’t use a dig box with topsoil and plays sand? or can he still use it? i’ve also seen flax seed as the material, would that be good? :?

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah he can use it if he wants to dig around, it just gets a bit messy. I don't think seeds would hold a burrow for him very well so I'd look for something a little more solid or with the ability to hold a shape that he digs into it, at least to an extent.

 

[HenryLucifer]

what would you recommend, topsoil?

 

[MrSpectrum]

Regarding a dig box, I think first you need to determine his/her sex. Males just don't need one, and any scritching around they do on a rough tile substrate will help maintain their claws/nail (so you don't have to).

Bioactive for a bearded dragon is a Con-Sub. I thought they were a cool idea, but the more I looked into them, the more I was convinced they're not appropriate for arid climate lizards like BDs.
The Best (And Safest) Substrates for Bearded Dragons
Choosing The Best Substrate for a Bearded Dragon
Choosing the Best Substrate for Bearded Dragons

 

[williamk34]

Hey there I see you're looking at bioactive setups or possibly a digging box it's just a simple myth that you can't have an arid reptiles in a bioactive setup they will do perfectly fine you just have to do it right just like anything that you do doing something wrong will harm your animal copper dragon is 100% right it does take a good bit of time and effortboth of my bearded dragons are on bioactive setups they have been since they were relatively Young. You said you're dragging its 5 months old right now would be the time if you're going to do it to do it. the big problem is the way that most dragons are kept is considered a sterile environment you can get them sick if you put a older dragon in a bioactive setup that hasn't been in one beforethe possibility is there though I haven't actually experienced it myself but it's why I prefer to recommend doing it to the younger animals it doesn't bother them I have never ever had any issue as long as it's done correctly bearded dragons are a burrowing species digging is part of their natural response some do it more than others a fleece blanket is probably the cheapest alternative to give them the stimulus that they are digging something they can manipulate easily. but I will tell you and this is not a complete list but this will just give you a general idea what's really needed when it comes to a bioactive setup develop your own opinion and see if you think it's right for you you can private message me and I can give you more details and show you mine. just like how you would do with a normal set of the right cage makes everything I find two enclosure types to be very effective Carolina cages with a background so they won't be bothered by their reflection. And then an open-top melamine cageI always prefer open-top cages or at least one side with a large screen on top of it best for ventilation I find the little side vents unless you have a fan for me personally doesn't work as well. Especially when you have a lot of desert climate animals in the same room tends to get hot and stay hot so just like a normal set up ventilation is key. You can do if I have a active setup in a 40-gallon enclosure it's just a little bit harder messing with that stuff but you can do it personally I recommend 4 by 2 by 2 as the smallest to do a bioactive closure just makes it easier with the more space I use 120 gallon enclosures for my dragons. When it comes to the soil you will either need what type of soil mixture that holds moisture in the layers or if you don't have one of those or don't want to spend the money on one of those you can usually do it yourself but it tends to still be a little expensive if you don't have time to do it yourself I mean making the mixture I always recommend the bio dude some of the best stuff I've worked with comes from him. next you're going to need some Bioshock it is beneficial fungus has the type that usually go after the nasties beneficial fungus and bacteria usually those words to scare people but all it's doing is ensuring your plants get the nitrogen cycle you can look up what type of plants are safe for your bearded dragon elephant feet is always a fun one for them they can eat it climb on it all that sort of stuff and have no issueand mint is also a good one makes the cage smell little better you'll need a cleanup crew isopods springtails and dark wing beetlesjust there's some superworms in before you put your dragon and you've got your darkling beetles I've had them in for over a year now and I haven't had them be bothered by them at all the darkling beetles tend to avoid my dragons since my dragons eat them. If you do put plants in it you will need to get a photosynthesis bulb long LED bulbs there's a wide selection of them and that's the basics. I've had my bearded dragons on it for majority of their life and haven't had a single issue. I also keep my ackie monitors in a bioactive setup and they come from a much more harsh and hot climate I have no issue keeping desert reptiles in bioactive setups. "Not trying to start a flame war in argument just giving a basic idea"

 

[MrSpectrum]

"Not trying to start a flame war in argument just giving a basic idea"

Then please don't make statements like:

it's just a simple myth that you can't have an arid reptiles in a bioactive setup

A difference of opinion is not a "simple myth"--it's a difference of opinion.

