My Enclosure!

[ZombieAndy]

My enclosure, all up and running now.. i still havnt moved my beardie in and i do have a couple of questions.

First off, does a beardie require the lights to be on all the time? if not, how long should they be on each day and what times of day?

Secondly, how often is the viv going to need totally cleaning out, and when i do it, do i have to throw away the substrate and buy new?

thirdly, everything look ok in my viv there?

Im really eager to get my beardie moved in but i wanna be 100% sure about the viv before i do. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[Claudiusx]

Well, you should clean out the substrate very often if you are going to use it at all. It can harbor bacteria really easily which can make your beardie sick, not to mention that risk of impaction if you feed your beardie in the tank. It would be much easier to use repticarpet or large tiles. With tiles you can easily just wipe clean the poo and only need to totally disinfect them every 3 months or so. As for lighting, since i don't have a digital light timer (yet) i just turn all of their lights off before i go to bed and turn them on when i wake up. If you are wanting to breed your dragons then it helps if you manipulate the light times to give them more or less to make them get into the right mood.

But your setup looks awesome. Even though sand makes your setup look cool, it really isn't what is best for your beardie. Plus in the long run sand will get really expensive as opposed to a couple repticarpets or tiles.

 

[zebraflavencs]

I second that feeling about sand. Now in summer I run a 14 hour on, 10 hour off, in winter I draw the lights back to a 12 on 12 off. Does that help ?
Also, can your dragon get within 6-8" of that Reptisun ?
Janie.

 

[ZombieAndy]

Strange the guy in the shop said is the best substrate for beardies because they live in the dessert in Australia so the sand emulates that.. anyway yeah I think she will be able to get 6" away from the UVB, the viv is only 2ft tall and there is a peice of wood running almost the length of it that she will be able to climb on.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Andy Luv, petshops are there to sell you stuff... Not necessarily what you need That's why we are here.
Janie.

 

[ZombieAndy]

True lol so how often should I do a full clean out and disenfect of the viv? This is when I'll replace the sand.. Most of the time I'll keep it clean anyway, also, is childrens play sand suitable for a adult beardie? Becuase if it is I can get loads for next to nothing at my work =)

 

[DragonOwner1]

Hi i don't find anything wrong with using sand as a substrate for bearded dragons. I was using sand for my bearded dragon, I then switched over to tiles which my bearded dragon hated she would not eat,move and looked unhappy. So i put her sand back in for her and now shes back to her happy old self. If people say they will get impacted i find is not right. My beardie tastes and licks the sand sometimes and it passes through the other end. I'm using red desert sand which packs down hard so what my beardie does lick is very very fine sand which passes through her and comes out when she poos. Impaction normally happens when a bearded dragon full on eats the sand in large amounts. Your set up looks lovely by the way.
Also when it comes to cleaning you do not have to throw away the sand.
put the sand on a baking tray and put it in the oven for 30 minutes on 180 degrees celsius.

 

[peera]

For me, it's the risk of bacteria, not impaction, that keeps my dragons off sand. You're not only putting them at risk, but yourself as well when you handle your dragon. Also, I was reading my baby book recently and it warned me not to let my son play on play sand as it's been found to occasionally contain asbestos, so I'd certainly never take the risk of my dragons living on it!

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

yeahh.. petsmart sold me some 'calcium sand' saying its best for baby beardie. So i bought it. It looked really cool in MJ's viv at first.. then i started reading posts about how bad sand is.. it scared me so i switched out. =)

 

[ZombieAndy]

Ok so childrens play sand is a definate no then lol

 

[mgtorrice]

i have a question, i just got my beardies new enclosure, and i've been planning on doing half sand, and half slate, and i don't see what the problem is as long as you bake the sand? because as long as you're sanitizing it, then you should be fine, right?

 

[Pravius]

Play sand is what people use when they use sand... if you do use it just make sure to sift is REALLY well first to make sure to get out the large rocks ect. Janie is right people at pet stores are sales people.. they open shop for ONE reason to make $. I have yet to come into contact with a pet store owner who is in it for the love of animals ... it may be why they start off but everyone wants to make a buck.

 

[Claudiusx]

Even if you do bake the sand it still is pretty much a sponge for bacteria. When your beardie poos in it all the bacteria will go into the sand even if you scoop it out. And it will only get more and more infected with bacteria as time goes on. That occasional lick or tasting of the sand (as the person up above said their beardie does) isn't as harmless as he claims it to be. Sure maybe the sand gets pooed out and doesn't cause impaction, but all the bacteria in the sand stays in the body, which can make your beardie sick enough that it can die unless treated by a vet.

I highly discourage against sand. There are so many bad things about it. In fact.... lets make a pros and cons list.

Pros about sand:
1. it looks nice in the viv
2. its what they live on in their natural habitat

Ok... i honestly couldn't think of any more pros.

Here are the cons:
1.harbors bacteria
2.expensive to have to replace (which you should do frequently since all of the bacteria is dangerous)
3.can cause impaction
4.the bacteria that is in the sand can make your beardie very sick (which can lead to very expensive vet bills)
5.unlike tiles or repti carpet, you can't clean sand
6.sand has been known to get in the eyes of beardies and cause them the loss of their sight.

With tile or repti carpet you can just clean it and put it back in the viv, you only have to pay one time for tile as opposed to the many times you will have to pay for sand.

Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion but, in the long run, sand is a horrible substrate to use, and if you care anything about your beardie then you would notice that the risks far out weigh the 'prettiness' it brings to your viv.

 

[peera]

2. its what they live on in their natural habitat

Not True! They live on clay hardpan, and even when they do live in sandier areas, impaction is a big problem, and they tend to gravitate towards places with firmer ground. We have an Australian member who used to post pictures of his backyard (he lives in an area where there are wild dragons) to show that it's really not sandy. He has a website.. where is it... http://www.freewebs.com/kirbydragons/index.htm

 

[RedInkAus]

2. its what they live on in their natural habitat

Not True! They live on clay hardpan, and even when they do live in sandier areas, impaction is a big problem, and they tend to gravitate towards places with firmer ground. We have an Australian member who used to post pictures of his backyard (he lives in an area where there are wild dragons) to show that it's really not sandy. He has a website.. where is it... http://www.freewebs.com/kirbydragons/index.htm

G'day mate,

I'm pretty sure Kirby lives in Sydney (or NSW somewhere). Not really dragon teritory but his site has some great info.