There are so many discussions going on in this forum about substrates I decided to share what I know to be true and fact and what we know from experience. I will provide several quotes from resource materials just so you know I have not made this stuff up. This is based on the experiences of many others.
Because of the potential risks of sand impactions particularly in babies we choose to initially raise our babies on paper towels. For babies that reach the age of 4-5 months or around 9 inches in length we then use two different types of sands. We use washed/sceened NON SILICA based play sand as well as Zoo Med brand Repti-Sand. This Repti-Sand is all natural no additives and comes in several colors. It is not as cheap as play sand and because we use such a high volume it would not be economical to use just the Zoo Med Repti-sand in our situation but for pet owners we think it is the best you can do for your beardie. It clumps well, is very fine grained and easy to clean. We however must mix it in with the screened and washed non-silica based play sand which does not have as fine a sand grain as the Zoo Med Repti-Sand. We like being able to mix in the dessert red Zoo Med Repti-Sand with the white washed and screened play sand because it makes the crickets easier to find for the dragons because you don't have white dusted crickets running around on white play sand. When mixing the two you get a nice terra cotta pink colored sand that clumps in the poopy spots so you can clean it like a cat litter box.
Play sand is relatively dust-free. Sand is the most easy to clean and maintain substrate. Per The Bearded Dragon Manual "There have been reports of babies becoming seriously ill from intestinal impactions following the ingestion of sands containing calcium." We do not recommend any of the calcium infused sands. A dragon should get all of its nutrients, vitamins and minerals from its food sources not from eating the ground they walk on or ingesting the sand. We do not tell our kids to eat dirt to get their vitamins so why would you expect a calci-sand to provide your dragons with their calcium.
Per The Bearded Dragon Manual: "Avoid unscreened/unwashed sands,particularily unprocessed silica sands because of health risks from inhaling dust lifted by the dragons digging."
Alfalfa Pellets and Rabbit Pellets: They are both absorbent and have drawbacks. Some people develop serious allergies to these and the pellets can let off a strong odor when wet and can crumble turning into dusts that escape the enclosure. There is also risk of four beetle investation. These beetles are harmless but can spread and infest any grain based foods in your home.Alfalfa is also not an adequate substrate to aid your dragon in nail wear. There are also reports from veterniarins that there is a higher incident of respiratory diesease and infections in lizards that have been kept on alfalfa pettelts and rabbit pellets. These pellets quickly mold when they become wet and dragons can inhale the mold spores which can lead to infections and illness.
Newspapers and Paper Towels: Many people use these and they work great. Although, adult dragons have such larger poops that it can get very messy and unless you put down a thick layer it would quickly soak the base of the cage with fecal (both hard and liquids). We recommend using paper towels over newspaper because of the print of the paper and the paper towels hold up better once they become wet. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND everyone use paper towels on their young beardies and stay away from sands until they are a little older and larger and eating on larger crickets which will make their aim a little easier and not as likely to ingest sand while chasing down little crickets.
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