Your lengthy post is a prime example of why, IMO, bioactives are not a good idea for arid clime reptiles, especially for first-timers.
Things do have to be set up exactly right, and maintained exactly right. And they are very unforgiving--not always, but often--requiring starting over from scratch if/when something isn't exactly right.

One more thing you forgot to mention besides the additional time & effort: the cost; more expensive to set up properly, more expensive to maintain properly, and more expensive to replace if/when something goes wrong.

Maybe I'm wacky ?, but I got a bearded dragon, and built a safe, easy to maintain enclosure to spend my time enjoying raising the little barstad--not spending as much or more of my time monitoring, maintaining, & futzing with the enclosure's ecosystem than with my dragon. YMMV, and obviously does. That doesn't make one of us right and the other a "myth". We're just into different aspects of the hobby.

I'll leave the rest of the cons for people to look into & decide for themselves.

 

[williamk34]

"Not trying to start a flame war in argument just giving a basic idea"

Then please don't make statements like:

it's just a simple myth that you can't have an arid reptiles in a bioactive setup

A difference of opinion is not a "simple myth"--it's a difference of opinion.

Your lengthy post is a prime example of why, IMO, bioactives are not a good idea for arid clime reptiles, especially for first-timers.
Things do have to be set up exactly right, and maintained exactly right. And they are very unforgiving--not always, but often--requiring starting over from scratch if/when something isn't exactly right.

One more thing you forgot to mention besides the additional time & effort: the cost; more expensive to set up properly, more expensive to maintain properly, and more expensive to replace if/when something goes wrong.

Maybe I'm wacky ?, but I got a bearded dragon, and built a safe, easy to maintain enclosure to spend my time enjoying raising the little barstad--not spending as much or more of my time monitoring, maintaining, & futzing with the enclosure's ecosystem than with my dragon. YMMV, and obviously does. That doesn't make one of us right and the other a "myth". We're just into different aspects of the hobby.

I'll leave the rest of the cons for people to look into & decide for themselves.

well all I'm going to say in my opinion it is simply just a myth I have multiple arid animals two bearded dragons ackie monitors I have worked with plenty of other ones both my bearded dragons are in fully bioactive enclosures I do very minimum amount of maintenance just have to replace the biodegradables every once in awhile since they do break downI've never not even once not even when the severe rains come to my area and the humidity is extremely high do I have any problems with humidity in their enclosures. No I will admit it's not for first time unless they prepare themselves some people get the hang of it quicker than the others. Before I started my own business I worked in a reptile house for 10 years building and designing enclosures mostly worked with monitor lizards. Almost two years ago now I started my research on bearded dragons looked up their environment seen their wide range in Australia hunted down what I found to be the best materials yes I may have had some questions whenever I dealt with my first one but it didn't take very long to figure it out and here I am now with two bearded dragons flourishing no issues I've taken them to the a very good repti vet in Pittsburgh closest place for me. so yes I was new to bearded dragons and I had already decided on the course of action I wanted to go on to but yes you are absolutely right I was not a new person to the reptile trade though. But saying that it is not appropriate not possible so on and so forth in my opinion is just false just like in your opinion it's not appropriate. Some people find it harder to maintain personally I don't but like I said I'm used to it personallyI find tropical environments to be a lot harder to actually maintain because they are more on a teeter too much in one direction can cause disaster from my experience you have a little bit more playing room before it becomes a problem.

 

[Claudiusx]

I'm sure the OP appreciates BOTH of you two sharing your thoughts and opinions. Lets just leave it at that now that you both have given your thoughts. Otherwise these types of things typically evolve into two just arguing with eachother over their opinions.

Personally, I think bioactive tanks are cool, but from the outside looking in, they look like a lot of work. Caveat, I have never tried so that is an opinion not based off of personal experience. I thought raising silkworms were intimidating and a lot of work too until I tried actually doing it.
Sometimes just doing something and getting experience in it is worth the effort. Then you can come to your own opinion.

If you want to provide an area to dig, I would probably just start with a box (or sectioned off area in the tank) of playsand. For 5 bucks you can test it out and if it's a bust, well you only spent 5 bucks testing something as opposed to much more to test out whether or not you like bioactive.

-Brandon

 

[MrSpectrum]

But saying that it is not appropriate not possible so on and so forth in my opinion is just false just like in your opinion it's not appropriate.

Where did I say something wasn't possible? Please don't put words in my mouth.
Opinions cannot be false or wrong--only different, and I believe we've established we both stand by our respective ones.

We're in agreement on a lot of the rest of it.