Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been told to use corn cob bedding as if this is ingested it will break down & pass through but then someone else told me that its dusty & that can hurt the dragon. The dragon I am getting has been bedded on this type of bedding his whole life & is still doing ok several years later. I was told not to use any sand substrate as this can impact & cause death but by someone else was told to use vita-sand as it makes the claim that it is ultra fine grain size that prevents digestive problems if consumed. Can anyone off some advice/opinion on this topic of substrate?

none of the calcium or any other sand is digestible (they LIE), niether is corn or walnut or any of them. The ones that are digestable like bran cause other problems. IMHO, either use shelf liner or play sand.

for more info:

care

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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com
Win a FREE Florida Orange Beardie
www.beardiedragon.com/pages/Main/specials.html

What is the difference of the substrate sands that are not digestable & safe but the washed play sand is?

Washed playsand is not digestable, but it is easier to pass than calcium sands. The thing about calcium is, it alters the PH in stomach acid and can actually slow down the digestion process, which is the opposite of what you want! Plus, if you are properly supplimenting your lizard's diet there is no reason to think it needs to get calcium from it's sand. It's a silly marketing ploy is what it is.

To learn more about substrates read these articles.

The first is a look at all the more dangerous substrates and why they should be avoided.
www.anapsid.org/substrates.html

And the second one is an overall look at all the popular substrates, good and bad. Read through it and decide what you think is best.
www.anapsid.org/substrates2.html

Personally I use non-adhesive shelf liner and I think it's great.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

>>The ones that are digestable like bran cause other problems.

What problems are caused by bran? Our Oolong is on paper towels until his abscesses are fully healed, but we all hate them & were hoping to switch to bran eventually. I'd love to save the hassle of switching to bran if we're just going to have to go right back to paper towels before long. ;P

How do the paper towels work, I was going to use paper towels for my bearded dragon as the report in the previous post here seems to show a negative side to all other substrates.

you cannot feed live prey or they will hide under it. every time they poop you have to change it. it moves and curls, shelf liner is way better
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com
Win a FREE Florida Orange Beardie
www.beardiedragon.com/pages/Main/specials.html

>>shelf liner is way better

I agree, paper towels are vexing (that's what we're using now). This is probably a stupid question, but what makes shelf liner preferable to just the bare glass of a terrarium?

I've thought about that myself. I think mainly the thing about it is that you can take it out once or twice a month to disinfect it and it's very easy, but disinfecting the entire cage is a whole lot more of a chore.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

shelf liner lays flat so crix dont get under it and it gives BDs a footing so they dont run like in a cartoon and slam into walls. I use a bare bottom with my plastic bins as they can get a footing on that surface.
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com
Win a FREE Florida Orange Beardie
www.beardiedragon.com/pages/Main/specials.html

Bran gets moldy pretty qick when wet. I use it for my worms and roaches. When the humidity gets too high you are in trouble. You canot mist or use a water bowl. If you feed live, crix and worms will dig into the bran and can be hard to find. Poop must be cleaned immediately.

Some people use it successfully. It depends on the time and effort you want to put into maintaining it.
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com
Win a FREE Florida Orange Beardie
www.beardiedragon.com/pages/Main/specials.html

Oh, okay! I don't mist & gave up on Oolong doing anything w/ a water dish other than make a giant mess, & he gets fed live prey outside his cage... so he should be okay w/ bran (once he doesn't have open wounds to get things stuck in, of course).

Thanks so much for the info! :}

You can buy several different kinds of sand which are calcium supliments. If a dragon eats some of the substrate then it will pass more easily, as the grainules are tiny, and smooth. Some of the calcium will also be absorbed, and be benificial to the lizard's health. You can pick this sand up at most large petstore chains, and you can also get a wide variety of colors. It is easy to clean, and you can just spoon out any waste deposits.

Take Care,
Steve Clark
TurtsAndTorts@tmail.com

of the extremely conflicting views you will get on husbandry! LOL

Steve, if you read the rest of this thread and the other thread st00ps started, you will see all the reasons why the rest of us dispise calcium sand with a passion. All the things you read on the bag are a blantant lie. It does not digest easier, it changes the PH in the stomach acid (think TUMS) and actually SLOWS digestion! Put some in a glass of water for a few days and see how well it disolves (NOT!) And if you are supplimenting with calcium in their diet like you should why do they need to eat sand for calcium? It's just a marketing ploy.

Read this article for more info...
www.anapsid.org/substrates.html

"Calci-Sand
T-Rex touts their Calci-Sand as a calcium supplement. Unfortunately, this is harmful for most reptiles, such as green iguanas, as if they do ingest it, it will cause impactions, just like all other particulate substrates. Desert animals who live on sand don't ingest enough of it to make it worth the expense, not when plain, cleaned playground sand can be purchased for about $5 per 50 pound bag. Bottom line: The way to prevent metabolic bone disease is to provide a proper calcium supplement for those species who need it; feed healthy prey to carnivores and insectivores; and provide UVB-producing fluorescents or direct unfiltered sunlight to those species dependent on UVB for the formation of pre-vitamin D for adequate calcium, not dump a bag of an overpriced, potentially harmful, substrate into their enclosure."

And read thes rest of these threads. Calcium sand is bad, bad stuff and the companies that sell it are guilty of false advertising. It sounds like you are a victim of this false advertising, but I hope you will change your mind.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Steve,

Please do some research on this stuff and think twice about suggesting anyone use it. Amanda is right on with this and you should take her words to heart. I truly hope you have been enlightened!
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Rob Talkington