Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi My girlfriend has a 2 year old bearded dragon in a 40 gal breeder tank. She used to have calcium sand in there but he got sick because of it so now she has him on newspaper. the problem is that newspaper is really ugly and we would like to change the substrate. btw i keep the lizard now because she lives in the dorm and is not allowd to have any animals. we went to the petstore to find out some different substrates to use and one of the workers said that he keeps his dragons in a 165 gal tank with crushed coconut shell. is this a decent substrate. also i read on the care sheet here that aquarium gravel works as a substrate also. that seems to make sense in that it would be hard for the dragon to actually eat the gravel but it seems like it might be kind of difficult to clean. any other suggestions for a natural looking habitat? btw we also each have one leopard gecko.

I keep my dragons on newspaper and my gravid females get play sand with peat moss mixed in it. I worry about this too but a girl needs to dig when she's gravid. I wouldn't recommend anything that can be gobbled up because sooner or later its gonna end up inside. I do like the reptile carpets. I buy two so I can just switch them to clean the tank. Indoor outdoor carpet works if you can find the stuff without loops. It needs to be straight cut so thier toes don't get stuck. There are lots of opinions on this but I avoid anything that can be consumed because of my fear of impaction. Butcher paper is nicer than newsprint and is inexpensive as well. I guess for me cage appearance is secondary to my dragons health.

I agree that looks are a distant second to the health of the dragon but its still nice to have a good looking enclosure for the dragon. i hadnt thought of peat moss and playsand before but what about just peat moss would that be ok?

many people have different opinions about substrate. if you are looking for "something more natural" then washed play sand is best. you can buy a 50 pound bag for $3 at walmart. since your dragon is 2 years old it would do just great with sand.

if you are looking for the healthiest substrate, then non-stick shelf liner is the best. this item is again available at walmart in the kitchen section and is relatively cheap. (god, i feel like i am a spokeman for walmart...lol). get the ducky brand.

i've used sand and shelf liner. I notice with the sand, you get considerable dust from it as the sand in the cage dries up. Yet, the sand is easiest to clean out the poo. All i did was use a kitty litter scooper. I also think that the sand absorbs more of the smell then if you use shelf-liner. But, with shelf liner you don't have to worry about them eating it. So remember, what ever substrate you use it will try to eat.

a pic of the shelf liner i have in my cage. I got it at target for $8 a roll (which is three times more expensive than the kind at walmart). it looks like it is made of cork but it isn't.

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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

i really like the look of that shelf liner. where did you get it? that might be the best option. name some other suggestions of where to get shelf liner if you know any please there actually isnt a wall mart that close to me. Super Target is really close if they might have it. thanks for your replies

target has shelf liner. it's in the section where they sell kitchen stuff.
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

haha when i was reading your post the first time i didnt see that you wrote target then i went to target to get some stuff and i saw that exact stuff then i came back and looked at your post and realized it said target. D'oh

anyone have anything to say about crushed walnut (i said coconut before but its walnut)?