As Christyj always says, do loads of research and sort through it yourself is the best advice.



Many times people come on forums, make statements and others believe them since they have a business name or website attached to their names.... they MAY know less than those they are advising. I have seen breeders that are plagued with health problems come on here and advice others to follow their husbandry..... AUGH!!!!!!



The internet is a wonderful tool for our generation, but it is also a dangerous one in some hands and came be very damaging. People can and do present themselves to be more than what in fact they are.



A few times a year we always have others join that represent themselves to be great breeders with more knowledge than anyone they know, yet they ask some basic questions themselves and also give what many consider to be poor advise.



Its so easy to parrot and plagiarize and state "we are knowledgeable".... but hard to do accurate research, test and truly have that knowledge first hand.



Don't hesitate to ask others to site their sources, studies and findings and don't be afraid to speak out when your work shows differently..... we all learn by that and also learn who we can trust to listen too and who only parrots something they have read somewhere else (which may not be accurate)or only here to promote themselves..



Now, that said... IMO for whoever trust it



1. Sand is Sand, its heavy, it DOES NOT move through the digestive tract!!!! it impacts, there is not doubt about that, go to either Yahoo Pogona or Pogona_diseases and read all the owners problems with it, whether Calci-sand (great for making sand castles) or Repti-Sand(if it's so natural... how come its colored and dyes off on the dragons feet?) or play sand..... the risk is still there or dust inhalation, bacteria and impaction



2. Alpha pellets or rabbit pellets, smells good, looks cool, but harbors bacteria and is a known cause of mold!



MOLD= bad news for dragons... creates alpha toxins and harbors aspergillus B mold.. nothing more needs to be said.



3. Dragons do not live on sand in the wild, nor do they stay in one small area long. They live in a variety of areas including desert, grasslands, woodlands and rain corridors! And they move from them



Putting them in captivity we need to also do what they can no longer do for themselves, which is change their floor area. Otherwise you have bacteria build ups and the risk of molds/fungus



How you do that is your choice and what works best for you and them...... but don't be fooled or misled into thinking that a substrate that is there for more than a few days is anything but unhealthy.



What you choose is up to you and what your dragons seem happy in, but make it an educated choice, not because someone with a business name states it is so.
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