Reptile & Amphibian Forums

is playsand the best or the expensive stuff you buy at the pet store or can you use dirt. and if not dirt why???
thanks, Joey

the best in my opinioin is duck shelf liner, it looks nice, is easy to cclean, is cheap, and there is minimal risk of impaction, i would think that dirt wouldn't be ok becuase of humidity dirt would raise the humidity level risking respitory infection, good luck
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1.1 leopard gecko (goliath, gebco)
0.1 hypo red bearded dragon (puff the magic dragon)
0.0.1 schnieder's skink (ghandi)
1.0.1 white's dumpy treefrog (buddha and un-named)
1.0 house gecko (geico) (finally found him)
1.0 rabbit (oreo)
0.1 dogs (kristy)
1.1 cats (joey, tinkerbell)
2.0 goulian finchs
0.0.2 red eared sliders (banquo, kenpo)

If you want safety, cleanliness, & ease, it = rubber shelf liner.

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1.0.1 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Basically there is no "best" substrate out their becuase their are several factors to consider like the age of your dragon, what you want the cage to look like, and how safe do you want it to be.

Safety - If you want the safest possible substrate and are willing to give up aesthetics, then go with Duck brand shelf liner, newspapers, indoor/outdoor carpet or papertowels. The advantage to these types of substrates is that they are easy to clean and disinfect by either throwing away after every poop or cleaning and replacing (the swap method). They also cannot be ingested making them the safest as far as impaction goes. Of all of the non-particulate substrates, the Duck brand can look the nicest (unless you get some crazy fu fu design), but can still be a little on the steril looking side when compared to particulate substrates. Oh yeah this kind of substrate is really good if you are trying to rid of nasty little parisites like coccidia.

Aesthetics- Childrens playsand looks cool, let's face it. You can base all sorts of natural looking habitats around this substrate. It's relatively easy to clean by scooping out the poops daily some sort of screened scoop or fishnet. The sand should be completely thrown out and changed every 1-3 months even when picking up the poops everyday because it can harbor bacteria that seeps down into the substrate. As with any particulate substrate there is a risk of impaction. It is recommended that young dragons with bad aim while hunting be kept off of sand becuase they tend to miss although there are breeders that have raised many hatchlings on sand with no problems. Basically you need to be observant. If your dragon is constantly licking the stuff, or throwing a bunch of sand into his salad bowl, then going and taking bites of sandy salad, then you need to change substrates.

Danger, Danger - Stay away from anything that is marketed as digestable calcium carbonate substrates, better known as Calci-Sand, Vita-Sand, Repti-Sand , etc. Dragons love to lick this stuff and it turns into a calcium cement when moistened (in your dragons stomach). It is also rediculously expensive compared to playsand. I have never figured out why people buy this stuff at 8-10 bucks a bag
(1-2 bags is good for about a 10g tank) when they can knowingly buy playsand at 5-10 bucks for a 50 pound bag. Keep in mind that even if your dragon survives for 1-3 months on the stuff, you still have to completely change the stuff out to keep to keep it clean, same as playsand. So your basically spending 50-100 bucks to fill an adult sized dragon enclosure every month or so. Wish I had money to throw away like that. It is also dusty as hell, and has a funny odor to it that smells up the room the enclosure is in. So if you want really pretty colors (even glow in the dark), have lots of money, like a smelly room, and want to kill your dragon, then this is the substrate for you.

Others - Their are other substrates out their also like crushed up walnut shells, bed a beast, alfalfa pellets, wood chips and a myriad of others i've heard of. Frankly, most of them seem more appropriate for rabbits and other small mammals if you ask me. Most of them still carry a significant risk of impaction or absorb moisture that can raise humitiy levels high and harbor bacteria.

Thank you all for your replies, and seeing the self liner answer inspires a new question ....what about the plastic rock lining that is used on walls........it is aestheticallly pleasing simple to clean........but is it going to exude any kind of fumes when wet........have you guys thought of this ....I just thought of it while in home depot today looking at fence material and then walking down a random aisle i saw this material and thought it would be great if it didn't give off fumes.... it will give the cage a mountainous look while giving the lizard a landscape that is always climbing up and down.........what do you guys think......thanks Joey