Reptile & Amphibian Forums

do you recommend useing vita-sand (or things like it) in frilled and bearded dragon cages.

Thanks

Sand isn't meant to be a form of nutrition for reptiles. Some sands clump up when they're injested and can cause impaction (including some of those sold for reptiles). To me the addition of calcium/vitamins to sand points out the exact reason why I wouldn' t use it.

Washed playsand is supposed to be the "safest" sand, but I prefer to use Eco-Earth by Zoomed (or something similar) for my frilleds. It comes in compressed bricks that expand when you add water.

Frilleds require high humidity, so a substrate that can be kept wet is a good way to go. The only down side to Eco-Earth is that you need to keep it pretty wet and packed down.

Lately Ive been useing a mixutre of peat moss and play sand for alot of my animals.

You get the packing abilities of the play sand, with the humidity of the peat.Generally I go about 1.1 peat to sand but for some species I go more sand. For frilleds I tend to go a bit more sand as it helps it keep a pack for when they eat, less mess in the mouths.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles