Sand as Substrate Convince me other wise

[leatherbd]

people keep on saying i should switch my substrate from sand to something else, but i say why? My beardie has lived with sand for five years most likely swalling a fair amount but it has never ever had any problems with it. Please if you think i should switch try to convince me and to what? PLZ COMMENT

 

[Ebrithil]

hasn't had any problems YET.

some people smoke their whole life and don't get cancer, others die of it.
Sand has a RISK of impaction, and causing problems with your dragon, not a definite.
If you are willing to risk the health/life of your dragon so that you can have sand in your Viv, so be it.

A better subtrate would be slate tiles, or ,like i have, repti-carpet.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I have used pretty much anything you can think of as a substrate. The main reason I switched from sand to tile and non- adheasive shelf liner is simple. I felt like no matter how fast I cleaned the poop out, I know I missed some. Over time it stank and had to be replaced. If you have used sand for 5 years I know the glued sand you found on the bottom of the tank you found when cleaning. I felt they where bacteria mounds...lol. Plus the sand would get dusty and everywhere.

Now if your temps and UVB are close to perfect, then yes a dragon can live on sand with minimal impactation risk. I just dont like it from a sanitation stand point. Keep in mind in the wild they dont live on just sand. Its hard clay-pac among other things as well.

 

[Atrax]

When my beardie grows bigger and older (around 18 months) I'm gonna put clay substrate like they have in nature where they live. I'll let it dry good, so that clay cracks like in arid areas. That would be better than sand in my opinion, as they do not live in desert but semi-desert, there is dried "cracked" clay and not sand. But I won't put this clay in yet as my beardie is still just a baby and paper towels are better for now.
18 months is a long time, so I might change my mind in the mean time.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Poop can go down the cracks. Since the clay dries hard you wont be able to clean it. Keep in mind as much as we try to look like a natural looking tank, your dragon has never even seen its natural enviroment.

 

[mickeysmomma]

Why risk it?? You know it can cause problems! If you know something could harm your children, or yourself, would you risk it??? why risk it with your beardie??

 

[Warrior]

Mine is on play sand - no problems with it yet

 

[mickeysmomma]

Why risk it?? Sand can be so unsanitary! See the other post about this.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

to your point, leatherbd, you can put your dragon on whatever substrate you decide, good to hear you've had success with it. I have opted not to use sand for the following reasons:

It may not cause impaction, but as a new reptile owner, I'd rather focus on other aspects of husbandry like the heating and lighting to ensure optimum health of my beardie. I have already obsessed enough about every little thing, whatever I can do to reduce my anxiety, including simplifying substrate, is a welcome choice.
It may not get in their eyes and cause infections, but I don't want to put my beardie in a situation where that might happen, regardless of the probability (or lack thereof)
It might be easy to clean, but my current experience with reptile carpet and training my dragon not to poop in it's cage, has been very easy to maintain already.
After reading hundreds of stories of baby beardies who ate sand and died, it didn't seem like a chance worth taking.

This seems like an ongoing debate among many dragon owners...

 

[Jess]

Read.
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=132151

I just don't see the point of it. Your beardie does not benefit from sand, and it could potentially kill him in a few different ways. Sure, you may have been lucky so far, but how would you feel if something did happen to him or even killed him, and it could have been prevented by a simple change of substrate?

It would actually be cheaper to switch to a different substrate, because you don't have to replace it every month or so. And, IMO, slate tiles look much better than any kind of sand. There are many benefits for switching to a non-particle substrate, and zero risk of death.
So what do you have to lose?

 

[Jess]

The OP started 3 different threads on this...?

I already gave my opinion in a different thread. :|

 

[HKzForDayz]

It poses many risks. Just bc you dont see problems doesnt mean there hasnt been any. Sand clumps up in there stomach and imagine it could be kind of painful. And even if there hasnt been problems, its about eliminating the risk and creating the nost ideal enviroment. And sand isnt even a natural enviroment like people think. Beardies dont live in the sahara deserr they live in the australian desert where its rock and hard clay not loose sand. Slate tile comes closer to being a natural simulation of their enviroment

 

[Atrax]

Poop can go down the cracks. Since the clay dries hard you wont be able to clean it. Keep in mind as much as we try to look like a natural looking tank, your dragon has never even seen its natural enviroment.

You're right about poop going down the cracks, I never thought of that. I wouldn't wanna do something that could harm my lil' baby. But I would love to find safe natural looking substrate. If that's even possible.

 

[diamc]

Moved here from General Discussion forum. Please try to pick the most appropriate area to post your questions. Also, please don't start more than 1 thread about the same subject. It's much easier for everyone to follow if there is only 1 thread and also keeps the forum neater.

 

[leatherbd]

Alright you guys all have very good points about the sand, but i now have done some thinking and you have not convinced me to switch YET BUT listen how about putting some slate over the sand would that be any better?

SORRY ABOUT THE DOUBLE POSTS ON THIS MY COPUTER IS VERY GLITCHY