Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Right now i have pretty much decided i am gonna use sand, playsand that is. On the back it says "sifted and sterilized playsand" ok??? I was looking at some other substrates today at the pet store. I heard of one sucessful breeder keeping his beardies on rabbit food. Well i was looking at one substrate, and it was made of dried alfalfa, grain, and some other thing, but the main ingriedient was alfalfa, i can give more details on is composition, but what do you guys think about that stuff??? it sorta looks like rabbit food but is a reptile bedding.

Moisture makes it moldy.

Yes, I have used the alfalfa substrates before and that was my problem also. Water makes it mold very quickly, and mold can be deadly to your dragon. With this substrate daily scrutiny and cleaning of the enclosure is VERY important. However, if you are using sand it is equally as time consuming...you must make sure to remove all fecal matter and the surrounding sand to remove as much bacteria as possible.

If you have decided on sand buy the finest grain, washed, screened/sifted play sand. Sand is definately a choice for adult (1year ) beardies, for babies of course it is not very good.

Hope this helps
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

i have got sand for my beardie and although alot of people say it is bad i think he enjoys it the most becasue he can dig burrows. i would recommend it. it is a bit awkward getting all the cricket bits out but i use an old sieve to quicly sieve it when it gets bad and its fine. doesn't take me long and keeps it looking clean.
kay

i use peat moss for my black soil dragon. he loves to dig in it and he is sleeping un a burrow under a log in it now. he is almost 6 months now and has been growing really well. my mate had two form the same batch of hatchlings and he is amazed when he see's mine.

the peat was from the tank setup for a bird eating spider, a littl clean up and it was ready for him. the substrate is available in bricks and when water is added trun into a rich looking soil that holds mousture and therefor heat. he seems to love it and at no time have i had any problems with impaction even when he was only a few weeks old he was chasing crickets around on the peat.

i woudl highly reccomend this substrate, with a little bit of maintenance cleaning the fecal waste. (i have some tweasers and pick up the "big ones" :-P)

the rest seems to break down nicely in the ecosystem that is created in the tank, it's a live tank full of surprises for him and he seems to love running around and the occasional "big dig" haha i will come home some days and he will ahve escavated the tank in three corners!! ha ha the funny thign is if you leave it he will eventually end up with an even tank over a few days, he seems to level it back out by himself haha