Which substrate is better

[GZDRAGON]

hey guys I'm new in forum, my name is sandro and I have a beardie called GODZILLA.
my beardie is about 2 months now and im using paper towel for the viv.
I wanted to ask you guys... when can I started to use substrate? and which is better becuase I read that sand is bad for them but the
employee from petco told me that the white vita-sand is good for them... so im not sure
do i keep using the papaer towel? or can i started using substrate?
:?
sandro

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello and Welcome to the forum

Honestly we do not recommend any type of sand at all, especially for the young beardies. If the sand is ingested it can cause impaction, which can be pretty serious in a little one. Any of the loose substrates are really not recommended.

If you want to get away from using the papertowels you could use reptile carpet, non-adhesive shelf liner, non-adhesive lino or tile. Alot of members prefer the tile for a number of reasons. It is easy to clean, retains heat, keeps nails filed down and is also attractive. If you decide on tile make sure it has a rough surface(ex: slate). The smoother surfaces are hard for the beardie to get traction on.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[GZDRAGON]

thank you for the info!
is Zilla Brown Reptile Terrarium Liner good? or you recomend another one?

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I have nothing to add to that other than Hi.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

The Zilla reptile liner is fine. That is what we call reptile carpet. I would recommend getting two of them. That way when you are washing the soiled one you have another to replace it with right away. Th reptile carpet is machine washable...although when I used it I did not put it in my washing machine...YUK! I just scrubbed it outside with a little detergent and let it air dry.

 

[GZDRAGON]

allright! thank you realy much for the info!
defenetilly buying that one! my mom is getting mad becuase im using all her paper towel!
thank you again dawn!

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

No problem! :wink:

 

[sammyjackson]

Hello,
Right now I use tile because I have a one year old beardie girl and She is in her final enviroment setup(75 gal. tank), but when she was small I had her in a 20 gal. tank and the best for me was the non adhesive shelf liner. I say this for many reasons :

1) It's easy to clean because the poop wont be absorbed and you can cut it the shape you want.

2) It does not hold bacteria if it kept clean.

3) It can be washed and reused, you can even put it in the drywasher machine and its ready to put back in the tank.

4) It comes in different color so you can choose the color you want for your tank setup.

These facts have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose ,treat,cure,or prevent any disease. :laughhard: :laughhard:
Ohh!!! and this product is been tested on animals. :roll:

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

These facts have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose ,treat,cure,or prevent any disease. :laughhard: :laughhard:
Ohh!!! and this product is been tested on animals. :roll:

 

[Nikki1292]

Honestly, it varies. While sand can be harmful to your dragon, so can reptile carpet. Since they have claws, they can get stuck in a sense. This happened to my friends dragon and he lost a toe. Granted he was a baby but still... There is always some risk with all substrates. Currently, I am using sand. I forget what brand it is but a few bearded dragon breeders and friends who own dragons recommended it. I was using carpet but switched.

FYI- If my dragon, Gizmo, ever faces impaction, God forbid, I will be changing back to carpet. But since some breeders have recommended it, I thought I would give it a try.

 

[Fal]

I've heard of people using sand with adult beardies and feeding them outside the viv or in another viv/tank, to avoid them taking in sand when messily grabbing their live food. I thought it a fairly good idea, or, I have seen vivs that are half sand, half tile/shelf liner etc... giving the beardie the natural side with the ability to dig etc... and a 'safer' side for feeding etc...

If I'm honest, it scares me lol, but you can only do so much I guess, the rest is up to the lil guy or gal. Currently, for our baby, (2months) we are using a natural cork sheet as it doesn't soak up the poop, it's easy to cut to shape, apparently has a natural resistance to mites etc... is softish underfoot (isn't solid so his claws can find purchase, but without snagging) and we have two pieces so one can be (easily) cleaned whilst the other is in. Seems to work well and looks desertish. only problem is it tends to curl up slightly at the edges due to the heat, so we try and weight it down with ornaments/food bowls etc...

 

[Seven65]

I read that sand is bad for them but the
employee from petco told me that the white vita-sand is good for them...
sandro

A good rule of thumb: don't trust pet store employees.

Not saying they're all bad, but most of the time you will get wrong information from them.

Vita-sand and Calci-sand is actually worse than normal sand because it encourages your animal to eat the sand, which it can't digest, which can be fatal.

 

[athenae]

I read that sand is bad for them but the
employee from petco told me that the white vita-sand is good for them...
sandro

A good rule of thumb: don't trust pet store employees.

i'll second that, emphatically!! also, i don't think anyone has mentioned that sand is dusty, which can cause eye problems. so if you use it, at least take the dragon out of the enclosure when you're adding more substrate. that being said, the final answer is not as simple and definitive as some folks suggest. i do not recommend hard surfaces for babies if you have climbing options for them [which they love] since it's possible for them to nod off to sleep on a high perch, loose their grip, fall in their sleep and injure themselves, even break their neck. my dragon [who's now over 13 yrs. old] has been on crushed walnut shell most of his life -- but for chasing crickets he's either been put in a different enclosure or had a piece of carpet laid on top of the substrate.
athena

 

[Fal]

True on the falling! The mother of my beardie looks like she is constantly whistling because she fell when younger on a hard surface and broke her jaw. She's now on play sand and doing fine. I guess there will always be dangers, I've also heard of hard floor damaging their toes/feet? Especially if they have been raised on a softer substrate then transferred to tile for example as an adult.

 

[Seven65]

I read that sand is bad for them but the
employee from petco told me that the white vita-sand is good for them...
sandro

A good rule of thumb: don't trust pet store employees.

i'll second that, emphatically!! also, i don't think anyone has mentioned that sand is dusty, which can cause eye problems. so if you use it, at least take the dragon out of the enclosure when you're adding more substrate. that being said, the final answer is not as simple and definitive as some folks suggest. i do not recommend hard surfaces for babies if you have climbing options for them [which they love] since it's possible for them to nod off to sleep on a high perch, loose their grip, fall in their sleep and injure themselves, even break their neck. my dragon [who's now over 13 yrs. old] has been on crushed walnut shell most of his life -- but for chasing crickets he's either been put in a different enclosure or had a piece of carpet laid on top of the substrate.
athena

My friend had a baby dragon that fell off a branch and died. Because of that I didn't give my dragon anything to climb on other than rocks at first, then put a fake branch in and put a t-shirt under it. lthough that didn't stop him from somehow scaling to the top of his cage on the piece of foam on the edge of the glass door and getting stuck. Babies are so curious... I ended up getting a coat hanger and pushing the t-shirt underneath him (because I couldn't open the door, he was in the way) and, as if he realized what I was doing, he dropped onto it right after I got it underneath him.