Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my juvenile bearded dragon a small sand box so he can play in it, but instead he licked it and started eating it. So i took that away from him
I tried giving him a sand box because i noticed he tries to dig the paper towel that i used as a substrate since he was a baby.

Is there any other thing other than sand that they can play around in?

Hi, How old is your dragon and how long is he? I have a half sand enclosure for my dragon. The sand is about 3 inches deep and he LOVES to dig in it all the time. The first 3 or so days he would constantly lick the sand and after he figured out what it was and that is wasnt food he stopped. It is normal for them to want to taste it since it is new to them. If he eats mouthfuls instead of just licking it and does it for more than a few days then I would definately take it out but I would just let him taste it first so he knows what it is. I just made sure I properly hydrated my dragon and made sure he pooped regularly and watched for signs of impaction although he hadnt eaten large amounts and it was only for a few days. Good luck
Meghan

>>I got my juvenile bearded dragon a small sand box so he can play in it, but instead he licked it and started eating it. So i took that away from him
>>I tried giving him a sand box because i noticed he tries to dig the paper towel that i used as a substrate since he was a baby.
>>
>>Is there any other thing other than sand that they can play around in?
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1.0 Normal Bearded Dragon (Sam)
2.2 Russian Tortoises (Leo, Cole, Piper, Prue)
0.2 Dogs (Molly-Beagle, Zoei-German Shorthaired Pointer)
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dont know what happened to my first reply so here it goes again:
they make a substrate of crushed walnut shells that looks like sand and is safer for reptiles....SAND SHOULD NEVER NEVER BE USED FOR ANY BEARDED DRAGONS. People commonly get the misconception that "well if they live on sand in the wild then they can in captivity also" this is totally wrong, they live on a ground of hardened clay with some lite sand covering certain areas, but 99% is hard clay.....sand can and will kill your beardie over time, i use Purina's Yesterdays News, it is made of recycyle newspaper and can be found in the ferret section of any petstore, costs around $15.00 for a 40 lb bag