Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Could someone tell me how old my dragons should be before i use sand as a substrate....i have heard that it isnt good to start too young because they might consume to much of it...

no smaller then 10 inches for sand, and even then keep a close eye to be sure they are not ingesting large amounts of it. some will actualy eat the sand. if you do keep your dragon on sand (washed playsand that is) your best bet is to feed them either in a different enclosure or make the area where you feed a different substrate such as shelf liners. i keep my dragons on wheat bran (which i feel is the safest particulate substrate) but i keep the feeding and pooping areas in shelf liners, just put up a partition a couple inches tall to keep the bran (or sand) on one side and the shelf liners clear of it. that way it makes for very easy clean up when they go to the bathroom and keeps their food off the bran so they arent ingesting the substrate. hope this helps some.

>>Could someone tell me how old my dragons should be before i use sand as a substrate....i have heard that it isnt good to start too young because they might consume to much of it...
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reiko
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thanks alot reiko....do you have any pictures of your cage setup i could see? i like that idea id like to see it...thanks alot

i am not at home right now and so could not upload any new pics... i think i have one or two of that setup, when i get home tonight i will check.. i know cheriS does something similar, she keeps a "sandbox" type set up, actually i got the idea half from her and half from mattman, she has papertowels i beleive through the whole enclosure but then has a sandbox for the dragons to dig and play in, which i think is a really great idea, you could use anything with that, like shelf liners, butcher paper etc and then a box of sorts on one end for them to dig and play in, i know she has pics, maybe she could post a couple for ya.
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reiko
photos