Newbie here, please help!

[Destreaux]

I was not saying in anyway your uneducated, I just know a lot... surprisingly a lot of people that I've met don't exactly know that. They usually assume desert means sand dunes everywhere.

It saddens me that anyone could risk a living animals life because they like the overall appearance of sand, however I hope if anything goes wrong with your beardies that you switch your substrate rather than have them suffer longer. After all they live for 15-20 years, and I personally cant imagine living in a bacteria breeding ground, where every time I lick anything or eat anything I'd have the chance of dying of impaction for that long.

And by the way, no responsible or knowledgeable keeper would even keep a living animal on calci-sand. Most likely the keepers you talk about listen to petstores that provide the wrong info or exotic vets that dont know a single thing about bearded dragons or reptiles in general.

Google Central Austrailia and tell me you see no sand and only tile. What about their taking away their natural digging? How can they dig on tile?

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

I see dirt, a tiny bit of sand but no where as near as much as they would have piled up in a tank, and clay along with shrubs and trees. Basically what I already knew and expected.

And if my beardies are supposed to dig all the time then please tell that to them because only time my beardies dig is when they go to bed in their hides. And those hides have paper towels in them to give them a nice comfy risk free area to dig in before sleeping for the night.

I used organic soil with my juvenile bearded dragon in the middle portion to create a dig area in her 75 gallon tank, she dug in it all day for the first day as she had no clue what it was. She had never seen dirt, felt it or anything up until that point and had no idea how to walk on it or if it was edible.

However after that and learning it was not edible or something she had to dig around in to get to the other side of the tank, she never dug in it again, and actually avoided touching it all together if she could.

 

[Destreaux]

I see dirt, a tiny bit of sand but no where as near as much as they would have piled up in a tank, and clay along with shrubs and trees. Basically what I already knew and expected.

And if my beardies are supposed to dig all the time then please tell that to them because only time my beardies dig is when they go to bed in their hides. And those hides have paper towels in them to give them a nice comfy risk free area to dig in before sleeping for the night.

I used organic soil with my juvenile bearded dragon in the middle portion to create a dig area in her 75 gallon tank, she dug in it all day for the first day as she had no clue what it was. She had never seen dirt, felt it or anything up until that point and had no idea how to walk on it or if it was edible.

However after that and learning it was not edible or something she had to dig around in to get to the other side of the tank, she never dug in it again, and actually avoided touching it all together if she could.

I happen to have three beardies that dig at least twice a week. I feed them out of a bowl or different container so they don't eat off the sand in general. I don't put it in there because I "like the appearance" either.Not once have I seen sand in their poop either. This is a similar argument to whether or not dogs should be on a raw diet.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

A similar argument? This is literally a life or death choice. At least if you go with a good brand of dog food your dog wont become impacted, suffer and then die eventually if untreated.

I also have three beardies. And they don't dig at all, except to get comfortable before going to sleep.

In all honesty the cons of having the whole tank as a particle substrate substrate outweigh the pros...

Cons -
Bactiera breeding ground
Fungal infection
Eye infection
Impaction
Prolapse
Stained scales (colored sand)
Cuts up the eyes and insides (this goes for ground walnut shells)
Not the best for their joints as they get older.

Pros -
Provides a digging substrate

 

[Destreaux]

A similar argument? This is literally a life or death choice. At least if you go with a good brand of dog food your dog wont become impacted, suffer and then die eventually if untreated.

I also have three beardies. And they don't dig at all, except to get comfortable before going to sleep.

In all honesty the cons of having the whole tank as a particle substrate substrate outweigh the pros...

Cons -
Bactiera breeding ground
Fungal infection
Eye infection
Impaction
Prolapse
Stained scales (colored sand)
Cuts up the eyes and insides (this goes for ground walnut shells)
Not the best for their joints as they get older.

Pros -
Provides a digging substrate

How did you have two die of impaction if you don't use loose substrate?

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Those two were back when i was around 7-8 years old I believe, listened to the petstore.
We put calci-sand in their vivs, the little one lasted about a week before dying. We also took it to a vet to see what it died from and it died from impaction. They didnt use any substrate in the store from what i remember.
And then the older one I had gotten a few weeks after the baby died, we put it in calci-sand again thinking it was fine and it lived for about five years before dying.

Oddly I still have the skeleton of the 1-2 month old beardie in a box, taped as much as possible somewhere in my room I believe.

 

[Destreaux]

Those two were back when i was around 7-8 years old I believe, listened to the petstore.
We put calci-sand in their vivs, the little one lasted about a week before dying. We also took it to a vet to see what it died from and it died from impaction. They didnt use any substrate in the store from what i remember.
And then the older one I had gotten a few weeks after the baby died, we put it in calci-sand again thinking it was fine and it lived for about five years before dying.

Bearded dragon life spans are not that long. Most make it to around 10. So, the adult probably didn't die from impaction. Unless a vet did a necropsy to find out the cause, there's no way to know. the baby beardie dying from impaction because it was on sand I am not surprised about.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

The vet did do a necropsy on him. I believe he said it was impaction, however its been seven years since then so I dont exactly remember his exact words, so it could very well be old age.

And they actually live a few years longer than just 10, average life span is 15-20 years with correct care.
Most reptiles usually live 15-20 years, chams sadly living on average to only 8 or so, and luckily ball pythons living up to as old as 40 years sometimes, though probably on average its closer to 20-30 for them.

 

[KiamLe]

Congrats on your new friend!
First off bearded dragons do need a constant heat lamp on, especially in the winter. If you don't use one at night, I would suggest a ceramic heater or try using the purple night blabs. Luckily I found out ahead that red lights keep them up so I bought a purple and my dragon sleeps wonderfully at night.

And everyone is right in the fact that you should never use sand, my suggestion would be Repti-carpet. It's easy to clean, safe, and saves you money. How ever make sure it fits your cage well so that the dragon doesn't get tempted to chew on it. My carpet was too long and not tall enough to cover the bottom so I cut off the extra length and sewed it on top. Works perfectly!

Also I know its frustrating that Pet stores might not know everything, but if you are lucky sometimes there will be bearded dragon owners who work there. Like myself, who did a crap-ton of research before making a purchase. And now with the information I know, I can either stop purchases of irresponsible care takers or prepare someone who is serious about their decision.
I also agree that the care guides are crap! They have some info, but not nearly all of it and some is not up to date. So I would always suggest either talking to vets or coming onto forums like this for care advice. I don't know about your vet but mine printed out a very long and helpful husbandry on ways to start caring for my pet. A vet who takes the time to explain everything is the best choice!

But I hope everything works out for you! And have fun with your new dragon, they are precious <3