Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am building an enclosure for a pair or three adult beardies and I want an attractive substate I was considering sand but am afraid of the impactions what do you think of Calci-sand? any others options I should know about? Thanks for your help.

For adults, unless they are messy eaters, sifted play sand should pose no problem as a substrate. Avoid calci-sand, and other repti-sands, they are too fine, too expensive, and should be avoided at all costs.
Other particulate materials such as corn cob and walnut shell should also be avoided, as they can cause impactions, swell when wet, and have sharp edges.
Some owners have reported the use of wheat bran as a substrate. Personally I have never tried it. I've heard it works quite well but is dusty and moulds if wet.

As for keeping three adults together, I hope you have a BIG tank, several basking spots, and that they are all females of similar size, otherwise you'll probably run into problems with over-breeding / aggression / dominance / fighting etc...
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Ross

0.2 Bearded Dragons (1 Yellow, 1 Chris Allen/Sandfire)

We use bran for our beardie, it doesn't seem to much of a hassel, besides it looks real nice and its edible.

>>I am building an enclosure for a pair or three adult beardies and I want an attractive substate I was considering sand but am afraid of the impactions what do you think of Calci-sand?

In terms of causing impactions, Calci-sand is among the worst (just wet some and you'll see why, it clumps up rock hard). Since they are adults, sifted playsand would be ok... I however recommend you opt for a less attractive, but highly functional substrate of indoor/outdoor carpeting like you can get at home depo for dirt cheap... It comes in many colors. Just make sure to get the astroturf style not the "loop" style as their claws get caught in the loops...

The main problem: are all 3 beardies females? If so your plan MAY work... If there is any male, then your plan for a cage for three is shot as the males fight with other males, and stress females out with constant "courtship". I strongly reccomend caging only females together, house any males individualy...
-Drew
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Proud Owner of:
1.2 bearded dragons - Legolas, Rosy, Miss Scarlet
0.1 Indonesian blue tongue skink - Sarah
1.0 leusistic leopard gecko - Maximus
1.0 reverse oketee corn snake - Bernard
1.0 ball python - Patrick
2.0 guinea pigs (I know, it's not a herp!) - Punky, Jeepers