Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if anyone is successfully using Bed-A-Beast. Is it (coconut coir) as a good substrate. I am about to use this as substrate instead of sand. Obviously, after expanding the bed-a-beast brick in a bucket of water, it would be thoroughly dried out before placing it in the enclosure of my uro. Thanks for any input.

Depending on how big your Uro is the following substrates should be used: (measurements are from snout to tip of tail)

If UNDER 7" Long - Newspaper, papertowels or butcher paper

If OVER 7" Long - Washed sifted play sand, millet seed or Pool Filter Sand

As for the coconut stuff, I'm not sure that would make a good substrate. I don't know alot about it. I only know what I have been told by others that have had Uro's for years.

I got this idea of using bed-a-beast from an online caresheet, which seems to be from an experienced owner/breeder. Everything on that caresheet is right on target, and it also recommends playsand as well, but it mentions that bed-a-beast would be an alternative to playsand and that some have successfully used it. Coconut coir, if accidentally ingested, will not cause impaction and can easily be passed. It's natural and it's great for burrowing too. I just expanded a bed-a-beast brick in a bucket (1 brick = 7 liters of substrate) and I will wait a few days until it's completely dry. Then I will switch the current sand substrate for this bed-a-beast substrate. Reason I'm doing this is because I handle my uro frequently (and he does not mind it one bit). So, everytime I take him out of his enclosure I have to shake some sand off him, and sand still falls unto the carpet. Dried bed-a-beast, when completely dry, is much looser and does not stick to the animal's skin. Well, I'll let you all know how it goes.

I would not use it. Once dry, it's very dry and fine (dusty) with pointy little bits that I expect would get in their eyes. You know how bark dust is splintery and sticks in your skin? This felt similar, but not so extreme. I got some once to try with a different species - chose not to use it with them, either.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
1.1 Collared Lizard (Ripcord and Rorschach)
2.0 Green Anoles (Bowser and Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

Sand can be very dusty as well. I think there should always be trials when raising a captive animal. I am going to use bed-a-beast and see how things go. For now, I am using sand and I always see him shaking the sand off his face. It especially gets in its eyes. And like the previous post mentioned, coconut coir is loose and fine, something I am 'hoping' for so when I remove and handle my uro away from his enclosure, the substrate won't fall unto the carpet.

My question here is why do you take the Uro away from its heat source to handle it? And how often/for how long does this usually take place?

I don't think the coconut fiber is easily digestible, but I would check with the experienced keepers/breeders before attempting something like that. They have have some insight as to why it is not used, or if it has ever lead to impaction or other issues with any Uro's that they know about.

Good question (and I appreciate your concern). The answer is quite interesting. Like most caresheets state, uros are intelligent and have unique personalities. And mine couldn't testify to that any clearer. Everytime I approach his enclosure, or am in sight of it, he removes himself from his basking spot and heads to the closest spot in the tank facing towards me. If I get close enough to the tank, he starts to try to climb on the glass, as if calling for me to come get him, kind of like pups do when the owner arrives home. It's actually very interesting to see him do this. So, when I stick my hand in the tank, he immediately starts to climb up on it. I take him out and place him on my chest, rubbing his head, something he dearly loves. He reminds me of a parrot I had who had the same exact behavior. I, obviously, do this for minutes at a time, not prolonging the absence of his must-needed heat time. Anyhow, regarding the substrate issue with bed-a-beast, today I have been doing much more research on this topic and quite a few websites and caresheets favor bed-a-beast as an alternative to playsand, not as an immediate replacement. They definitely recommend it more over calci-sand, river sand and woody substrates. Like I mentioned previously, I will use this substrate on a trial basis, maybe for a month or so. Then I will judge accordingly. I love my uro and I want the best for him.

Can you provide the links to these caresheets claiming its good for Uro's? I would be interested to see where these ideas came from

I always love a good 'challenge'; not only in caring for an exotic pet like my uro, but also from people's comment exchange in forums like this one. Here are a few of the caresheets I have read online regarding uro diets, heat/lighting, substrate choice, etc...and mid you, some of these caresheets are from 'highly praised' and 'expert' breeders, hobbyists, etc.

http://www.deerfernfarms.com/Uromastyx_Care.htm

http://reptileguides.herpcenter.com/showthread.php?t=43

http://www.reptilekeeper.co.uk/uros caresheet/dixcaresheet.php

I was really curious, as I have never heard anyone say this is a suitable solution. Here is what I read form the sheets posted:

From Deerfernfarms:
"Bed-a-Beast (shredded coconut husks) are used by some with good success, but again fecal pellets have to be removed one by one by hand and it tends to be quite dusty. We've tried it in our nest boxes but it readily molds and attracts gnat flies which can harm newly laid eggs, so we've had to eliminate it. "

-If it molds easily and attracts bugs, its probably a bad idea in my opinion, seems to be why they no longer use it.

