Sand and Impaction

[Jess]

I use non-adhesive linoleum. You can get it in any size, and it is incredibly easy to clean. An 8' x 2' piece at the hardware store is about $25 (It's usually less that $2/sq ft), and that is enough to line multple vivs too.

 

[jjh1]

Sooooooooooooooooo.... back to my question if no sand then what would be a recommended flooring? I would like to avoid Sani-Chips they bug me and the beardies have problems with them.

Slate tiles
repticarpet
Rep-tiles
newspaper
shelf paper
butcher paper
paper towel

I am not to sure how old your beardie is but I have a 7 month old when I got her at 2 months she was on paper towel, easy peasy to clean up poop especially since babies go all the time!
I now use a combination of repticarpet and papertowel with the papertowel on one end she knows to poop there as soon as she needs to go heads to the Paper and again easy to clean.

I use slate in my adult cages since they poop in the bath .

Hope that helps

 

[RedInkAus]

You realize that wild beardies only live about 3 years at the most, right? Just because you didn't have a bad experience doesn't mean it's safe.

Over supplementing will kill any reptile. Phoenix worms are have a balanced Ca ratio, so that is why it is OK to use them as a staple. The amount of phosphorus in them doesn't totally outweigh the calcium, like in other feeders that need dusting.

I'm fine with people making their own informed decisions, and long as they do their research and get their facts straight.

Jess.. don't take this the wrong way but I just want to correct a bit of misinformation on your post. The last presentation I have attented that covered wild BDs at the Victorian Herpetological Society cited that the avg adult age of wild BDs was 3 years and a life expectancy of 5-8 years. I also conducted a bit of a survey years back on BD forums when I was more active and got people to tell me what their oldest dragon in captivity was. There were very few people with dragons past 9 years old, so statistically from what I was given the life expectancy in captivity and in the wild is not that far off.

As far as impaction in regards to the OPs question, I have never had a dragon die of impaction and I have always had sand in my enclosures. In regards to the ever on going debate about the composition of the terra in their endemic teritory...... well I just got back from a road trip last week that cut through their teritory and at one point was dodging BDs on the highway doing 110kph (so I won't be participating in that debate)

 

[MissT]

RedInkAus, I remember a study a few years ago that said in the wild avg life expectancy was around 2-3 years? I can't remember what study it was though

I have been trying out oat bran in a small area of my youngest bd's viv- he seems to enjoy it more for sleeping that anything else- the rest of the time, he is too busy exploring the other areas of his viv which have lino and rocks/branches. Perhaps we all need to think about adding a little bit of variety- not too much, just a little. But, ALWAYS stay away from calci/nutri sand

 

[Jess]

Hmm, well I know that I heard ~3 years somewhere too? You'd know more about wild beardies than I would LOL. But sill, in general captive beardies do live longer than wild ones, right?

BTW, I hope you didn't hit any of them! :shock:

 

[RedInkAus]

Hmm, well I know that I heard ~3 years somewhere too? You'd know more about wild beardies than I would LOL. But sill, in general captive beardies do live longer than wild ones, right?

BTW, I hope you didn't hit any of them! :shock:

Yeah... missed every single one though there was a couple that i think would have been inches from the front wheel (including one hatchie). The problem with them is unlike all other reptiles they "stand" their ground and not run accross till it's too late. I've even seen a couple bobbing our on comming car lol. I took some pics and helped a few stubborn ones off the road and sent them happily on their way. We have things called "road trains" here, trucks that have 3-4 trailers and could be over 50 meters long travelling the highways.

Yeah from all the people I have asked BDs in captivity outlive wild ones by 3-5 years... all I was saying was that the common accepted life span in the wild is actually an underestimation.