Millions of Questions - New Parent

[packfan74]

Hi - I'm relatively new to forum. I used it once before a couple of months ago - VERY HELPFUL & fast!!....LOVE IT.

Posted a diet dilemma yesterday which has led to loads of chats - again, LOVE IT!

Question today is regarding bedding. I've read lots of suggestions, all of which I didn't get until after I set up my tank (of course). I'm using super fine sifted white play sand from Lowes. I clean it every week by resifting - my beardie does his business mainly on his rocks which I also clean weekly but normally I just wipe it off with tissue, as I'm home w/him all day and notice quickly that it needs cleaning. So I guess what I'm asking is, is this type of bedding okay or is it really critical I use one of your other suggestions; tiles, towles, paper, etc?

This leads me to another question. When I clean weekly, I remove all tank features (rocks, logs, silk leaves, bowles, etc.) and spray them with a bleach/water mixture, then scrub w/a brush, rinse in the tub and set in the sun to completely dry before reinstalling. I clean the glass inside w/distilled white vinegar & water. Is this method okay? So far, no bad results.

Sorry, I've digressed, let me introduce myself. My name is Joyce, I live in Virginia. We got a 4-6 week old baby beardie for my 9 yr. old son but I fell in love and he's MY SWEETY BOY now. I'm a stay at home Mom and my baby keeps me company while my 3 kids r @ school. My beardie is named Henry (in rememberance of a soon to pass grandfather). Actually we're not sure if its a he or she yet. Henry is about 7.5 months old now and we're having issues - read all about it later if you want a laugh! (see Diet,Topic - "Diet"...original I know).

Well, anyhoo - nice to meet all of you - look forward to chatting again soon.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi Joyce ! lol... You are energetic now aren't you ?

Okay, as for everything, the only thing I would change would be the bleach... You can use that vinegar to do you cleaning all around.
Baking rocks in the oven for an hour @200*F is good. Just allow to cool and reinstall..

In time, I feel you will seek out other substrates, just for easier and less time consuming practices. Not to mention, babies tend to be messy eaters.. and that fine sand can be ingested, and not easily passed through the digestive system...

I'll just hop on over to your other topic (thread) to see if I can give you some help...
Welcome !

 

[renich]

Hi Joyce and official welcome and all.

I've used sand, but not till my dragon was 1 year old. I used it for about 2 years and switched to tile. Best move I ever made. Sand is very messy. And as Janie pointed out, you can run the risk of your beardie ingesting some of the sand particals while chasing crickets. Not to mention the bacteria that can harbor in it. You mentioned that your dragon poops mainly on the rocks and you are there to clean it up, but I still worry about the sand.

For quick clean ups, you can use an unscented baby wipe to wipe down the rocks after he goes.

 

[staylor]

I use tile and love it, and for quick clean ups I used unsented baby wipes too. And welcome