Sand vs bare flooring (sp?) Poll

[zoomommi]

Hey Guys,
OK, I have been anxious for Ollie to get old enough to go to sand. I had her on paper and now have gone to her vinyl floor because it is easier to clean. I have done searches on the posts and read everyones opinions on sand and now I am wondering if I should use sand. I thought that the dragons would be happier in the sand because that is there natural enviornment. A lot of you prefer to use a bare (sorry can't figure out right "bare" spelling) flooring. Shouldn't the sand give them the ability to dig and feel more of a natural space than worrying about the cleaning of it. I don't know and that is why I am polling you guys. Ollie is 14 inches and I don't know her age. I don't think we are ready for sand yet, although she is a savy hunter and doesn't miss a cricket on the run. She is eating almost 70 crix a day!! Piggy is what her name should be!!
OK dragon experts, Please post a quick reply:
Sand or bare flooring for adult beardies!

 

[zebraflavencs]

I vote bare. I use tile instead of sand, as I had an older (8 year old) that was on play sand and this contributed to his demise shortly after we adopted him.
Janie.

 

[GoFast]

bare/tile

 

[beaufordsmom]

beauford has been on sand since shortly after i got him, he licked it a few times at first, but since he hasn't had any problems. you could try it and if you see he is eating it remove it. beauford loves his sand, i actually took it out when i built his new viv and he was not happy with me. he goes in his cave every day between noon and three in the afternoon and sand flies quite a ways as once he goes in the cave, he uses it to bury the door closed, he does this at bed time too. I have not had any problems with it and he loves it. As far as that, my neighbor has his brother and she within the last week tried to add the sand and had to remove it because he was eating it. beauford has been on his sand for about four months now.

 

[Ethelia]

Bare flooring is a winner.

Sand is not actually like their natural habitat. They come from the baked flats in Australia where the texture of the sand is very solid and is much more like the texture of slate tiles than it is sand.

Ive only used sand for one of my beardies but it was against my will. Dex was missing half an arm and foot and was incredibly clumsy. For that reason I used the sand as it was like a soft cushion for her when she did decide to flop onto the ground from her rock insted of climbing.

If we move the inpaction issue to one side, the other downside of sand is the bacteria, the cleaning and the cost.

Every time Dex pooped the sand would need to be scooped and then the surrounding sand sifted to make sure I hadnt missed any bits.
Because bowel movements are moist you are never going to get the sand clean even by sifting and scooping after every movement so there is still a big risk of bacteria lurking in the sand.
With that said with sand you really need to replace it every month, which is not only a HUGE hassle (seriously scooping sand out of a 120gal used to take all afternoon) its also a big expense to refill the tank with sand every damn month.

Since Dex passed away my dragons have been on solid substrates which are just SO much easier to deal with.
Rube is on towel due to his special needs and Miso is on slate tiles.
The slate tiles only cost me £12 to kit out her whole viv and whenever she poops i just lift out tile, give it a dip in hot soapy water and its back in within 4 minutes.
I cant recommend tile enough.

If you cant get tile you can go for non adhesive vinyl aswell which is easier to cut to shape yourself.

Holly

 

[fresnowitte]

I vote for non particle here! :mrgreen:
A large misconception is that they live on sand in the wild. Australia is not very sandy and the areas that are sand critters do not live there only cross over. Here is an interesting link that shows what their natural soils look like. http://www.freewebs.com/kirbydragons/naturalsoils.htm

Just my opinion, but particle substrates work as a "LitterBox." Only good for hiding poop and bacteria. When a beardie digs in the wild it is to burrow down or for burrowing to lay eggs. Sand doesn't allow this to happen it just collapses.

 

[zoomommi]

Thanks Guys,
Barbara, you are always so informative and have fact to back up your opinions and experience.

I love the slate tiles on the viv too. My tiles are 12x12 so lifting it out isn't possible, but I like that idea!

I guess I will stay on the bare floor. I was kind of thinking of a little area with sand in it, just to see what her reaction would be.
Thanks agian your guys!
zoomommi