Opinions on Substrate

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Tylerman

Hatchling Member
I am going to list some substrates I am looking to use and I want the healthiest choice, thanks. I'm using sand right now. Please help with the best and most healthy for them. Sand gets in their food and water dish multiple times a day.

1. Sand
2. Sand/coconut fiber
3. Repti carpet (too hard too clean IMO)
4. Ceramic Tile
5. Adhesive shelf liner
 
Go with the tile. It is so easy to keep clean. I love it. Because it is so easy to sanitize and keep clean, it's definitely the healthiest option.
 

Tylerman

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Okay, thank you. I was asking cause my dad doesn't think its good for them. So I wanted opinions and I thought that they did like it. I appreciate it
 

mudskipper

Juvie Member
I find tiles to be messy with bearded dragons. They tend to poop wherever they feel like. Then walk and smear it around sometimes. With tiles, you have a lot more pieces you need to clean. I have been using no stick shelf liners for a few years now. I just wipe the poop. If it's really messy, I hose it down in the drive way.

I'm switching one of my tanks to bioactive this week though. I'll make a thread when I do it.

I'll be using coco fiber, play sand, sphagnam moss, and organic compost. There'll be cork logs and oak leaves.

For the clean up crew, I'm adding 4 species of isopods (pill bugs), a few species of springtails, lesser mealworms, mealworms, superworms, and a couple of dubia roaches. Basically, I won't ever need to clean the tank at all. Poops and left over veggies will be cleaned up by all the critters in a day.

You should look up bioactive and see if it's something that would interest you.
 

Tylerman

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
smknowitall101 can you please post pictures of your tank?

mudskipper can you also please post pics of the enclosure also?

I appreciate y'all help! I'm going to weigh the pros and con's and go shopping this weekend. I have a 40 gallon breeder and 75 gallon fish tank for my beardies. Sand is wayyyy to messy. Lol, so all and any pictures and pros and con's are welcome. Thanks again

Tyler
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I'd definitely stick to a solid substrate such as tile or non-adhesive shelf liner. I agree that repti-carpet is tough to clean and becomes worn out quickly with frequent washing. The loose substrate gets everywhere as you mentioned and it can also be difficult to keep sanitary (especially if they poop in the enclosure). It just absorbs moisture and harbors bacteria. My tank has two large 18''x18'' tiles. I have 3 sets so if one gets dirty I just pop it out and put a clean one in. I rinse off the tile and then bake it in the oven at 250 for 30-45 minutes to sanitize it or I'll hit it with the steam cleaner. It's very easy to take care of and is a cheap solution. I picked up a 6 pack of tiles at Lowe's for about $10 and they cut them to size for me for free right at the store.

I also like the idea of bioactive substrate but it requires quite a bit of planning and prep to get started and it requires a fairly large enclosure which gets quite heavy when it's all said and done. I'd probably go that route if I had an enclosure larger than my 36''x18''x18'' exo-terra. In smaller enclosures the tile or shelf liner is quick, easy, healthy, and cheap.
 

Taterbug

BD.org Addict
I've being using bioactive for a while now and if you are willing to do the investment of research and effort (it's akin to a cycled aquarium and requires a different sort of maintinence) it's well worth it. However improperly done or poorly planned it can be a hassle at best and a danger at worst. I'd say you'd want to do more than a weekends worth or research though, so something like shelf liner or tile would be a good choice in the meantime if your considering this. Also, It would eat up a a fair bit of space in a 40 breeder but that's not really a very big enclosure size for an adult dragon anyway. ;)

Before I did this I liked shelf liner the best, it's easier to clean than tile and has a little "squish" to it. If you are after something more quick and easy I would go that route or tiles.

Bioactive (my previous viv, but same as the one below for comparison)

Shelf liner+some tiles around the edge
 

mudskipper

Juvie Member
Pretty bare. Just a rock and a glass dish. The shelf liner is from Bed Bath and Beyond. It's pretty, but poop will leave stains. This is an old picture. I switched the bottom piece to something slicker from the Dollar Store.

Easy for you, but not ideal for your animals really. There's nothing to do except staring at one of the walls all day. I have kept both of mine in this set up for 3 years now. Owners have reported that bioactive animals are more lively. They get to hunt and dig.

 

Tylerman

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Beautiful dragon! So you're doing a bioactive substrate mudskipper? For the tank you just posted?
 

mudskipper

Juvie Member
I just took this picture a few days ago. Here are some of the options.

TOP LEFT: ceramic tiles
- I keep all my leopard geckos in this set up because it holds heat from UTH very well
- My leopard geckos are potty trained to poop in plastic dishes in a corner so I only have to deep clean their tanks once a year

TOP RIGHT: bioactive
- This is my hermit crab tank.
- It has play sand, Eco Earth coco fiber, fir bark, oyster shells, and leaf litter. Obviously, these are for hermit crabs so you would use a different combo for bearded dragons. The bioactive substrate in bearded dragon tanks also don't need to be as deep.
- For the cleaners, different types of isopods (pill bugs) and springtails. Hermit crabs can't have other types.

BOTTOM: non stick shelf liners
- For my 3-year old female bearded dragons. My girls are small so Exo Terra isn't small for them. I'd go bigger if you are able to though. Personally, I think males would find this a bit tight.
- 2 kinds of shelf liners: left one has cheap $1 ones from Dollar Store. The right one has a very slick semi transparent one from the Container Store. She's more messy so it's easy for me to hose the whole thing down.
- I'm converting both to bioactive. The more I read about it, the more it makes more sense to me.

 

Tylerman

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the pics! Nice collection. I have a Box turtle, a gecko tank with a leopard and a golden, another gecko tank with a leopard gecko, 2 beardies (3 year old female, 6 year old male)... I really like the looks of tile. Thanks so much everybody! I will post pictures once hltheir tanks have it! :)
 
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