Substrate???

[IAmAMirage]

Hey everyone! Been a while since I've got on here.

I just bought Mirage a new tank and I'm looking into getting a new substrate. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to stick with the slate tile or switch to a loose substrate so he can dig. I've been reading about it and I keep seeing things about loose substrate helping humidity? If anyone has any suggestions or insight I would love to hear it!

Thanks!

 

[ChileanTaco]

I personally like the loose substrate a lot, for different reasons:
- dragon can dig
- odd-shaped surfaces can be constructed, either by me or by the dragon (or both!)
- plants can be directly planted and are not just standing around in pots (or when I use pots, I can embed them into the substrate)
- I can use the sand to put in objects so they stay put, like a food bowl (it is clear that I make sure no substrate gets into the bowl), stones

Humidity:
I mist the substrate (almost) each morning lightly to mimic morning dew. I see this as a form of enrichment and also the sand over time forms a hard surface from that (gets moist, and then it "bakes" under the lamps - gets hard, like it does in nature). So there is no "dust" from the substrate.
I'm not doing anything special about the humidity. In the enclosure I mimic a desert environment with plants, stones and wood, so it is rather dry, and the humidity is obviously higher in the morning, but otherwise I don't do anything about it.

What I use:
The substrate I use is real desert sand plus at some places some burrowing clay. Looks like what you can see in the attachment. The structure towards the left has some burrowing clay mixed in. Everything in front is the pure desert sand.
If I had no access to desert sand, I would use soil (no fertilizer, no animal products like manure - so either vegan or directly for terrariums) plus play sand plus burrowing clay (likely more from the latter to improve making a harder surface)

I have the setup as it is, including the dragon (yesterday was first "gotcha day "*) now exactly for one year. It works well and I see no reason to change it / if I would set up a second enclosure, I would do just the same.

*some count it like "first gotcha day is when the pet came home, after a year is second etc."
I prefer to count it like birthdays, first is a year after somebody was born, or anniversary, first is a year after something important happened.

 

[IAmAMirage]

Thank you for your guidance. I had heard that a sand/loose substrate can cause impaction? How true is this? I currently have his tank in my basement (thats the safest area as it is one of the few my parents don't allow their birds to enter) I am currently working to get a bigger setup put together and moved to my room (as he is my pet and I am responsible for him) my room does tend to get very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Does this change anything?

Sorry for the long post/response! I'm still new at being a beardie owner! January 28th of 2025 will mean I have had Mirage for a year!

 

[ChileanTaco]

Thank you for your guidance. I had heard that a sand/loose substrate can cause impaction? How true is this?

Substrate like "jungle bedding" (not appropriate for dragons) or any other lightweight larger wooden pieces (or for completeness, as I've seen also that, ripped up paper like used for rodents, also not appropriate) can cause impaction as such is rather large, cannot be digested and could be eaten when an insect clings to them and so it's eaten together with the insect.
Otherwise: Not an issue. A lot of people run naturalistic or bioactive enclosures. Also I have never seen (I use a camera so "see everything") my dragon gobble up a mouthful of substrate.
We have exactly 0 issues with pooping - I never had to bath him, never had to adjust his food for making him poop, no massages, nothing, he just "goes".
I also see him to use the substrate a lot in the way he dug his own burrow for brumation, or when he recently did chose another spot for sleeping, before going to sleep, he dug around.

Also "sand" is not always the same.
I would never use fine, dusty sand (like in an hourglass or zen garden): Irritates eyes and nostrils, makes walking hard/ is not good for the joints.
I rather tried to mimic what can be found on the ground in a rather dry natural environment. There, the sand bakes together.

I currently have his tank in my basement (thats the safest area as it is one of the few my parents don't allow their birds to enter) I am currently working to get a bigger setup put together and moved to my room (as he is my pet and I am responsible for him) my room does tend to get very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Does this change anything?

In this case, I would just (as it always should be done) monitor the temperature. You might switch off one basking lamp or use a weaker one when it's hot, and you might want to use a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) during night (that's a thing that screws in to the lamp fixture, but emits only heat and no light - warmth feels just like from a regular bulb).
We also adjust somewhat during the year: We have the enclosure in the living room/ dining area next to two windows, and it gets (intentionally) hot (but not overly, we measure) when the sun is coming through the windows. So for summer, we put the two basking lamps further away from each other, whereas in winter, they are next to each other to create a hotter spot (works well).
I also bought a ceramic heat emitter recently as I can't get the 100 W basking lamps here anymore and use this in addition to a weaker 60 W basking lamp. My dragon does not complain (= behaves normally), but did complain (=hiding) when only the 60 W was there.

Sorry for the long post/response! I'm still new at being a beardie owner! January 28th of 2025 will mean I have had Mirage for a year!

Totally fine

 

[Chris.]

Hey there, I'm also a big advocate for loose substrate, for all the reasons mentioned.

Most sand or sand-like substrates will (once dried out) help with humidity in my experience. A tank with sand in it has in my experience always been more arid than an empty one and you want it as arid as possible obviously.

Impaction is caused by your dragon being unable to digest its food properly. That means impaction is more caused by temperatures being too low.
Personally I have two dragons that have been on sand their whole life and have eaten their fair share of dirt while hunting for bugs but it has never been an issue.