Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anyone here housing baby BDs outdoors? well I finally got my tubs. they are 3' X 5' and about 2' high with screened top. this is to house baby BDs outdoors full time. Any ideas for substrate??? please?? I would like to feed them in there as well but if I have to I will move them to a seperate feeder tub for live feeding.

I am in S Florida and I was told humidity might be a problem so i need a substarte that will drain and dry quickly.
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

today i just got squealgie wheat bran. i think that would be good, cause they cant get impactions by it, its edible. paper towels are good too

i am no expert by any means, but wouldnt wheat bran hold moisture??

i guess if they are babys, you spray them every day, so actuaLLy, shelf liner is best.

Bennett,

Will you be drilling holes in the bottom of the tubs for drainage?
If so, about the only thing I can think of would be medium / large river rock. You could spray it out & it would drain right out. It would have to be big enough that they couldn't swallow, yet small enough that they can't get stuck between some.
I can't see sand working if it will be open to rain.
??????????
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Joel R

Coming Soon!
www.SpikesAndScales.com

well I was thinking of large pea rock. right now the babies average size @17 days is 5.4g ea 5.5". I will be drilling holes and possibly putting the tub up on blocks to make drainage easier. I got 2 tubs so I can play with one and not risk any babies in it. Looking at clay, sand, rock, topsoil sand mix with rocks too.
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

Since you're using tubs why not just drill them with small holes for drainage and use no bedding. Swap tubs daily one clean, one dirty. Baby beardies are going to poop a lot and then there's all those dead cricket parts.... all the beddings you suggested you might use and that have been suggested by others will be hard to keep clean and your bacteria levels could get quite high. No substrate would make for easy cleaning and too much humidity would not be a problem. Read some of the earlier posts on this forum and I think you'll find that the general consensus is that baby BD's be kept on paper towel or newspaper. Again with your tubs I think that any substrate would be unnecessary.

Another thought is to placement of the tubs and temperature control. If these tubs receive too much direct sunlight they could become solar cookers since there wouldn't be much if any air circulation even with a screen lid. You could remedy this by cutting some vents in the ends low down and cover them with screen that you hot glue in place. At least this would allow for better air circulation and temp control.
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Hope this helps.

BigT

the thought here is to try this with tubs befor building more pens, so I am simulating the pens with a substrate.

I need something that can be hosed down for cleaning. simplicity is the goal. to that end I did think about bare tubs as suggested but I was looking for another alternative.

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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com