Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can sand be used as the substrate for a 6 month old beardie?
If it can be used, what type of sand?

Thanks

How long is the dragon and how much dioes he weigh? Do you feed crickets as live food?

I use children's play sand for all my adults but not juveniles or babies. My adult cages have an area without sand for feeding crickets. I get my sand from Toys R Us. It is Lighthouse brand and is less dusty, cleaner, and has no pebbles like the home stores sand in my area.

I read one of your posts some other time about the toys r us playsand....and WOW what a difference. I wanted to switch over to some sand again, instead of just all paper, and this sand is great. No dust and no pebbles in it. Its the best sand I have ever used.....I was really excited about it when I started putting it in the cages. Heres a couple shots on the sand just to show you....it really is good stuff. It costs a couple dollars more per bag, but its night and day compared to the other playsands out there.

The only downside is you can only get it in sandbox season generally. Once they sell out in the late summer they don't get more in till spring. I have 60 bags in my garage for the winter. lol.

I've been trying to figure out how to buy it from the manufacturer directly. It's such a hassle with the loading and unloading of the quantity I use.

Did you by chance see my question below yesterday about millet? I was responding to a string where a poster disliked millet and so I was just wanting to know why. If anyone has time to take a look at my post and respond, I'd really be interested to hear.

I believe that millet would be dangerous, probably a high risk of impaction. It's not recommended as food for beardies on ANY site and being that there is always danger of impaction with any type of loose, pebble or gravel-like substance, I would not take the chance.

Hmmm, I find that information interesting. It was my understanding that substrates such as millet are consumable and digestable and therefore don't pose the threat of impaction. In fact, I do know some people who keep lizards that supplement their diets with seed such as millet.

I believe possibly uromastyx eat millet? I could be wrong, anyway, alfalfa pellets are also "edible" and digestible, so is calcium sand but both can and do cause impaction BECAUSE they are eaten. A woman e-mailed me about an adult beardie that was severely bloated and impacted,living in rabbit pellets, couldn't pass anything so I advised to get rid of it, give beardie a little apple sauce and vegetable oil along with warm soaks and it finally passed a HUGE b.m. I'm sure others will chime in about this, the forum Princess is quite knowledgeable and I'm certain that she will dispense some supplemental information.

bearded dragons are not designed to digest alot of grains. My greater worry about 'organic' type substrates is bacterial, mold and insect pests building up from the grains.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

You know, I did wonder about that when I got the millet because I've noticed in some of the organic dry food I keep that unless it's well sealed, it attracts bugs. But in truth, that's not been the case with the millet. Uro's are different than Beardies and I've never had to worry about parasites with them much. The millet is very dry and I clean their cage once a week and because they don't consume water, the only moisture is in the form of greens. But because they're vegetarians, I don't have the risk possibly associated with live food. I will say the millet that I buy is food grade, organic millet and is something that isn't a problem if ingested by Uro's. Also, I wouldn't compare rabbit pellets to millet as though they are both organic, they are very different substances.

I can see that maybe this has worked very well for my Uro's but when I look into getting another Beardie (been about 10 years since I had a Beardie) that I'll need to look into a different substrate.

Thanks for the info everyone!
Molly

Yes I did see your post about millet but didn't comment because I figured it was addressed to LdyPayne. I also consider myself a beginner in Uro care.

I have 2 Uro's and am aware that seed is recommended by DFF who is most likely the most knowledgable source of Uro care out there. I have only had Uro's personally for about 18 months. I have a Saharan and an Egyptian.

I keep my Uro's on sand in 4' x 2' glass terrariums. They eat 99% salad so there is a significant amount of liquid waste. Often by the time I get home to scoop the poop the moisture has completely dried and all I scoop is the solids. This means the moisure is gone but some bacteria surely remains. The good thing about sand is it's non organic so the bacteria has a very difficult time surviving in it.

Millet, seed, etc provides a better environment for bacteria to grow so i feel it is more likely to harbor bacteria. I also don't like the idea of substrate being a food source or potential food source after it has come in contact with feces.

As part of my Uro's diet I feed them lentils and dry split peas. Uro's have tremendous jaw and tooth strength to break and chew these. I can hear them break and chew them from across the room. A dragon does not have the jaw strength to chew them and would be forced to swallow them whole risking impaction.

I'd say the same would be true with millet or seeds.

This is so true. Those cute puffy cheeks are actually some insane jaw muscles. Mother nature must have been making up for the lack of sharp teeth=)

Thanks for sharing!!

Your cages are very spacious and have insulation! They are some of the best cages I have ever seen! There is a direct correlation between distosis(sp)(egg-binding) and reptiles being kept in too small cages between they are allowed to exercise the muscles.

Thanks. And I agree, inactivity or insuffient exercise is a significant cause of dystocia (egg-binding) as well as impaction in reptiles.

How long is the dragon? As all babies grow at different rates, age plays less a factor for determine if they are big enough to avoid any impaction problems with sand. I think the dragon should be at least 15" long, if not bigger before using sand.

Washed and sifted children's playsand is about the best sand to use. However I am not a big fan of using any sand as a substrate. Even the safest sand can cause impaction, especially if other conditions in the cage are not idea...temperatures that are too low, dehydration, parasites or improper diet, can all lead to dragons failing to pass any sand ingested accidentally, which can build up in the gut and cause impaction.

The smaller the dragon the easier impaction can occur..so I suggest waiting till your dragon is at least 15" long, head to tail tip before putting them on sand.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

I was recommended these ceramic bowls with rounded insides to feed crickets on sand. the crickets try to climb out but can't unless they jump. it keeps the dragon from eating sand except for the few that escape when he dives into the bowl to eat.