Substrate......?

[herpgirl2510]

Good JoB!!

 

[spikeithard]

thanks.. I just need some green in there with a plant or something. Its so cute. I put some crickets in there and watching her chase them down on the tile flooring is funny. it is slippery so my dragon has a hard time scurrying across the floor.. cant get any traction

 

[spikeithard]

ok this isnt good. I think my beardie hates the tile.. this morning I put about 8 cricks in there and she got about 4 right away. then got all freaked out and layed low most of the rest of the day on the branch. the same 4 crickets have been crusing around all day and nothing. she is on the floor now and a cricket went right past her mouth and she didnt budge. I dont think she likes the slippery tile. I wonder if there is anything I can do to it to get it to stick more? I feel bad for her

please I would like to know if anyone else had this problem at the start with using tile. Almost like she is afraid to go on it

 

[lauraj1055]

ok this isnt good. I think my beardie hates the tile.. this morning I put about 8 cricks in there and she got about 4 right away. then got all freaked out and layed low most of the rest of the day on the branch. the same 4 crickets have been crusing around all day and nothing. she is on the floor now and a cricket went right past her mouth and she didnt budge. I dont think she likes the slippery tile. I wonder if there is anything I can do to it to get it to stick more? I feel bad for her

please I would like to know if anyone else had this problem at the start with using tile. Almost like she is afraid to go on it

That may be way too slippery for her.... You should try the non adhesive shelf liner from Walmart, not the smooth one, but they have some that are more ridged.. that's what I have all my babies on, and they have no problem getting traction, and chase their feeders just fine. And it's easy to clean! It's about $5.00 for a 6 ft roll.

 

[spikeithard]

Thanks..might have to try that stuff if I can find it.

She did get one last night before bed. went a few inches and picked a cricket up. but this morning I put about 7 more in there and all she does is lay low on her branch. She HAS to be hungry! I dont know if she is sick or stressed from the recent change over in surroundings.

 

[Runsnoopy]

I like your tiles. Think I may need to change mine out. I got 6" slate tiles and when he poops, it sometimes go between the tiles and I would have to remove all the tiles surrounding the pooped tile to fully clean mess. I was thinking about a piece of linoleum, no cracks. Is that good or bad to use as substrate?

 

[lauraj1055]

I would find something with more traction and less slippery.. it might be stressing her out.

 

[Jess]

I use linoleum, and I like it a lot. It is a tad slippery, but your beardie will get used to walking on it.

 

[spikeithard]

ok.made my choice. Im going back to sand. I had a good talk with the pet store I got the dragon from and he said he breeds all his in sand and owns about 10 and all are in sand. no problems. My dragon seems to love the sand more for eating. he is known in this area as the reptile man. He puts on shows all over the place with crocodiles and lizards and snakes and such. His life is reptiles and his liscense plate is 'drgn man' haha

I think his advice goes a LONG way. My dragon just does not like the tile slippery floor and I dont want her in any more stress.

 

[lauraj1055]

ok.made my choice. Im going back to sand. I had a good talk with the pet store I got the dragon from and he said he breeds all his in sand and owns about 10 and all are in sand. no problems. My dragon seems to love the sand more for eating. he is known in this area as the reptile man. He puts on shows all over the place with crocodiles and lizards and snakes and such. His life is reptiles and his liscense plate is 'drgn man' haha

I think his advice goes a LONG way. My dragon just does not like the tile slippery floor and I dont want her in any more stress.

Very bad choice for a baby dragon... VERY BAD... Try the non adhesive shelf liner. You put the wrong flooring down with no traction. Once you get the correct one it will be so much better. It's your choice, it's your dragon, but you are risking A LOT by putting him on sand.

 

[Rud3Bwoy]

if you go sand don't get vita sand it stains your berdie,personally i had sand and had 0 issues other than the staining,but i heard playsand don't do this,also a lot of breeders i know are also using sand with 0 issues and these are some of the top breeders online.

id use sand if it wasn't a hassle cleaning etc and scared my dragon will get stained again lol

 

[spikeithard]

if you go sand don't get vita sand it stains your berdie,personally i had sand and had 0 issues other than the staining,but i heard playsand don't do this,also a lot of breeders i know are also using sand with 0 issues and these are some of the top breeders online.

id use sand if it wasn't a hassle cleaning etc and scared my dragon will get stained again lol

thanks, ya I am using a VERY fine sand with little dust. Will be fine. maybe a 1 in a 300-500 chance something may happen. I think a lot over exaggerate on here about the sand.

 

[Jess]

Keep in mind that your "very fine sand" will easily get in his eyes and nose. I adopted a baby beardie who was previously kept on sand, and he had a terrible eye infection, plus an abscess that took up his entire eye socket and took months to drain. And then he was partially blind for the rest of his life. Clink on the link in my sig that says "Why Shouldn't I use Sand?".

I also observe at a vet clinic for exotics. Their clinic pet is a 20"+ 6 year old beardie, who was impacted to the point where he needed surgery to survive.

With sand, there's never a problem until there IS a problem. It just takes one grain of sand to get into their eye, and your beardie will have the same problem that mine was almost put to sleep for.

 

[lauraj1055]

Keep in mind that your "very fine sand" will easily get in his eyes and nose. I adopted a baby beardie who was previously kept on sand, and he had a terrible eye infection, plus an abscess that took up his entire eye socket and took months to drain. And then he was partially blind for the rest of his life. Clink on the link in my sig that says "Why Shouldn't I use Sand?".

I also observe at a vet clinic for exotics. Their clinic pet is a 20"+ 6 year old beardie, who was impacted to the point where he needed surgery to survive.

With sand, there's never a problem until there IS a problem. It just takes one grain of sand to get into their eye, and your beardie will have the same problem that mine was almost put to sleep for.

Jess,
we both know better, that's why our beardies are happy and healthy. We can only tell them what we KNOW and they make the decision to do what the want. It's irritating, and seriously would you want to walk on sand all day long? Never mind the bacteria it harbors from soaking up the poop juices. YUCK.. My friend got her first beardie from a pet store, and it died a week later from being impacted from sand. Oh well, guess people need to find out the hard way on their own.

 

[Rud3Bwoy]

if you go sand don't get vita sand it stains your berdie,personally i had sand and had 0 issues other than the staining,but i heard playsand don't do this,also a lot of breeders i know are also using sand with 0 issues and these are some of the top breeders online.

id use sand if it wasn't a hassle cleaning etc and scared my dragon will get stained again lol

thanks, ya I am using a VERY fine sand with little dust. Will be fine. maybe a 1 in a 300-500 chance something may happen. I think a lot over exaggerate on here about the sand.

yea also keep an eye on it i noticed it attracts these black little flies,but anyway mines was all good and i use to feed him in the viv with the sand no issues,just hated he got stained but w.e i didn't make that mistake with my new dragon

tho i am doing tile next easier cleaning