Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok i just bought a bearded dragon 2 days ago, when i bought him i bought his tank substrate furnishings and everything. Now whn i purchased it i bought sand as substrate is this a suitible substratie for a little beardire it looks so nice but ive read it may not be good for them is there anybody who knows for a fact if its good or not plz reply

You will get mixed reviews on this, but I would say that most people here will say that sand can be very dangerous to a Bearded Dragon. They ingest it and it causes impaction in their tummies. They have a hard time digesting sand.

While it looks uber cool, I would shy away from sand. Plus its a pain to clean and gets everywhere!
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2.0 Ball Pythons
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.1 Bearded Dragons
0.0.1 Pacman Frog
2.0 House Cats

And a partrige in a pear tree...

It's a very heated debate so you won't get any clear answer. I've read about breeders that use sand succesfully from the time they hatch and they have never had problems, but the advice i've always hear is to keep babies smaller than 8" off of sand. When they are small they are more likely to ingest the sand when hunting prey since they can miss their intended targets and get a mouthfull of sand.

I've used sand and had no problems with impaction and know a couple very reputable, very honest breeders who use it and say that they have no problems from hatchlings to adults.

I, however, changed to duck shelf liner from WalMart and it is in my opinion excellant. It isn't heavy when you clean it out, doesn't hold urine and other odors (possibly parasites and other bugs asa well) and also looks VERY nice in the tank.

I just wouldn't take the chance of impaction, parasites, etc if I were you. It is however up to you and what you feel is best in your beardies cage.

Robert

I fed my baby in a large bowl. It was easier for him to find the crickets and no sand to injest. I also had the pellets and greens in there so he would grab some greens when he would catch a cricket. He now knows that if he is hungry, his pellets are always in the bowl.