Play box

[BlueMorpho]

My female (Striker, 2yrs) has always been a digger. When I first got her at 8mos she had sand in her tank. She loved it! She was constantly digging around, and I even worried that she might have been gravid. No eggs as yet, though. I've always fed them outside of their tanks in Rubbermaids, so I wasn't too worried about impaction. After about 6mos I took the sand out because the upkeep was too much for me. Sifting daily (despite being bath-trained), baking weekly, and changing every two or three months was a lot of work and very expensive!! Sorry Striker, no more sand. She hated the new flooring and still continues to try to dig. I've recently upgraded her tank and put fake plants in there, but every night the display is destroyed from digging all day!
I'm planning on making a dig box ready for whenever she is ready to lay, but I was wondering if it would be ok to just make it and let her play in it every few days or so?
I don't want it in her tank because she'll just fling it around and make a mess, and I know she loves to tunnel. I swear she'd dig to China if I let her.
I already have a "sleepover" set up; a Rubbermaid with a screen top from a 15gal that I put a dome light and a UV on. I just need to grab the sand. She poops in the bath, so daily bathing is not an issue; it's already part of our routine.
Any ideas?

 

[timisimaginary]

personally if i had a dragon that loved to dig that much, i'd just leave the dig box in there permanently. try to get something with high enough sides that it contains most of the contents from getting flung out. you could try millet seed or alfalfa pellets to cut down on impaction risk.

cleaning might still be a pain, but when i give my dragon enclosure a monthly cleaning, i take everything out and suck out any loose debris with a shop-vac. quick and easy. i love shop-vacs.

 

[BlueMorpho]

Thanks
I know what you mean about the vacuum; it was a huge help in making sure all the sand was out when changing and getting rid of it!
I still use it once in a while when I'm too lazy to pick out dried greens from the corners, lol. Messy eaters *eye roll*
By alfalfa pellets, do you mean the kind used for rabbit food? Millet seed sounds like a good one, it would be heavy enough not to be too messy, but still move around for her... (Sorry, thinking "out loud"...)
I've heard flax seed, too, but I think flax has some sharp edges, right?
How high of sides would you recommend and how big do you thing would be appropriate? I suppose I can always affix a ramp for easy access, too.

 

[Taterbug]

You could also consider a bioactive sand/soil substrate. Yes, there are risks associated with loose substrates but from what I've read people see great behavior improvements especially in dragons who like to dig. If your husbandry is top notch and your dragon healthy, the risks go down as well. It's worth considering giving her the ability to express her natural behaviors.

I have a coco coir dig box, but pepper doesn't use it. He prefers to try and dig through the hard floor. I'm planning on setting him up on soil later this summer.

If you go dig box route, the small kitty litter pans are a decent size.

 

[BlueMorpho]

Hehe, silly Pepper!!
What exactly is "bio active"? I've heard it mentioned before, but usually in reference to fish tanks...
The kitty litter pan size sounds good, though her tank is only 18"W, so it might not fit...

 

[Taterbug]

Same concept as the fish tank, where your beneficial organisms out compete the nasty ones, and help maintain the environment for the animals. It's really popular with amphibians and humidity loving critters, but doesn't have to be humid.

The soil is "living" (microbes, good bacteria etc) and is seeded with some level of little bugs (isopods and springtails that sort of thing) that works as a community to digest wastes and such.