How deep should the substrate be for a beardie? I'm setting up a tank now, plan on getting one at a expo in April.
TIA!
Howie
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Substrate Depth
Howitser
Feb 23, 2005 07:37 PM
Replies (3)
Drakosmom
Feb 23, 2005 07:56 PM
If you get a beardie that is under 10 inches long then you will need to keep it on papertowels or some other non-particle substrate for a while--I use the "Duck" brand non-adhesive shelfliner (even with my adults)--it is very easy to clean and crickets cant (usually) hide underneath it.
If you get an adult then washed playsand (like you get at Home Depot) is inexpensive and works quite well. The set ups I have seen use 2-4 inches. It is best NOT to feed in a tank with sand as the substrate as beardies don't have the best aim--keep any salad away from the sand. I have a sandbox in my females cage/tank. She loves to dig and suggle into the sand at night...her box is on the far side--opposite her feeding area.
Stay away--far far away from the 'bedding' that pet stores sell. They are NOT good for your beardie and can even cause death by impaction. Beardies taste EVERYTHING and they also get 'clogged' or 'impacted'--there is no regulation regarding what distributors can put on their lables for reptile products--just because they say in big letters "Great for Beardies"--do NOT believe them. Calsi-sand is one of the worst as it harms digestion and it 'clumps' when wet and has been directly linked with impaction and DEATH in beardies--it is absolutely NOT digestable as the label states!
HTH
ianstarr
Feb 24, 2005 10:26 AM
That just depends on you. For simplicity's sake you can keep a beardie on paper towels if you like. You can also keep them on a deep substrate of dirt and they will dig, burrow and use it (good exercise). Different substrates also lend themselves to retaining moisture in the cage/allowing the animal to have areas of not only different temperature choices but different humidity levels.
Good luck,
Ian
spook
Feb 24, 2005 01:13 PM
I use about two inches of river sand, $3 a ton. Easy to clean. By the way my beardie does eat a little sand ocassionally and is going on four years old. A lot of the stories you hear about impaction are antecdotal and probably have more to do with poor digestion due to temps, stress, etc. rather than substrate. Very few dragons in the wild have someone pick all the sand and pebbles out of there food. Maybe their mom does it for them.
