Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever tried dirt or a dirt mix that can hold a burrow for substrate? I don't have any bearded dragons but I was wondering if someone put at least a foot to 2 feet of dirt in all or part of the cage, would the beardies make a burrow? I understand humidity levels would have to be monitored but if kept in control would the burrowing be more natural? Also it would have to be a large enclosure not the minimum in height. I know people are going to worry about impaction so lets just say the enclosure would house a full grown animal. I'm not speaking of a gravid female either, but any adult. Thank you for your thoughts and opinions.

Tim

Though bearded dragons do dig in sand and dirt, they are not burrowers. The only time dragons dig a deep hole is to lay eggs, to find a cool place to get out of the heat, or to brumate. For the most part, they do not require deep soil to dig in.

Soil as deep as you suggest will most likely raise the humidity, make keeping the dragon clean and removing feces a pain. Also, excess humidity can allow bacteria to grow and be a health problem to your lizard. Even dry dirt/soil can be a problem as it won't hold it's shape as well as damp dirt/soil and if the dragon does dig deep, it can collapse on top of him. This can injure or smoother your dragon too. Also any cage furniture will have to be set underneath the dirt, so the bases sit flush with the bottom of the cage, thus you need taller basking areas etc. Otherwise if the basking site, hide, rocks etc are just sitting ontop of the dirt, there is risk your dragon will dig underneath and have it fall ontop of him, risking serious injury or death.

As dragons don't naturally dig alot in the wild, I think it is much better to stick with thin layers of substrate, when using any loose substrate, such as washed play sand. Leave the deep stuff for egg laying females, and true burrowers such as blue tongue skinks, sand boas etc.
-----
PHLdyPayne

Hi PHldyPayne thanks for the response! In the mid 90's I bred my beardies. I had 1.2 in a 6'x4'x 3'H. On one side I kept dirt for the gravid females to use and the male would dig but not burrow. I took it as he was digging for freedom. I was just curious if anybody did this now. I haven't had beardies since 97' and things have changed. We learned alot about husbandry through trial and error, but now people have great forums like this with educated people like you to talk to. Thank you very much for your time and hope to speak with you and everyone else in the future.

Tim

Three dragons in a 6'x4'x3' cage? They must have had fun.

The two main concerns with any loose substrates is dragons ingesting it and bacteria/mold growth. Dragons often taste test things with their tongues and sand etc, will stick to their tongues and get eaten. Small amounts normally don't pose much of a concern, except with very young dragons.

Regulate full tank cleaning or a bioactive soil/sand mix will keep harmful bacteria from building up and causing problems for your dragons. Also, parasites can build up in soil and constantly re-infect your dragons till their bodies can't handle the extra load and wind up affecting your dragon's health. As all dragons have some amount of parasites, such as coccidia in their guts at all times, if they keep ingestion food/sand etc that contain coccidia spores/eggs it will build up to dangerous levels. Even if the dragon never licks the sand or even gets any sand into their bodies from eating, the crickets etc, could walk across contaminated soil and thus bring it into the dragon's body.

A living vivarium setup for desert environments could be established with dragons. Beneficial bacterial is included in the soil mixes and these naturally break down waste material, providing they are not overwhelmed (ie lots of dragons in a small cage, or soil not deep enough etc). I don't know much about how to set these up, only really know it is possible to do. Reptile Magazine had some articles about it awhile back, I just cant' remember what issue it was off hand.

Many dragon keepers here have created 'sandboxes' in their dragon's cages. This way the dragons can play in the sand but not have sand over their entire cages. I am sure a similar thing can be done with soil or soil/sand mixes. The sand boxes are just rubbermaid containers filled with sand with a ramp for the dragon to get in and out of the box, or a sectioned off portion of the cage with wood low enough for the dragons to get in and out of easily with a few inches of sand to play in.

I also know in warmer year around climates (ie the bulk of the southern states) many breeders have outdoor enclosures. These certainly are not lined with paper towels LOL. Most have soil/sand substrates, live plants, rocks, logs etc for the dragons to live with. Shelters from the sun etc are also available so the dragon's don't overheat. Typically they have netting or wire mesh over the top to prevent predatory birds and animals from getting into the cages.

So it is very possible to have dragons on sand and soil, just need to be aware of risks of ingesting sand/soil can cause impaction, especially with coarser sands. Most soil is much finer than sand and would pass harmlessly, unless hard chunks are consumed containing bits of wood or rocks. Hard pack soil/sand is much safer, as it isn't as easily ingested and more like their natural environment than half a foot of loose 'beach' sand.

