Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard the debates and over using sand and have tried the paper towels and shelf liner and don't like either. Eveentually I would like to use sand but what age can I do this. My Elliot is 4 months now.

I keep my 6 month old on washed children's playsand, and I have no problems. However, only about 1/3 of the floor space is actual sand. I have ceramic tile, rocks, logs, etc. that cover the floor. I also always feed outside the cage to avoid ingesting sand.
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-Bill

1.0.0 Albino California Kingsnake
0.1.0 Colombian Red Tail Boa
1.0.0 Jackson's Chameleon
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.1 Argentine Black and White Tegu

redatoryLizard@Yahoo.com" target="_blank">PredatoryLizard@Yahoo.com

Hi. My adults are all on playsand and i have never had any problems with it at all but my babies dont live on playsand. For them i dont have anything on the floor, just the bare wood of the viv and clean them out 2 to 3 times a day. You dont have to do this but i like peace of mind that my babies havent ingested any of it. I normally start to keep my beardies on playsand at the age of 12 to 18 months. Seems to have worked well for me and i have kept beardies for a number of years. Even my adults dont get fed on the sand though. I feed them out of the viv when they have there crickets as when they are chasing them round and lunging for them it is difficult for them not to pick any sand up in their mouths.As for their veggies, they have them all the time in the tank and they help themselves when they like. Hope this helps

Thanks for the useful information. I appreciate it.

I would say wait until they are at least 10 inches long before considering switching to sand. Also there are some other factors that you should take into mind before deciding to do so. Make sure that the individual dragon is not overly licky and has good aim if you feed him/her in the tank. I personally feed mine in seperate bins. I have had mine on shelf liner in the past when dealing with coccidia, but when they were both clean I switched them back to sand. I will say that mine did seem happier once I put the sand back in. They seemed to like to go walk around and lay on the floor more when I did.

I've had my guy on sand since I brought him home. I agree that if you have a really licky dragon, it is something to think about. Funny, I was at my vet's today for a bd checkup and we got to discussing the sand issue. He feels that sand is better than shelf liner because it's closer to their natural habitat. My husband is a zoologist and he also feels sand is a good substrate.

The breeder I got my bd from had her babies on nothing but the glass floor of the cage or paper towels. I've never had problems with sand.