Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am not sure what the consensus is on Calci-Sand is with you guys. I know some people despise it.

Anyway, I work at a pet store and we have some younger beardies. Probally around 2 months of age and ranging from 4-5 inches in length. Is calci-sand bad for them to be on? I was thinking about getting one, but I have never had a young one before. The idea of a tank with blue sand sounded appealing. I read a couple posts down that the dragon should be a year or so old before putting them on sand, but calci sound is easier on the stomach, right? What do you reccomend for a baby dragon that looks appeaing in a tank? Peat? Super-soil(sterile potting soil, no perlite)?

Also, for vegetation. Is it possible to feed the dragon vegetables/fruit everyday, while only giving crickets every other day? When I had a female a few years back, she somewhat broke the bank because she never ate her veggies and ate at least 20 large crix... 6 days a week.

Just wondering. Thanks in advance.
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Starkey
0.2 Colombian Boa Constrictors
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Taiwan Beauty Ratsnakes
0.0.1 Honduran Ratsnake
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
B.O.A. INC.

"To the world you are but one person, but to one person you might mean the whole world."

No, calcium sands are not easier on the stomach than regular playsand, as the companies who make it would like you to believe. The calcium acts as an antacid in the lizards stomach, which changes the PH in the stomach acid and can actually slow down the digestion process, making impaction more likely. Add to that the fact that lizards are actually more tempted to eat it than regular sand, and you have problems. It is best to wait until the dragon is older to put it on any kind of sand, and then washed and sifted playsand is much better than calci-sand. Babies as young as the ones you speak of can safely be kept on paper towels, newspaper, or non-adhesive shelf liner. Forget about what looks good, the important thing is safety for our pets.

Feeding veggies daily and crickets every other day is ok for an adult. Adult beardies diets consist of around 75% greens and 25% insects. Reverse that for babies. Babies need to be fed small crickets about 3 times a day, and veggies daily as well.

Hope this helped some!
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
1.0 pictus gecko (Nicodemus)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
0.0.1 tarantula (Calcifer)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

I only use newspaper, or papertowel with my baby dragons because I have only ever had problems with other substrates. The papers good because they can't ingest it and its easy to clean. I usually keep them on paper for about a year but its all a matter of preference.
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0.0.1 Green Water Dragon
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko
1.1.3 Bearded Dragons
0.1.0 Columbian Red-tailed Boa
1.0.0 Yellow Ratsnake
0.0.1 California Kingsnake

I have my dragon on calci sand but I feed only in a large bowl. He doesn't "taste" the sand, actually, he doesn't even go on it often. He just sits on his log basking most of the time...okay, sometimes he goes digging.

Alot of people have gotten their dragons on pellets. ReptiCal is the best. Read past posts to see how people have gotten theirs on pellets