Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would like to use sand for my 4 month of beardie. I'm looking for calcium based, but I have read both bad a good things. What would be the best type and brand of sand.

Calcium sand clumps up in the stomach when swallowed and cause intestinal blockage. What you want is good quality playground sand that you buy from Toy's R Us or the hardware stores.

i wouldn't use sand because it blocks their digestive track so they can't go to the bathroom and die unless you clean it off every day or 2.i would recommend a reptile floor mat from petco.

I was thanking that also. I heard there toes may get stuck in that Matt?

Go to Home depot, or Lowes, and get Play Sand. You should be able to get 50 ponds for around $5. And don't believe the rumoers that say sand is bad, dangerous, dirty, too sandy, or anything else. The only reason that people say this is because they either heard it, or read it, from someone else who is also misinformed. I have been using sand to raise Bearded Dragons for over 20 years now, and I have never had a problem. Sand retains heat well, is easy to spot-clean, and is inexpensive. In their native habitat, Bearded Dragons live in sandy soil. The first thing they do when they hatch is crawl & dig through 2 feet of sandy soil to reach the surface. I will bet my life that, if you go to Australia, you will not see dead Bearded Dragons all over the desert. The things that you should avoid are: Walnut shells (big chunks that CAN cause impaction if swallowed), Carpet, or any other type of woven mat (can come apart and small threads/pieces can be ingested), Rabbit pellets (can harbor moisture and mold/mildew/fungus), and anything else that consists of chunks that are bigger than a grain of sand...