I think sand is better for my bearded dragon

[Grogshla]

each to their own. If something ever happened i would not forgive myself. I house a few of my geckos on sand but they are always on branches and sitting on their house so they rarely touch it. I am contemplating moving them to something else anyway.
I don't see why people risk sand just coz it looks good. Its an accident waiting to happen

 

[coastergirl946]

I just don't understand.. I have posted and posted about Curt's total of five sand impactions, his prolapse and him throwing up, and his death this past Monday due to complications from those impactions. The impactions continued to occur long after we removed the sand, and sand was still in his feces 2 months after we removed it from his enclosure. He died choking on his own vomit as a result of being impacted from that dangerous substrate. He was not a baby either.. he was 3 1/2 years old.

Yet I still see people who choose to use sand and other loose substrates because it's apparently better for them in some way. I'd like to see one of you sand-promoters swallow a pound of gravel and see how you feel in a few hours. If that's harsh, then so be it.. it's a very painful reality for them and only we can take steps to stop it.

 

[bookiebutt]

do you think a 12 in wide tank is big enough??

 

[Mirakai]

I just don't understand.. I have posted and posted about Curt's total of five sand impactions, his prolapse and him throwing up, and his death this past Monday due to complications from those impactions. The impactions continued to occur long after we removed the sand, and sand was still in his feces 2 months after we removed it from his enclosure. He died choking on his own vomit as a result of being impacted from that dangerous substrate. He was not a baby either.. he was 3 1/2 years old.

Yet I still see people who choose to use sand and other loose substrates because it's apparently better for them in some way. I'd like to see one of you sand-promoters swallow a pound of gravel and see how you feel in a few hours. If that's harsh, then so be it.. it's a very painful reality for them and only we can take steps to stop it.

Coastergirl,
I'm sorry about your beardie I really am, and I do appreciate you informing us. But my breeder who had tons of healthy looking dragons raised all of his on play sand and none of them ever suffered impaction. That along with me raising my beardie the first 7 months of her life on sand made me think that she could be ok with sand.

But with the advice on this thread as of earlier tonight, I am now using non-adhesive shelf liner and I also have about a foot long small box inside the tank full of sand in the corner for her sand box. She is actually spending a lot of time in there and she prefers it even to the shelf liner. So I don't know if I should remove it, because it's not really under any of her lights, it's under her hammock.

She obviously prefers the sand, but I do want to do what is best for her.

 

[izz]

If you don't like sand but you want your beardie to be able to dig,try and find breeders choice cat litter,it is recycled paper so if your beardie eats a bit of it,it will just mush up in the stomach and come out with the rest.

 

[reptilianboy831]

I've tried using self liner, repti carpet, you name it, I've probably tried it. Nothing beats sand for my guys though, 2 years and Trogdor and Little Girl are doing great on it!

 

[Grogshla]

i give up on this debate!!

 

[reptilianboy831]

This debate can go on forever, but as you said Gro, to each his own.

 

[coastergirl946]

i give up on this debate!!

I do too.. my posting that a much-loved beardie died because he got impacted from sand (and never recovered) when he wasn't even 4 years old is being completely disregarded. He was fine on sand all his life and then out of the blue, he got badly impacted several times and he just went downhill from there no matter what we did for him.
It is not easy to see a dragon black bearding with stress marks and straining every time he has to poop because of the substrate he was kept on.. I don't care whose beardie hasn't been impacted yet, you take a huge risk by using sand but I guess some people choose to learn the hard way. I'm not ever risking my future beardie's health and life by being unfair enough to use a loose substrate, because I have seen for myself how much it hurts them and stresses them out while trying to pass something that is basically ripping up their intestines.

 

[Jess]

Sometimes we just have to agree to disagree.

@Mirakai: I would at least leave the part of her viv where she is fed as shelf liner. IDK about your girly, but my Dudley is a messy eater and his veggies and half eaten superworm bodies end up spread all over his viv LOL. You just don't want her picking through sand and possibly ingesting some if she is trying to uncover some burried veggies/worms/whatever you feed her.

 

[reptilianboy831]

@Coaster
I am very sorry for your loss, but its worked for me for 3 beardies, all living nice long healthy lives. In the wild they don't have self liner and other such flooring they still survive, propagate and are going strong. So while it may not have worked for you. Who is to say that it won't work for hundreds of others? Its like saying Legos are bad because little kids can choke on them.While this may sound harsh, beardies are after all wild animals, and don't we keep them becuase their wildness fascinates us? Or do we seek to domesticate them and make them completely unfit to survive unaided in the wild?

 

[Jess]

Ummm let's not debate this, OK? There have been SO many sand debates and I'm sick of it right now, cause it never gets anywhere.

Anyone who uses sand should be well aware of the risks, and if someone wants to use sand all we can do is inform them. They've heard the horror stories, so they can make their own decision. Personally, I will never use sand... I've dealt with an eye abscess and infection cause by sand, seen large adult beardies impacted to the point of needing surgery, and heard of many deaths, including poor Curt's (I'm really sorry for your loss, BTW ). I know it's frustrating for those of us who have had awful experiences with sand because we don't want to see other beardies suffer through what ours did, but all we can do is give people the information and let them make their own choices. There's no point in arguing, because everyone is pretty set in their opinions. Like I said before, we just have to agree to disagree.

@Reptilianboy: LOL, whether or not you keep them on sand, all of our beardies would probably die in the wild with in 15 minutes. What would they do with out their blankies, baths, and no slaves to give them cuddles or hand feed them wormies and veggies?!?! Let's not bring "wildness" into this, because are beardies are not and will never be wild.

 

[reptilianboy831]

I must be a pretty terrible beardy dad then... I don't really cuddle or hand feed them.. haha

 

[Jess]

Aww, but that's half the fun of having them! :lol: I also enjoy dressing them up in small hats and miniature glasses. It makes them look like little scholars.

 

[reptilianboy831]

This website definitely needs a like button. hahahahahahahhahahahahahha. I suppose, I jsut like to observe them and how they act naturally, I do give the trogdaddy some loving once in a while.