I actually use a soil/sand mix for my spade tailed agama. They do like to dig and burrow so it was recommended to use this as substrates. It is a pain cleaning and preparing the mix and watching the humidity doesn't get too high, as these little lizards do not like high humidity, being a semi arid dwelling reptile like bearded dragons. Picking out the pieces of wood and rocks out of the soil and breaking/removing the hard clumps of earth is also a pain. I would hate to do this for a large cage. The spade tailed agama is in a 20 gal tank which is perfect for a single lizard. Much to small for a bearded dragon of course but since spade tailed agamas only get about 5-7" long, it's ideal.
-----
PHLdyPayne

If you do it right, dirt won't get moldy, the bacteria will work in your favor (I have a large enclosure for russian tortoises with about 400 pounds of dirt in it, and I haven't had to clean up poop since summer...my dragon has only about 60 pounds of dirt, so I just spot clean the solids and the bacteria in the dirt takes care of the rest). Also, it's not really loose substrates that cause impactions, but improper conditions that create a weaker animal that is incapable of passing substrate. Dehydration plays a huge role in this, as most reptiles tend to be kept in enclosures with screen tops and no access to humidity. Temperatures also play a huge role. Offer choices and the reptiles will choose what hotspot works. My russian tortoises even tend to bask on a hot spot where the surface temperature is over 150f (surface temp... no air temp).

You have to remember that the reptiles know more about what they need than we do, so just give them some choices. I like dirt substrates because if you give them enough of it, you tend to see new, exciting things. Reptiles (especially desert reptiles) tend to dig burrows or dig underneath rocks/debris to take shelter, and in these areas there is high humidity, which allows them to keep from becoming dehydrated. Not allowing them areas where they can do this keeps them in a constant state of dehydration (no matter how much water is on their food).

Just some stuff to think about. This is all from first hand experience, not hearsay.

Hey Ryan thanks for the reply! It made sense to me to put dirt in the cage. In the wild they stay in burrows where there is humidity and thrive. I feel they need it for hydration purposes like you mentioned. I haven't had a beardie in almost ten years and it seems everybody is still doing the same thing as far as husbandry goes. In my tank we had two basking spots one at 120 and the other at 100. The beardes would use both. On a hotter day the one basking spot would get close to 130 and they still used it. Thanks for the info Ryan and PHladypayne I really appreciate it.

Give them enough choices and they'll use them, just like you said with the basking lamps. That's part of the reason husbandry for bearded dragons has stayed the same for so long... nobody is attempting to let the beardies choose for themselves. The human selects the temperatures, the human selects the humidity, and the human selects everything. I'm not saying any of this to make anyone mad at me, but I think that if the people here gave their beardies more choices especially with humidity and temperatures, they might be surprised. I see a lot of beardie enclosures with no hiding spaces. I toss a bunch of cork bark pieces (flats and tubes), and my beardie uses them. They don't want to hide in a hide box either...they want to curl up somewhere nice and tight, where it seems like no predator could possibly get them, and someplace that meets the humidity and temperature requirements for that specific time. Sometimes they want to bask up near the basking light with surface temps of up to 150f (mind you, even on a warm day in the summer a rock in the sunlight can become this hot or hotter), and of course it's going to be pretty dry there. Sometimes they want to find a nice cool hiding place with a high amount of moisture (under a piece of cork bark that's sitting on the dirt). But it's their choice, not ours. Remember, they know more about what they should be doing than we do.

So basically the main reason that the husbandry hasn't been improved upon much is because it's work... physically and mentally. It can be a pain in the but sometimes too, but the rewards are far greater than you would think. Part of the problem is that beardies are easy to keep alive and they will breed in almost any conditions, but they are much more difficult to set up in a way that they can thrive in captivity.

Dehydration is the main cause of the common problems people encounter, especially constipation/impaction (which is also highly temperature related). A lot of people have to give their dragons frequent soaks to get them to poop. They are dehydrated, so their stools are a bit harder and drier...not to mention they aren't working efficiently (dehydration and insufficient temps), so it's no wonder they need to sit in water in order to get enough moisture back in their bowels to expel their waste. It's the same with impactions. If they can swallow it, they can pass it out the other end. There's no question about it. However, if they are having a rough time just passing stool, there's no way they are going to be able to pass whatever else they have picked up along the way.

These are actually the later signs of dehydration. Kidney/liver problems aren't caused by too much animal matter (not entirely, at least), it has much more to do with dehydration.