Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 3 month old dragon. What do you recommend for substrate. I was leaning toward fine grain play sand, but keep hearing about impaction. Please give any suggestions.

Thanks in advance

repti carpet

or wheat bran but keep it dry

imo for anything under 12 months repticarpet is best, it loox better then newspapers or paper towels, is easy to clean, and theres no chance of the dragon ingesting any of it, once they reach full size (about 1 year ) then finely sifted washed playground sand, its cheap and looks nice, pluz it absorbs a small bit of heat so at night when lights go out it'll keep ur cage from getting to cold,

dont get any repti-sand or calci sand or vita sand, it claims "clumps together for easy cleaning" like kat littler but this causes impactation, plus playground sand is cheaper (2-10 bux for a 50 pound bag which is more then enough for a cage 50X24) just make sure u sift it using a screen (to get rid of large parts) and clean it daily (scooping out poop and such)

Thanx

Hey there I have had beardies for almost 7 years now and have always used carpet & paper towels. I have my two 19 month olds "paper trained" and it's so easy to clean up! For the baby I use paper towels. I got the carpet from Lowes it's indoor/outdoor carpet and was $22 I split it with a friend and I still have 4 pc for each tank.

Thank you all for the responses. I will be getting the carpet and putting that down today. I really apperciate the help. Also I live in Richmond, Virginia and I am having a hard time finding Silkworms and Butterworms. Anyone know of sources that ship them to this area of the wilderness.

Thank you
Swipper & Boots Mom
(Swipper=chinese water dragon, Boots=Bearded Dragon. I have a 3 yr old who is in love with Dora.)

Sand was a pain. I alway worried they would eat it and when I put thier plate of food in they almost daily would cover it in sand just by moving around and I would have to take it out and replace it.And I always had to take them out and put them in a special tank for cricket feeding.I used paper towels for a long time till one of my dragons started digging and shredding it to pieces and then would end up eating the little pieces and once they get a little piece in thier mouth its like they cant pull it out so they just eat it...So what do I use now? newspaper. I do have a tray full of sand for them to dig around in, but its on the opposite end of thier eating area..Newspaper is by far the best but is not very pretty..JMO..hope this helps..
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2.0 Ball Pythons (Titus and Hercules)
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
1.1 cornsnakes (Asmodeus and Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo(Boo))
0.0.1 Toad (squidward)

Anyone tried wheat bran, if so how did that do?

>>Anyone tried wheat bran, if so how did that do?

A couple of years ago wheat bran was the popular recommendation on this forum. I had recently adopted a chronically constipated dragon so it was one of many strategies I used to "cure" him.

I really like it.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Sand can cause eye infections and possible impaction, but probably the worst risk are eye infections.

Calcium sands too has a risk for impaction and eye infections.

Artificial turf can cause infections-fecal matter can get under it and not noticed and crickets hide and die underneath it and sometimes beardies can pull out the little plastic artifical turfs and eat it so risk for impaction.

Rabbit pellets has risk of pneumonia and eye infections (it tends to retain moisture and can get moldy). Pellet dust can cause pneumonia.

I've never had or heard of any complications from newspaper. If you prefer the inkless newspaper your local newspaper office can accommodate. But even with ink no problems but I avoid coloured ink just black.

For the claws that's no problem--I use emery boards-my beardie is so used to it she doesn't care and sometimes holds her paw out while I gently file down her nails. No risk of bleeding. then reward her with lots of kisses and love so she kind of likes her nails done

Jade Fox