Whats the best Substrate? Consensus on this forum please.

[jscott]

i heard people mention textured tile a couple times but...

i wanted to stress the fact that they have to be textured, the rougher the better. i have discovered first hand that smooth tiles are bad for multiple reasons:

{} they dont hold poop(and all that comes with it) in place... it spreads out and makes a mess.

{} they dont wear down the dragons claws. which is necessary appearently.

{} they can barely walk on smooth surfaces(at least my three cant). my big girl hits the kitchen floor and its like shes lost her sense of balance!

i guess what it really comes down to is texture. whether you use ceramic or natural, make sure its got a somewhat porous surface. im using slate on part of my tank and smooth marble on another part. they always poop on the marble and its a pain to clean up :roll: .

 

[RedBeard11]

I remember reading that the self stick tiles weren't recommended. Can anyone shed some light on that for me? I would love to use them if I can't find the ceramic ones I want.

 

[daddyburgi]

I use washed, sifted playsand for my beardie. I like the looks of it and he seems to like it also. Seems nice and soft to lay in. I always keep an eye on him while he is eating just to make sure no problems arise but I figure it is not like they run around on tile floors in the wild (not that there is anything wrong with tile, he has tile in his other cage that is in storage.)

 

[jscott]

the ground they run around on in nature isnt loose sand. from what i hear, central australia can get pretty windy and dry. appearently that keeps a thick layer loose topsoil from forming. instead, mud thats been baked by the sun covers large expanses of wilderness. i think tile might be closer to hard mud than loose sand.

 

[eltigre]

i already put calcisand in my tank and after reading this thread i am curious if placing some form of slate on top of the sand in spots would be beneficial?

 

[Lunamatron]

I love tile. Two out of my three BD's are on it and it is probably the cleanest substrate I have ever used. They don't comonly poop in their enclosures at all and usually do so in the bath, but when they do, it isn't a mess at all. I simply take a papertowel and a little diluted bleach and clean it up. I like it most of all because it holds heat quite well and my BDs seem to enjoy it through the night.

I have reptile carpet for my smallest BD and it is pretty easy to clean as well. Since the BD O have on it is only 8 weeks or so, the poop is small enough that if I leave it for one day it becomes dry and easy to clean up. I vaccuum it twice a week and plan on replacing it every other month or so, depending on if it starts to smell or appear dirty.

I am not a fan of paper towels. I currently have a small area in one of my BD's cages because I cut the tile the wrong size and am missing some tiles. The crickets hide under it and sometimes my BD goes after the corners so I have to make sure it is completely flat so she doesn't eat it. She's a pig and will eat anything...

 

[nesta's mommy]

i already put calcisand in my tank and after reading this thread i am curious if placing some form of slate on top of the sand in spots would be beneficial?

calci-sand is no good and can cause impaction