Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I'm thinking about changing again, and I was wondering does anyone use sand (on adults)? It seems like it works so much better than most.

I've tried the shelf liners - just too messy. I tried walnut shell. To light, they slide all over it and it gets picked up on their tounge easier than sand.

I've heard of one person thinking of trying a more mud/sand mix so when it dries it is harder/more compact. Has anyone tried this?

Sand seems to work well in adults and I mostly feed mine pellets and veggies, sometimes crix and worms, so he doesn't have much opportunity to eat the sand anyway.

Let me start out by saying: Please, stay away from the ground English Walnut shells that looks like gravel. It's been widely known to cause severe impaction. I just lost a 16-inch sub-adult female that was kept on it before I got her and there were no signs of impaction until a day or two after I got her. I'm out nearly $300 in vet bills and cost of dragon, plus the sorrow and anguish I went through.

ESU makes some of this labled as "Desert Blend - Lizard Litter (Ground English Walnut Shells)." I don't know if any other company produces it or not.

Check this out: (WARNING!!! These photos are graphic and heartbreaking) mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm

* Photos of the autopsy I performed on the female beardie that died on me are at the bottom of this post.

I've been using the 50-pound bags of children's playsand for my oldest beardie ever since it was about 14-inches long and haven't had any problems. I guess its been about 4 months since I started using it.

I like it because its fine-particled but not dusty, easy to spot clean and looks nice. My beardie seems to like it, too.

Good, clean, rich, dirt that's reddish-brown in color is more like their natural environment, in most places they inhabit. I've been thinking of switching my beardie to dirt but I've changed my mind. However, dirt has finer particles than playsand and is probably the least troublesome "natural" substrate available.

I found some really good dirt and swapped my Savannah Monitor's Aspen bedding with it. My Sav LOVES it. However, he looks just like a lil', filthy, rotten piglet. Dirtier than I don't know what. I handle my beardie more than I do my Sav so I don't want to get myself or my house filthy every time I handle it.

I believe that the main factor in impaction is the bearded dragon, itself. Some are better aims with their tongue, getting less substrate with their prey/food, AND, some are more inquisitive than others, continuously testing their surroundings, thereby ingesting substrate. Its up to us to lessen the odds as much as possible.

Bottom line: I say either playsand or a good dirt mix.

* Here are some pics I took of my beardie that died from walnut shell impaction, even though we (Qualified Vet, and, myself, under Vet's directions.) tried oral treatments and enemas.

Here in this first pic you can see the walnut shells coming out from an incission in the lower part of the belly.

In this second pic you can see walnut shells in the lower part of the stomach and cricket remains in the upper part. She was so impacted that she couldn't digest the crickets. And she hadn't eaten ANYTHING in almost 2 weeks prior to her death.

Here in this third & final pic you can see the size of the different piles. The larger pile is undeigested crickets. The smaller pile is walnut shells. It's also important to note that the first few enemas produced a pile of walnut shells about the equivalent of a tablespoon or two.

Take care!
HH
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

I use childrens play sand I get from Toys R Us for Dragons over 12" and have never had a problem. I use reptile carpet for Dragons less than 12".

I like them because I don't have to wash them like you do with reptile carpets. They are soft and easy on the vents. And they seem to like snuggling on them when it's bed time. they are also absorbent (like a sponge) which makes cleaning up after messes easy, just crumple the toss and there's not really any "beardie just pooped" smell in the house. I think it's also attractive looking making any cage look good.
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1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Rex- "normal" orange fire)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Glutany- German Giant Mix)
0.1.0 Okeetee Corn (Okatee)
1.1.0 Spotted Python (Hotdog and Shoelace)
0.1.8 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Vietnamese Centipede

beardies do pretty well on sand in the wild....and in their cages too!
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

well as long as i have had beardies ive been using sand....wether it be play sand or that i had to buy reptilite in an emergency and i havent had any problems with any of it (knock on wood)

The thing I always wondered about with playsand is once the dragon poo's and pees on it how do you manage to get all of that picked up? Wouldn't at some point some small amount of feces be left on the sand and after a short time cause some type of bacteria? I want to switch to playsand after, Kerra is about 12" or so long but I just happened to think about this question and I'm not sure if I want to now. For those of you who do have playsand how do you expel your dirty sand and do you think you get 100% of the pee and poop???
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kill 'em with kindness

100% certainly not. No matter what substrate you use there will be some germs on the substrate and also on other cage items. I change the entire substrate and disinfect everything every 60 to 90 days.

Forgot something. If you use shelf liner and you are not there to get the soil right away and your dragon gets in it, you have a real mess and a dirty dragon. The sand absorbs the liquid and coats the poop so you have way less of a mess when you get home.

With this subject I see the problem being germs and bacteria wich are not natural to the dragon being the major problem, or not washing or changing the sand periodicaly. Dragons live in fairly dry conditions and the biggest problem with bacteria is moisture. Imo as long as you spot clean daily and change out the sand before it gets too dirty that shouldnt be a problem.

I use a dirt/sand mix. In-organic top soil (sifted) and playsand (sifted). 6-8 inches deep. Perfect for females because they don't need a lay box.
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I use a fine wire mesh poop scoop that's made for scooping poop out of sand. Most petstores carry them.

Every day or every other day I scoop out the waste. The sand clumps when it gets wet so very little waste gets left behind. About every 2 - 3 months I replace the sand.
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.