Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm currently in the process of setting up a cage for a pair of bearded dragons. I've read in some caresheets that pea gravel can be used as a substrate but have come across conflicting info about beardeds' swallowing the tiny pebbles. Is this a safe substrate to use?

If not, another idea I read about and sounds pretty good is to buy large tiles and when they defecate on a tile, I can remove it and clean it and put it back in.

The other substrate that everyone uses and I have used in the past for my uromastyx is playsand but I'm afraid the beardeds will accidentally swallow this easier than deciding to swallow a pebble.

Any advice is appreciated. I went to Home Depot to look at tiles last night and there are some nice, natural looking tiles that might look pretty good in the cage. This cage is a presentation cage, so I don't want to use paper towels or newspaper. Thanks.

Sand is not without it's risks but I would say, it is much safer then gravel. If you do use sand keep an eye on the dragon for a while. If you see it eating any more than just the random taste, remove it and try something else. Also, be sure to sift the sand using one of those screen type kitchen strainers.

I have never used tiles so I can't go there.

Good luck.
Joel R

they are great in leo tanks and are quite attractive.. and hold heat well..i use playsand in my adult beardie cage and repticarpet in my babies cage.. i like both.. my male beardie loves to dig down behind some cork bark to the glass bottom and sleep like that...but hey if you are really worried about the playsand and pebbles why don't you try the tiles... they are pretty inexpensive so if you don't like that it won't be like you lost a ton of money!!! and a plus is that you would just have to clean them.. not replace every 6 months

alissa