Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello; I was woundering I use a chemical free potting soil in my swifts cage with live plants,Could i use the same for my young beardie.I know she would probable eat plants but would the soil be ok

Funny you ask this question, it is being hotly debated by a few people. It would probably be okay, but not very many people use it so the potential dangers haven't been sorted out. A safer option would be to go with something like shelf liner, wheat bran, washed playsand or newspaper/butcher paper--all of which have been proven to be relatively safe (some people worry about sand impactions but for the most part, larger dragons do fine on sand). Also, how big is your dragon? If he is under 100 grams I would leave him on newspaper/butcher paper or playsand until he is older and definitely skip the dirt idea.

Peter

Hello I was told she was 3 mounth in dec. when I got her. She was in with 5-6 other dragons of various sizes and was not getting any food(she was the smallest in the tank)they gave her to me because she was sick. (i have taken sick orhurt or unwanted herps that people brought to them before) now she is on shelfliner and is eating and growing but still is only about 8 inches long.She dosent seem to like greens very much but eats about 10-15 crickets a day and some mealworms with 2-3 waxworms a week. she get salad offered dailey with calcium powder and pellets(but she will not eat the pellets)i keep offering them hopeing maybe she will. thanks for the info

In this case I would definitely advise for you to stick with a sanitary, non particle substrate the shelf liner you are using. What sort of thermometer do you use to check your temperatures? What lighting are you using? Does the calcium supplement contain D3? Have you taken in a fecal sample to check for parasites? Is she caged solitary?

Yes the supplement dose have D3 with a multie vitimn once a week also. She is in a cage by her self a ten gallon for now.I have a digital thermomater to check temps with the cool side running at 80 and the hot at 90 -95 and basking spot at 105-110. she has a super uv dalightbulb(3%uvb& 7%uva)and a esu reptile full spectrum spot light 60 watts.and a black moon bulb at night with a small undertank heater.I had a vet check her right after i got her but he did not do a fecal. I have an app. with a better vet on thursday.Ialso soak her once a day first thing after she warms up and starts moving in the morning.she poos everyday

defintly get a fecal done and consider getting a 40 gal breeder in the near future. that is 24" square and 12" high that 10gal is to small.