crushed walnut shells are a terrible substrate for bearded dragons. that stuff is made for tarantulas, scorpians and centipedes. that stuff is not digestable, infact it might get stuck in their gut like a log-jam leading to paralysis and eventually death.
if you have an adult dragon and you MUST use sand, then get quartz sand; not calci-sand or vita-sand. petstores will always try to sell you calci-sand claiming its perfect for bearded dragon but they dont really care.
big petstores dont give out the right info because they mostly dont care. "buy this bulb, or that one. whatever.", they dont even know what theyre talking about 90% of the time.
small petstores on the other hand, are only in it to make a buck. especially in these tough economic times. if a customer walks in looking for a product the store doesnt carry, theyll say anything they can think of to get you to buy a similar yet inferior product.
there are always exceptions to the rules. if you can find a good petstore with caring and knowledgable people, then SPREAD THE WORD!
other products to stay away from are:
Linear(straight) Fluorescent UV-B bulbs
ExoTerra ReptiGlo 5.0 - not strong enough
ExoTerra ReptiGlo 8.0 - o.k. but there are better bulbs for the $
ExoTerra ReptiGlo 10.0 - definitely stay away, possibly dangerous
ESU(energy savers unlimeted) brand bulbs - inferior product
Spiral or Compact UV-B bulbs
ALL ZooMed ReptiSun compact UV-B bulbs ~ bad phosphor, hazardous
ALL ExoTerra compact UV-B bulbs ~ dangrous spectrum, damaging to eyes
ALL spiral or compact lightbulbs in general are harmfull to BDs eyes
your better off using this bulb:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html
alot of small petstores dont sell them because their from Germany. by the time they get to the petstore the price has been jacked up 7-8 times. if you can find them in petstores their 40-80 dollars but you can buy them from that site for less than 30 dollars.
anyhow, i guess my point is: dont believe what the petstores tell you. go home and research it. then, go back the next day with printed off info and rub it in their face :twisted: .