Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend told me he uses oatmeal as a substrate for his dragons and It has worked wonderfully for odor control looks and has not had any impactions. Please let me know soon if this is safe to use. We desperately want our juvie off the paper, which has to be changed twice daily to keep it looking decent and looks tacky in our living room. I am afraid of the washed play sand that we have in the adult cage because when we put him in the cage while cleaning his, the little guy was licking at the sand. We do not feed the adults crickets in their enclosure.

Thank you in advance for answering me.

Mutz and Sky

I think it would be fine..the only thing you have to watch out for would be dampness/mold. But if you scoop the poop right away and any liquid, it should be fine.
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TheClassyLizard

If you are doing daily or twice daily mistings, you may run into problems.

I keep my adult dragons on Rabbit pellets but not the babies because of the misting requirements of the babies. The pellets, like oatmeal will absorb the water and cause problems with molds etc.

If you do try it, please let us know how it goes with the misting.

Joel R

if you are still misting your dragon probably is quite young, stick to something non particulate. i keep all my dragons on wheat bran, its a perfect substrate for us, but i do not mist nor keep water dishes in the enclosures. you can end up with mould and also grain mites, although harmless they are a pain in the butt, common in mealie or superworm cultures, they usually are found in mouldy or in products such as bran and grains as a result of moistness or humidity. until you are done with the mistings stick to something like papertowels, butcher paper or shelf liners, they are really great, just a suggestion to help you avoid any problems.
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reiko
photos

I don't mist my juvie. It drinks out of its water bowl as well as eating misted veggies and soaked pellets. I keep it's "bath tub"/water dish, pellets and veggies all on a rubbermaid dish drainer mat in one corner of it's enclosure. That seems to make clean-up easier in that area. I don't think it would be appropriate for my hatchlings as they are misted two to three times daily.