I think sand is better for my bearded dragon

[Jess]

Hat.

My next photoshoot will involve the mini glasses, I do believe.

*LOL, sorry this got really off topic...*

 

[Mirakai]

Hey Jess,
I do use the shelf liner under her food. The little box I have full of sand is all the way in the corner of her tank, so the sand doesn't get spread around it's just if she wants to go lay in sand or dig in it. I never see her lick it. But I have noticed that after I switched her into tile and then into shelf liner she is not making her numbers everyday. It could be because it's very cold here, or just the drastic change. She used to make her number every day in the sand, but with this new substrate she seems to mentally be hesitant to go everyday. The last time she went which was like 2 days ago it was in her bath. If she doesn't go by tomorrow morning I'll have to give her a bath again probably and she'll go in there.

But it just makes me think that she doesn't want to go on this new substrate. Hopefully she will be able to get used to it.

 

[aoscar]

So I am not sure yet, but I will tell you why. My bearded dragon grew up on sifted play sand. I got her at 2 months from a breeder who said all of his dragons lived on play sand and he never had one get impacted. I got her the reptile supershow in Los Angeles last year and she was one of the best looking juvenile bearded dragons there. My breeder seemed to at least know how to breed good looking dragons. He had many of them.

So after I got her at 2 months I began using one of those big bags of sifted play sand. It was extremily easy to clean (just scoop out and replace as necessary with plastic cup). It was also absorbent so the poop never made a big mess. And my bearded dragon liked to dig in it and sleep in it. She also pooped in one corner consistently, as she seemed to designate that area for her poop.

After 7 months of her life (living on sand all this time she was fine) I switched her to a 40 gallon breeder with slate tile and maybe just a few inches of tightly fit sand because I couldn't get tile to cover it all completely. One of the first things I noticed is that she chose to want to sleep with her head resting on the sand area (she has a hammock too), she still prefers to sleep with her head resting on the sand.

Then the second thing I noticed, she has been hesitating to poop a lot more on the tile. On the sand she used to go everyday, but it seems like the tile is making her hesitate to poop. Because I've been out a lot more and sometimes the poop is there for around 4 hours before I can get to it. The sand would dry it up a lot quicker than tile. It also seems like a lot more difficult of a task to clean poop from tile.

I have to go through several paper towels, wipes, and spray plenty of "Healthy Habitat" from petco to get rid of the smell and disinfect. Even with that spray it seems to me the tile is smelling more than the sand would. I should also mention when I kept her on sand that I put her food dish on a bigger square of wax paper. This made it so the food would fall on the wax paper if she dropped it, and thus eat a lot less sand.

I know all the stigma on these boards about using play sand, and I am a competitive practical person. I like to do what works best. But I am starting to think sand would be more beneficial to me and my dragon. According to my breeder that's what he uses for many years of successful breeding without any trouble. I also heard from female petco employee who had a dragon for 8 years that it lived happily on play sand. But anyways what do you guys think? Don't be shy, if you have successful stories with play sand or horror stories with it feel free to share. I am not sure really if I should try to stick with tile or go back to the play sand.

physically, I feel sand is safe, however, I also find it extreemly UNSANITARY. The enclosures we keep dragons in captivity are simply too small for using sand.

As a breeder, I have been to several other breeders homes and anyone who's setups have sand in them are foul, and the dragons are much dirtier than mine are because they aren't living in a litter box. anyway, my $.02.

 

[coastergirl946]

When my boyfriend's bearded dragon became impacted from sand, we removed the sand and started using repti-carpet because we care about his life, not the look of the viv.. regardless, he ended up prolapsing, and dying from complications from sand impaction. He could no longer digest his food because the sand in his system was causing him so much physical pain.
When we removed the sand, we found old poop stuck to the bottom of the viv, dead rotting crickets underneath, and hardened piles of sand that had formed around the urate that was also stuck to the bottom. It was smelly and disgusting.
Once the sand was gone, so was the smell. The putrid stench that emanated from his viv when sand was in it was completely eliminated once we started using repti-carpet.
Beardies are silent sufferers.. you may think that they are "happy", but once they start getting lethargic, stop pooping and start throwing up, it's already too late. I personally find it abusive to a beardie to have it live on a substrate it can ingest so it will be in pain while trying to force rocks out of its intestines.
I am adamantly against sand, and flat out refuse to believe it is safe or sanitary after having a dragon collapse in pain in my hands and stop breathing for several seconds because pooping was so painful for him.
Your beardie acting strange because the change in sand to a safer substrate such as tile or repti-carpet is called relocation stress. They do that whenever something is changed in their viv.
Our beardies are captive raised without being exposed to predators or deadly diseases.. they are our pets and they are not meant for wild conditions.. even so, they do not live on sand in the wild.. they live on hard packed clay and dirt. It is our duty to keep them safe. Sand is not safe.. I don't know what else to say to convince anyone not to use it, and I don't believe anything that the minimum wage earning pet shop teenagers say to convince me otherwise.

 

[shanation]

do beardies live on sand in the wild? im pretty sure that australia has some sand on it. i think the beardies like the sand more, the dont seem to be able to move as easily on tile

 

[Kaiser]

do beardies live on sand in the wild? im pretty sure that australia has some sand on it. i think the beardies like the sand more, the dont seem to be able to move as easily on tile

They do not live on sand in the wild. At least, not the loose, "beach" sand that is sold in most pet stores. Rather, they live on firm, solid, sun-baked clay and dirt, which may have a very fine layer of dust. But even then, it is most certainly not sand in the wild. Additionally, yes, I'm pretty sure Australia must have some sand on it as well; however, bearded dragons live in specific areas of Australia, and they do not live in any of the areas with sand.