Dragons

[KingBeardedDragons]

 

[Beardednoob]

Beautiful dragons! :wink:
Sand :shock:

 

[NightmareDisco]

Yeah...sand NOT good and them being housed together also not good. They are adorable

 

[KingBeardedDragons]

They all have separate cages and whats wrong with the sand?

 

[NightmareDisco]

Beardies lick things to see what they are, and they eat bugs out of the sand that will then have sand on them, so they ingest the sand and are not able to digest it. The sand can collect in their stomachs causing them many digestions problems, impaction and sometimes VERY soon after, death. Check out this link http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/impaction/?page=3

And, it is very dirty. They poo in the sand (and so does their food) and it is not possible to clean it ALL out unless you take out all the sand everyday and replace it. This can lead to pinworms and a plethora of other unsanitary infections. Sand is just a bad idea all around.
I suggest slate tiles which can be purchased cheap at Lowe's, or one of the many rolled reptile carpets you can find at almost any petstore.

Good luck, and if you have any other questions, we are always here

Edit: Sand can also discolour their skin and cause eye infections.

 

[KingBeardedDragons]

so i should replace all sand? with what is the best bedding i dont care about the cost i didnt know about this impaction crap. i will do it today if anyone can tell me what i can use besides sand????

 

[changilass]

I tiled the floor of my viv with the same tiles I have on the kitchen floor, they were spares so didn't cost anything.

Reading on here you can use kitchen towel, paper, repticarpet, basically anything that aint bitty that they are likely to eat.

Lovely dragons.

 

[NightmareDisco]

Use paper towels for now. Then get something better if you wish.

 

[KingBeardedDragons]

wont they slide on tile?

 

[NightmareDisco]

They will slide on normal tile but there are tiles that have grip/tread to them. The reptile carpets are cheap and easy to find, too.

 

[Beardednoob]

They will slide on normal tile but there are tiles that have grip/tread to them. The reptile carpets are cheap and easy to find, too.

I use reptile carpet in all 4 of my bearded dragon enclosures. It is a green product made of recycled plastics. To clean you just wash in a bucket with 90% really hot water and 10% bleach mixture. I let them soak then kind of swirl them around with a scrubber brush. Rinse until the bleach smell is gone and let dry. It is best to have 2 carpets for each enclosure. You could also just lay down paper towels or newspaper for the day they get cleaned. Carpet is also good to keep crickets from hiding as you can put some Velcro to the perimeter of the bottom of the enclosure to hold it in place (hook side), 2 inch works best. On the tile, if you use a natural unfinished stone tile, like slate they will not slide around.