Proper substrate?

[ursulasmom]

What is the best substrate to use for a beardie? I first used calci sand that Petco recommended, but it turned her orange, so I stopped using it and changed to ground walnut, but was told that could cause compacting. Now I'm using paper towels, but is that good enough? Should I use something at least in part of the tank where she can dig? Lately she seems to be scratching at the glass and acting all crazy. Any thoughts?

 

[MrT]

Proper substrate ?(you opened a can of worms there)
well everyone has a different opinion on that and every body uses different i use reptile carpet for my beardies and lino tiles for my geckos
so lino tiles, Lino or reptile carpet or even ceramic tiles are the best no chance of them eating them

some would say use play sand but there in my mind is still a risk with that

 

[vickson420]

Topic moved to Enclosures

 

[Dawnrider]

Like MrT said this is an issue of debate. I personally use a millet blend. Millet substrate are little seeds which if ingested are like eat sunflower seeds. I see this substrate as pretty safe. I also have a seperate feeding tank with a cermanic tile in it for most of my live prey feeding. So people say they don't like millet because it can trap bacteria, but sand is far worse culprit of this, and is better then alfalfa pellets which are near impossible to use and keep a clean substrate. Millet offers two advantages, the first being that it is a diggable substrate and the second is that if ingested it would have a positive/neutral effect on your beardie rather then a negative one

 

[GlueStick]

Like everyone above me said, it depends.

It's always safe of course to use something thats not loose.
Ceramic tiles, newspaper, paper towels, repti carpet, non adhesive shelf liner (what I use), astroturf, etc

It also depends on the age of your bearie. If it is under the age of 2 then I would definetly suggest something that is not loose because of impaction risk and such. However, as they get older, you could use childrens playsand that is sifted A LOT and rinsed thoroughly.

The only problem I have with loose substrates are as follows:
respitory infections (from dust and silica particles)
impaction risk (of course there is always that!)
and the growth of bacteria from the loose substrate, food, and fecal matter. (youd have to clean it out more often. pain in the butt if you ask me)

 

[MrT]

like i said a can of worms
as regards scratching at glass they often do that i call it glass walking

 

[haleygirl272]

Speaking of non adhesive shelf liner, where can someone get that and what do you apply it with? This is what I recommend, but I cant find any!

 

[vickson420]

Walmart and you dont need anything to apply it just cut it to the right size and lay it down.

 

[Elora]

I just bought a box of slate tiles all different sized and a few shades for 13$
it looks GREAT!

 

[GlueStick]

I bought my NON adhesive shelf liner from Target, but you can get it from Walmart too. Get the solid one.

 

[dragonphoenix36]

For me, it's all about the ease of cleaning. We started out with paper towels, until she started to upheave those when she darted across the viv..so we put in 4x4 slate tiles on top of her paper towels..and they have been super..not only because they are super easy to clean, but they have also kept he nails filed down, so she's not tearing James open when she tries to climb up his arm..lol.