Enclosure

[pyxi]

I just use paper towel to line the cage and have recently added 2 slate tiles that Fred likes to bask on, he also has one of those waterfall things in his cage with running water, he seems to like hanging out on it.

 

[Rud3Bwoy]

where did u get that log from i like it

 

[pyxi]

Hi, I got the log decoration from Petsmart, in the fish/aquatic area section.. it was made for fish tanks but Fred loves the log, and he is a large beardie over 2' long and he fits very comfortably on it

 

[ArmBand]

I dont think you'll have any problems using that setup, looks neat. Personally, I love sand in the inclosures, but not calcisand. Some people say that loose substrate is a harbour for parasites, personally I haven't had any problems of that kind, if you just replace it once a month you should be ok. And beardies love sand, its their natural substrate, so I would recommend that, and it would look absolutely insane with that setup!

 

[MissT]

I dont think you'll have any problems using that setup, looks neat. Personally, I love sand in the inclosures, but not calcisand. Some people say that loose substrate is a harbour for parasites, personally I haven't had any problems of that kind, if you just replace it once a month you should be ok. And beardies love sand, its their natural substrate, so I would recommend that, and it would look absolutely insane with that setup!

Sand available to us is nothing like their natural habitat. Their natural habitat is hard, packed sand/dirt so almost complete solid in terms of substrate comparisons.

 

[Rud3Bwoy]

I never had a issue with sand either the only issue I had was it was staining my berdie so make sure u get sand that does not stain

 

[Jess]

There's also a huge impaction, eye infection, and URI risk with sand. Play sand is made of silica. Being exposed to dry silica sand for long periods of time has some nasty side effect. Here is the warning from a bag of Quickrete Play Sand: http://www.quikrete.com/PDFs/MSDS-B4-Playsand.pdf

 

[pyxi]

I am ok with using paper towel and now that I have 2 large slate tiles in there as well, it covers a pretty good section of the enclosure floor and Fred tends to always poop on the tiles which are easy to clean off

 

[Jess]

Good choice. :wink:
Your enclosure looks great, BTW!

 

[Rud3Bwoy]

Actually if you look at various pics of bearded dragons in aussie you would see the floor is also sandy/rocky type substance

or look at videos on youtube

if anything the substrate in aussie is far more worst than sand than we use as it has fine rocks all over the thin sandy substance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYvA2EITxJE

look at the floor there,or google pics of bearded dragons in Australia and look at the floor in the pics sandy/rocky

 

[Jess]

I know there is sand in OZ, but there is a huge difference: In the wild, the sand is not contained to a small space. If there is dust, the wind blows it away. But in a small cage, the sand is stirred up whenever a beardie moves, and instead of being blown somewhere else, the sand just sits in a dust cloud until it settles... And then it is stirred up again the next time a beardie moves. There is more than one substrate in OZ too: sand, hard-packed dirt, rocks, ect. A beardie will probably be on many different substrates during its lifetime, not just sand.

Keep in mind that a wild beardie's average lifespan is about 3 years. Any beardies who decide to become sand lickers or rock eaters don't last very long.

 

[ash0587]

just wondering, what is your basking temp on the log? I have the same enclosure and am having a really hard time getting the temps up to a good level on the basking side. what strength bulb are you using? I have two 75 watts and still not warm enough Also have to say I love the log, I'm searching for one on ebay now

 

[FfelixalEx]

The only things I'd say could be better are that there's a waterfall and sand. The waterfall raises humidity and the sand presents a high risk of impaction and eye infections so I would only change the sand the waterfall seems all right it doesn't seem like to ig of a deal. But ditch the sand