Why do people use sand?

[LizardOfOz]

I'm a newbie at beardie keeping so I've been doing a lot of research on forums. I have read that sand can cause impaction over and over again. So my question is why do people use it? I get that the pet shops sell it to new owners to make a profit but a lot of well respected keepers and breeders seem to use it for their adults too. Do bearded dragons seem happier in a more natural setting? Is it more hygenic? Or Is it just because it looks nice?
All thoughts welcome :0)

 

[Diaspora]

I use sand.. I'm not worried about the impaction or whatever
Imo they're meant to live in the desert so I think they're genetically build to eat on it too
I just saw my female beardie eat paper while changing her tank.. I don't think it's any safer
Plus, sand looks great

 

[Nichole1228]

I use sand too!! I thought about tile until my husband and I got in a debate about it! Like he said they come from the desert and u know they eat it when they live in the wild. And he had another good point, ur already locking them up so wouldn't u want it to be more like home!

 

[Diaspora]

I'm a she btw

 

[Nichole1228]

When I said he I was talking about my husband: )

 

[Nichole1228]

Sorry I wasn't paying attention that I was pretty much saying the same thing as u!!

 

[Diaspora]

Aaah my bad haha

 

[jarich]

Impaction is more about the health of the dragon than about the substrate, for the most part. Certain store bought sands, like Calci sand, actually have a binding quality to them, so can be dangerous regardless and are not recommended. Sand is generally seen as a desiccant, so will pull moisture out of the surroundings, including your dragon. This has the potential to therefore dehydrate your dragon, and can cause a problem passing sand through the gut if the dragon is perpetually dehydrated. However, with a well hydrated animal, fed a balanced diet of greens/vegetables and live prey, it shouldn't be a problem for them to pass any sand that is eaten.

Having said that, they don't come from sand dunes They live in scrub land mostly, on semi arid soils.

 

[rdoyle225]

It holds bacteria and other nasty stuff. Deserts are not all sand they have hard packed soil also

 

[LizardOfOz]

So why do you think breeders like 'where dragons dwell' use it? I can't see the positives other than the aesthetic and I don't think a big breeder like them will care about that.

 

[jarich]

Largely I would guess because its cheap and they have probably always used it. Most of the time, people do not want to change and get offended if it is suggested that there is anything wrong with what they are doing.

 

[stijngh]

I'm using sand too, because the shop keeper told me to. I was planning on buying a kind of soft/rocky carpet after reading sand is bad everywhere on the internet, however the shop keeper told me desert sand was better since it is their "natural habitat". However I'm still worried about him "eating" sand while feeding.

 

[cody]

when my beardie walks or moves, he licks tha ground whenever he stops moving, like every single time. It's kind of funny/cute. But I feel if I used sand he'd ingest a lot of it just because if how much he licks the surroundinGs. I use stone tile. And put a little patch of paper towel where he goes to the bathroom. I think he came naturally potty trained because he always goes in the same corner. makes it so much easier he doesn't just go anywhere. Idk if that's rare or normal but defiantly helps

 

[dragonwagon]

Sand is nice, but what's even better and more natural is excavator clay. It's a sandy clay that you can mold and pack down. It looks good, it's natural, and not as loose as sand, though still loose. I think all substrates have their pros and cons, for example I could say about tile that it doesn't allow them to dig, or it's not comfortable to walk on. I could say that repti carpet is bad because their nails get caught it. Sand is bad because it can get ingested, the list goes on. Personal preference I guess.

 

[stijngh]

Yup, I've got the same opinion. Every alternative has its pro's and con's.

I'm using sand but I'm thinking of feeding my beardie crickets, worms, ... in a separate tank/box without any sand or whatever in it. Another reason for this is that my beardie loses focus on his living meal in his big 40 gallon tank.

Something else I was thinking about is which soil would be the best for bacteria to breed... Since I think sand is the hardest to "clean" properly, whereas you can "easily" swipe tiles or carpet.

 

[jarich]

A bioactive soil has its own system in place to clean for you. It controls fungus, harmful bacteria and parasitic reinfection also. It does breed bacteria, the helpful kind that break down wastes naturally!

 

[Augie]

I use sand. It looks nice, and my dragon really likes to dig. I can't imagine how fidgety she'd be without it. She doesn't like walking on solid surfaces, really, and I'd worry that might stress her out over time.

She does ingest sand, both when she eats and licks the ground or other surfaces like her basking driftwood. She has greens all the time and eats them like crazy. I bathe her about once every other week and she usually leaves me a big surprise in her bath for me to clean. It's been a long time since she's pooped in her cage, so I'm not as worried as I used to be about bad bacteria in there.

 

[jarich]

I use sand. It looks nice, and my dragon really likes to dig. I can't imagine how fidgety she'd be without it. She doesn't like walking on solid surfaces, really, and I'd worry that might stress her out over time.

She does ingest sand, both when she eats and licks the ground or other surfaces like her basking driftwood. She has greens all the time and eats them like crazy. I bathe her about once every other week and she usually leaves me a big surprise in her bath for me to clean. It's been a long time since she's pooped in her cage, so I'm not as worried as I used to be about bad bacteria in there.

If you only bathe it once every other week, and it doesnt go in the cage, does that mean that your dragon is only going once every other week then too?

 

[Augie]

If you only bathe it once every other week, and it doesnt go in the cage, does that mean that your dragon is only going once every other week then too?

That is correct.

 

[Diaspora]

I changed my mind in fact
Even though sand looks great its soooo annoying !
I have their tank in my room
When I want to get them out, sand goes everywhere
When I clean the tank, sand goes everywhere
So my room had always sand somewhere
It got to the point where I decided to remove it and place vinyl
Easier to clean, looks good, no impaction risk (I didn't worried about it but anyways)
Here's what it looks like now