Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I read somewhere that Peat Moss can be used as substrate. Is this true? And what else can i use if not(besides newspaper).

Bearded Dragons are desert lizards requiring low humidity. I'd be afraid peat moss would absorb moisture and make the enclosure too humid. I'd also be concerned that it could harbor bacteria.

I use sand. Not everyone's favorite. I don't know of anything better or I'd use it.

Maybe others can list their experiences.

i think that your best two choices are sand or non-stick shelf liner. Substrate is a topis of intense arguement on this forum, so let me attempt a "non-biased" approach of both of the most common substrates.

SAND is more natural. In my opinions sand is easier to clean up feces, doesn't smell bad, but can get a little dusty. The sand that i am talking about can be bought at Wal-mart for like $3 for a 50 lbs bag. If you go with sand you'll want to sift it for small pebbles that could choke your lizard when he/she eats it. Which leads to the problem that i see with all substrate except shelf liner. THat is: your dragon will eat what ever substrate they are on (period). However, bearded dragons have been doing pretty good in the wild living on sand for quite a long time.

SHELF LINER is most likely not going to get consumed by you dragon. WHen your lizard poops on it the whole room will smell like your lizards poop until you clean it up. The shelf liner can also be bought at Wal-mart. just make sure that you get the non- stick kind. That way you could put it in the dishwasher to clean it every once in a while.

i guess that substrate is more of what the owner is comfortable with than what is better for the dragon. both of these two have their pluses and minuses, both are good for substrates. I wouldn't use anything but one of these two. Your best bet is to just spend the $20 and get both and try them both out.
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

Regarding sand. I don't use it till the Dragons are 12" or more. Smaller than that I always used reptile carpet.

I have a 40 gallon breeder tank, and I use reptile carpet. I'm considering going to tile just because it's easy to vacuum. But the carpet is great. He can't eat it, I got the gray kind so he can see the crickets pretty easily, even when they are dusted. It's simple to clean, just take it out and shake it off once in a while, if it gets really dirty, you can wash it. I got 2 so that when I do wash it, I don't have to wait for the other to dry before I can put his tank back together.

My dragon poops in a food dish, however. He has since the first day. So now he has a poop dish, and a food dish. However, a good friend of mine has a leopard gecko also on reptile carpet, and he simply puts a piece of paper towel in the corner she poops in, and all he has to do is them pick it up and throw it, and replace with new paper towel. So, reptile carpet works great, tho I can see if being a challenge if your dragon doesn't have a specific place that he poops.

When he is older, I would like to use sand, at least partially, just because obviously he's a desert lizard. But we'll see.

I had a 2X2X4 ft enclosure. 100 lb bag of Lane Mt. Silica sand from Home Depot. It holds the heat better and keeps the temps more stable. Easy to clean and looks more natural.

As far as for smell, I have used corncob bedding for rabbits and hedgehogs. It keeps the odor to a minimum. However, I don't know about BD's on it.

Silica sand is bad because it has sharp edges which can damage their insides if eaten. Also silica is a known carcinogen and there is a warning on the bag. Play sand has no silica dust and has smooth edges.

I use play sand for a number of reasons:
1. I think its easy to clean, maybe folks will disagree but you can kinda sift it through and the solid pieces seem pretty easy to get to.
2. Innexpensive! This is great in maintaining a healthy environment. If its easier to do then more likely you will do it!
3. The crickets can't burrow on it so removal of them is way easier and the dragon has a better chance of getting to them before they run underneath something.

Ok so its not a number of reasons but just a few. Although folks that use shelf liner can combat everything i say with equally as compelling arguments. It really is owner choice

I read on a web site (I cant remember off the top of my head) but they claim to use Peat Moss and that it is a "mossy" type but when placed under a heat lamp it turns hard.

Good to know. Glad I stopped using it. I'll take that into consideration when I get back into Dragons.

Thanks again for the info.

unless you are really worried about the look of your cage, id use newspaper. i love my beardies, but of the ~40 difrent herps ive kept they are about the smelliest, sand is a pain to change, and same with carpet and cleaning. newspaper if free, or near free, and is not often ingested. and live food can run under and pop back out, giving the dragon an oppurtunity to "hunt" i did a few years with sand, and then did carpet (leos are still on carpet) but went to paper for my dragons, for them and for me...

if your worried about the look, sand is the best for adult dragons (not for babies!!!!) and id still feed them live food outsie of the cage, and just be ready to clean all the sand out ~evry 6 months due to smell!
good luck!!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

Wow. Funny. My dragons don't have any smell at all. I do change the sand and clean the tanks every 60 days though. I have a shop vac and just vacuum out the old sand so it is no big deal.

I use papertowels best and easiest to clean, very cheap as well. I do disagree with sand and would never risk my herps in anyway.

i use reptisand and aquariumsand myself and i'm very happy with it, but i hear a lot of good stories about ceramic tiles. u can get them with a nice texture so your bd's have enough grip. you can put them in your viv 2 ways: loose, so you can get them out and clean outside your viv (desinfecting and baking is really easy that way), or you can glue them in, but make sure you'll seal the grout between the tiles with a non-toxic sealer. for digging u can always put in a box with sand.

peat moss is not a good substrate for bearded dragons. When dry, it tends to be dusty (fine particles). It absorbs moisture which can cause problems if ingested accidently. It doesn't pack down that much nor turn very hard. It will form clumps and be relatively firm but can easily be dug up. However to get it in this state, it will have to be moistened, pushed down and left to bake under the lights, which means you either have to house your dragon in another cage till it dries (which may take a couple days, depending on how thick the layer is). Otherwise it would just raise the humidity too high for dragons to tolerate, which could lead to things like respiratory infections, if exposed to it too long.

Sphugnum moss (which peat moss is made from, or is part of it) is great for humid loving reptiles, such as dart frogs, various species of snakes, geckos, etc. but not good for semi arid dwelling animals. It would be fine to use say, in the egg laying bin for a gravid female, but not as a cage substrate.
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PHLdyPayne

beardies come from or rather are found in many different types of terrain; forest to arid. so i would say yes, long fiber sphagnum or such would be okay but i prefer the dryer types like hardpan substrate and then provide a damer burrow area.