There is a lot of controversy on these things with beardies, and depending on where you get your info, it will vary. Generally, after keeping a bearded dragon for years and learning through experience and further research, I would raise baby beardies on simply paper towel or some kind of reptile carpet. Paper towel is easily cleaned, so the cage is kept sanitary and there is no worry of ingestion. Some people are opposed to sand and I have kept beardies on sand and the crushed english walnut desert blend bedding. I prefer the desert blend. I recommend to people that product, but you should always make sure your lizard is supplemented with the approptiate levels of calcium and other vitamins and minerals throughout its life. Also, always offer food like veggies and worms in a dish. This will limit the ingestion of substrate a lot.



Right now, my preferred temperature ranges are a cool side of 80-85 F and basking temps from 95-105 F. Even though most say they can tolerate 110 F, I don't like to go too high just in case. Always remember to provide a thermal gradient for your lizards, such as a hot side and cool side so the lizard can adjust its own temperature easily.



I maintained my beardy who is now about 12 years old on a lot of Romaine lettuce over the years. I did this because books I read told me this was probably the best greens out there for beardies. Once finding out more, I learned that this is quite low in nutritional value for them. They can survive on it, as mine did for years, but I advise people to use mainly other greens such as dandelion, endive lettuce, and escarole lettuce. Collared greens are good, but quite high in calcium, so people have told me that if you feed collared greens, mix it with other greens as well. Romaine can still be offered sometimes, even mixed in with the other greens, but the good staple greens are the ones I just mentioned.



That is my input on this debate, looking forward to what others have to say.

[ Show Entire Thread ]