Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone had any experiences with adult Beardies and alfalfa pellet substrate? If so please post what your experience was.

don't use it

if you want to use a substrate....use play sand...BD's are desert animals....sand is in the desert not little green pellets
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

I have never used pellets personally, one thing i have heard is that it molds very easily so you must be very careful not to get it wet. This can be difficult as beardies may trample through there water dish or knock it over, and because most owners mist their beardies at least occasionally.

Here is a little something i wrote on substrates in general, some of the info may be way below what you are looking for, but i hope you might find some of it usefull.

Mim

When it comes to substrates, there are many different choices, and EVERYBODY is going to have a different opinion about it. There are a few different factors that should come into play when you are choosing a substrate, safety, availability, and personal preference of the substrate, and also in some ways, your level of experience as a reptile keeper. There is a lot of controversy concerning substrates, in my opinion, as long as you keep your beardies safety in mind at all times, you can and should try a number of substrates, until you find one that works right for you. The important thing is to be educated about the decision you make.

Even though there are a lot of different opinions about substrate there are a few things that almost everyone seems to agree on. One is that all baby dragons should be kept on a non-particulate substrate (such as paper towels) until they are one year old. Although it is true that some breeders do raise babies on sand, they usually still recommend that people err on the side of caution, especially people with less experience, and keep their babies on a non-particulate substrate. In The Bearded Dragon Manual, by Philippe De Vosjoli discusses substrate, and in mention to sand he says “We have never had a problem using a variety of sands with bearded dragons of all ages (yes, we use sand with babies), but there are reports of sand impaction in babies. For this reason, we recommend paper towels, newspaper, or brown butcher paper for hatchlings up to a length of 8inches.”

The other fact everyone seems to agree upon is that substrates claiming to be “reptile-safe” or “digestible” usually are not. Products such as Calci-sand, Vita-sand, Calstrate, and Walnut shells should never be used. Products like Calci-sand which claim to be digestible actually clump together into solid jagged bolus’ in the animals intestines. Ouch! (For some scientific proof that calci-sand isn’t digestible… http://coloherp.org/cb-news/archive/vet-med/CalciSand.php). Walnut shells have also been proven to cause serious impactions in many species of animals…especially curious tongue tasters like bearded dragons. (An autopsy report…and photos…of a beardie that died from walnut shell impaction http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm)

So after all that…

There are a variety of substrates that are readily available and totally safe. These substrates include: Paper towels, butcher paper, linoleum, tile, carpeting, non-adhesive shelf liner, fine-grain sifted play-sand, or wheat bran.

I haven’t used all of these substrates, but I’ve used most of them with a few different species…

Paper towels: Cheap and easy to clean up and replace. They have a habit of lifting a bit, and the cricket’s escape under the edges and hide from the animals sometimes. I have found that Diva brand paper towels seems to work best, they are thicker and heavier and have less of a problem.

Butcher Paper: I have heard of this being used and the idea seems to be similar to using paper towels. I have never had to try before, but I am told that most meat counters will give away butcher paper.

Linoleum: I have used this, although not with beardies. It’s cheap and very easy to clean (just use a sponge or wet paper towel or baby wipe to spot clean, then take it all out and spray it down accordingly as you need to). Also, as long as its flat it won’t lift up and allow crickets underneath. It is a bit slippery. I have used it with Leos, who handled it fine, but never with a beardie.

Tile: I have always wanted to set up a tile tank. I have never done it, but there are a variety of tiles of different colors and textures at home depot. Many people of this forum have made tile tanks and will be more than willing to help you out. They are attractive, natural looking, and easy to clean.

Carpeting: Carpeting works well. There are two different ways you can go. You can buy “reptile carpet” http://petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=6358&sku=583413&redirectURL=/Shop/SearchResults.aspx?Nav=1&N=0&Ntt=reptile%20carpet&Nav=1&N=0&Ntt=reptile carpet at a pet store. Some of the reptile ones come in sections for easy cleaning. You can also go to home depot and have them cut you some indoor outdoor carpet. Pick a fabric one, not a plastic one, and make sure that it’s short fibered and flat, and doesn’t have lots of loops your beardies toes could get stuck in. It is very cheap at home depot, I spent 15$ on a piece and I cut several mats for my 90gallon. Carpet is a little hard to clean, that’s why I stopped using it. You basically need to shampoo it to keep it clean. Steam cleaners are perfect! I used to scrub mine on the porch, but that was hard and unpractical in the winter for me.

Non-Adhesive Shelf Liner: Shelf liner is the most recent substrate I have found. Shortly after trying it with my bearded dragon, I switched all three of my Leos over to it as well. Personally, I think it’s the best substrate. I have found it the easiest to clean, cheapest, safest substrate. I use Duck brand Non-Adhesive. I can’t seem to find a picture of it right now. It seems to be tricky to locate sometimes, as its not a product that’s very familiar…I had difficultly finding it at first to. The best thing to do is just go to Wal-Mart and ask them where the shelf liner is. Then look through and find the non-adhesive kind. You want to find the smooth kind, the textured stuff is harder to clean. For spot cleaning just use a paper towel or sponge, pull it out when you need it and rinse it off. It can run through a dishwasher if you need, or easily be washed in the sink. One piece lasts forever!

Fine-Grain Sifted Washed Play sand: If you are going to use sand in your dragon’s enclosure, this is the only kind that should be used. It is available very cheaply from Home Depot. Sand has a risk of impaction, so it’s ideal to feed in a separate container when using it. Sand also harbors bacteria, so in order to keep the environment clean, all the sand should be changed and the tank fully cleaned on a weekly basis. The cleaning was the big reason I stopped using sand, once I moved my dragon into a 90gallon aquarium, the idea of changing out the sand weekly became just too much! Sand can be a suitable substrate for those who don’t mind the constant cleaning. Another issue to take into consideration with sand is that its easier for more experienced keepers to successfully use sand than it is for beginners. This is mostly because experienced keepers know how to spot problems early and correct them. If an impaction was to occur in an experienced keepers dragon, it’s likely they would identify and treat the problem immediately, it may take a newbie days or even weeks. As was stated above, this substrate should never be used on a beardie younger than one year.

Wheat Bran: Unfortunately I don’t know much about this substrate. From what I have read and heard it is safe if consumed, cheap, and easy to clean. More people are beginning to use this substrate, and I’m sure more information will become available soon.
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