Repti Sand

[petqueen2]

I always thought repti sand was a good product. I used the neutral color with my leopard geckos and had no trouble. We used the neutral sand with our beardie, Rex, with no trouble either. We switched to the blue sand and oh my, it turned him blue! We tried to wash it off, some came off but overall we had no success. Now, Rex is in crushed walnut and seems to be doing well. Will the blue ever come off? Will it come off when he sheds you think?

 

[daner923]

It will come off when he sheds. However, neither sand, nor crushed walnut, is a good substrate for a beardie. Beardies tend to lick and taste everything, and both sand and crushed walnut have been known to cause very serious, if not deadly, impactions. Also, loose substrates tend to harbor bacteria and retain humidity. Finally, they also sometimes cause eye problems in beardies. I believe it is fine for leos, but really not for beardies. You should replace with a non-particle substrate ASAP. For now, you can use paper towel. You can then choose between paper towel, reptile carpet, non-adhesive shelf liner, or (my favorite) slate tile. Tile is probably the closest thing to their natural environment, is cheap, easy to clean, and keeps nails trim.

 

[dragonlover3]

It is unfortunate the misinformation found regarding Bearded Dragons living in sand! You can easily find information on Bearded Dragon's natural Australian habitat by reading any of many sources.

A quick FYI: The world over the word "desert" is used in connection with rain fall amounts not sand. The areas in Australia where Bearded Dragons live have a very low rainfall. The Australian desert make up only about 18% of this continent, but a full 35% of Australia receives so little rainfall, it is classified as desert. This is what confuses people when they hear desert lizard.

Dragons need a hot and dry habitat to live in, but need plenty of water. Wild Dragons get the majority of their water from licking the dew off leaves and plants in the morning. In sandy deserts there are no plants to lick dew off.

The juvenile bearded dragon often live in trees and will hide by burrowing into holes in the trunk, their climbing claws unnecessary to a sand dwelling lizard. The claws aid the female when digging in the hard packed earth of Australia to nest and lay eggs. They are essentially tree lizards. In sandy deserts there are no trees for them to live in.

When the bearded dragon reaches adulthood it remains largely on the ground, however, it will climb trees to bask in the sun or forage for food.

Of course there are some Bearded Dragons found in sandy areas but most are found in trees, scrub, open woodland and grass lands and in some rocky areas.

While it is possible for your dragon to live in sand or some other loose substrate like crushed walnut shells, it poses big risks and dangers you should be aware of and all loose substrates have the same problems. Any loose material used as a substrate can cause the same issues as sand. It is like making a bearded dragon live in a used, dirty cat litter box.

There is risk of impaction from ingestion. Bearded Dragons lick to identify and can accidently ingest it. Impaction can kill them.

Sand and any loose substrate can not be cleaned well. It harbors bacteria, worm and parasite eggs, virus, fungus and mold spores. It is grossly unsanitary.

Liquid waste absorbs and is dispersed through out the sand or any loose substrate and can not be removed with the solid waste. Your Bearded Dragon then lives in waste and bacteria contaminated substrate risking re-ingestion of worm and parasite eggs.

The unsanitary loose substrate can dust up and be inhaled and can cause acute and chronic respiratory issues. It can get into the eyes causing irritations or infections.

Cleaner, healthier and safer choices for substrate are newspaper, paper towels, non-adhesive shelf liner, linoleum, textured ceramic tiles and slate.

Note: Personally, I don't like reptile carpet. Unless you have more than one to change out each time waste is produced, they are will harbor the liquid waste, bacteria, etc. of any loose substrate because it will absorb the waste.

Bearded Dragons are not sand lizards. They are essentially tree lizards. The best thing you can do for your beardie is start researching. Starting with "Impaction in bearded dragons". You will find information and graphic photos.

.

 

[petqueen2]

Thank you to all for our knowledge. I will LOL into changing his substrate to something else!

 

[petqueen2]

Not supposed to say LOL, should say "look".

 

[SpitFyre]

Petqueen, there is an edit button on your posts so you don't have to double post. The edit button is your friend.

Sand in any form isn't recommended for beardies.