From the herpcenter sheet:
"A hatchling maybe kept in a 20 gallon long (30 x 12 x 12 ½) until they reach juvenile stage."

-Sorry, they lost all credibility with me on this one

"Bed-a-Beast (shredded coconut husks) are used by some with good success, but again fecal pellets have to be removed one by one by hand and it tends to be quite dusty."

-looks to be copied in part directly from deerfern, again, credibility?

From Reptilekeeper:
This is a care sheet by doug, and the information is nearly identical to his site:
"Bed-a-beast (coconut fibers) are used by some with good success, but again fecal pellets have to be removed one by one by hand."

-Again, missing the part about the mold, which I would not trust.

My opinion, if something is known to cause mold and bugs in an environment that the Uro cannot escape from, is asking for trouble. Of course, you may use whatever you wish, I am just letting you know that it probably isn't safe for your Uro's.

I would also look into other breeders, as all this information has come from a single source. Try contacting others and find out their opinion, maybe some has had better luck, or maybe they have found impaction issues, I don't know, I personally have never considered using this product. Either way, good luck.

I tried it once & discontinued shortly thereafter. It has it's use for some reptiles but not Uros, in my opinion. A better application for it would be as a moist substrate for terrarium set-ups.

Alright. I am choosing not to use bed-a-beast as substrate for my uro. I am now considering coconut bark (T-Rex) with ReptiSandn (ZooMed) over newspaper. I'll see how it goes for about a month.

I've had bad luck with regular washed play sand, it seems very dusty and coarse and is generally very dirty, even though it's "washed". And it seems that every place I got it from had something different, there was no consistency at all from day to day and store to store.

I've had excellent results with pool filter sand bought from the local pool supply store. It's a finer grain, and is so clean that I can literally pour it directly into my uro's enclosures without any dust at all. It costs about $13 for a 50-lb. bag, so it's more expensive than standard play sand, but for how clean it is, it's well worth it IMO.

Just a thought as an alternative to play sand...

Andi

Wow! Great recommentdation so far. I actually might have found what I have been searching for. I just bought ZooMed's Repti Sand, which comes in 2 forms: Desert White and Natural Red. I bought the Desert white (naturally). The grains are so fine almost to the point of being silky. It doesn't create dust and my uro seems to love it. As soon as I removed the Coconut Bark and replaced it with the Repti Sand, there was an obvious difference. With the coconut bark, my uro just glided over it and seemed to just 'make believe' it wasn't there. Now with this ZooMed Repti Bark, he lays on it, burrows in it and thrashes in it to the point of getting 'comfortably' calm under the basking light. With the coconut bark, which I only filled half of his enclosure with, he would rather lay on the other half which was just bare newspaper. All in all, with this new Repti Sand, he seems very happy just by looking at his activity (and comfort) level. I have mentioned previously, I'll wait a month and see how this new ZooMed product works out, although I can already clearly see the results with just about 2 hours of having it in the enclosure. By the way, has anyone used this product? Because I sure don't see it in any caresheet or anyone else recommending it.

>>By the way, has anyone used this product? Because I sure don't see it in any caresheet or anyone else recommending it.

NOTE: Repti-sand is not the same as calcium sand in case anyone isn't familiar with it. It's just a fine, natural sand. As far as I know, the only reason it's not commonly recommended is that it's ridiculously expensive to buy enough to fill an appropriately sized cage (a 4' x 2' cage takes a lot of those little bitty bags). Pool filter sand is quite nice and much less expensive.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
1.1 Collared Lizard (Ripcord and Rorschach)
2.0 Green Anoles (Bowser and Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

I have had good results mixing coco-fiber and sand- it seems to "pack" a little bit better than just plain sand. I don't think that sand on its own really gives good traction. No one substrate is perfect, and what works in one situation may not work in another. For the moment, my choice of substrate is basically large flatish rocks (slate) and large aquarium gravel (like 1/2" pieces of rocks) over a base of sand and coco fiber (maybe 1/2 and 1/2?). Once a week I vaccum the feces and uneaten food with a dirt devil. If your main concern is the sand getting on the floor, why not try just use slate and tile as a substrate?