Substrate

[thorn]

Hey guys I just got my BD yesterday and he needs some substrate. He is an adult male about 15 inches and 2 years old. Please get back to me when you can

 

[Scotty]

Use child play sand.. For like in sand boxes and stuff. It's at home depot, lowes, and some walmarts have them.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

There are many safe choices for.substrate if your beardie is an adult over 11 inches...my personal.preference is Quikrete Premium Washed and Sifted Childrens Playsand...can be found at Lowes Home Improvement Centers...only buy the bags store inside and before you use it you want to sift it to remove any small pebbles etc...I also go the extra step of placing it in a 200 degree oven for bout 30 minutes and then letting it cool down completely before using it in Mungi's enclosure to a depth of 2 to 6 inches.
If you choose to go this route you need to monitor your temps because you may find that you dont need as powerful a bassking light...sand holds heat in.

It is safe and allows your beardie to dig which is somethng that many beardies greatly enjoy.

Btw...only use Washed, Sifted Premium Childrens Playsand....stay clear of Calci-sand or most of the other junk they sell in Pet Stores..a lot of that stuff is actually dangerous to your dragon...ie Calci-sand has a High Impaction Risk.

Take some time and dig into this forum...you will find all the answers you need to ensure you and your dragon have a long relationship...and post some pics...we would all love to see yor new dragon

Have a great nite!

 

[thorn]

The lady I got him from raised him from an egg and she said she had been jawing repti carpet for him. My girlfriend didn't want the sand because she thinks it will get all over her house -.- but I'm hoping some of you guys can tell her that it's does of stink and it stays in the cage.

 

[Germ]

I have always found sand to be dusty after a while. I have never tried the Quikrete, unsure if it is even available in Canada, but I will be checking it out at Lowes soon, once I have some 10"+ BDs again . I have found with all the brands that I have used, the quality has a lot to do with location. One brand's sand does not all come from the same source across the country, they come from more localized gravel pits with different crushers, washers, screening, etc. that serve different areas. I am pretty darn sure that if I find Quikrete here, it will not be from the same sources as Buddha's, so the quality may vary.

As far as smell goes, if you are vigilant about waste clean up, I have never had an odor issue. Of course if you only poop scoop once every week or 2 &\or don't change it out for 2 years, there is very likely to be .

 

[thorn]

Does the sand get tracked all over the place when you take your dragon out? Oh and how often should you replace all the sand in the tank? I'm just trying to get as much info as I can before I go and spend any more money on stuff. I still need to get some good bits of wood from my yard for him(baked at 300 for 15 min of course).

 

[Germ]

Your enclosure should be dry, so there is no reason for any to stick to your BD when you remove it from the enclosure, but again, after a while it may be dusty. How often you need to change it out depends on how vigilant you are on clean up. Some will tell you that it should be changed out monthly. Now if that was the case, I would not be using Play Sand. I live in a 4th floor apartment, no elevator, am just about 60 years old & am not going to pack 5-600 lbs of sand up & 5-600 lbs down every month for my now 6 enclosures. I generally change mine out every 6-8 months, more often should odor start to be noticeable, have been doing this since 2002 without issues. You can change it as often as you like, this is just what I do. Children's Washed Play Sand is cheap, generally runs something like $4-$6/50 lb bag.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

I'm very particular about the sand that I use...the only place I.will buy it Lowes...it has nothing to do.tho with loyalty to Lowes but you can find playsand and in fact the Quikrete Premium that I use at many places and although Quikrete lists only one.Quikrete Premium in their.product line there is a difference in the product from store to.store. I.have tried them all and the ones sold.at Lowes are definitely the highest quality I.have found and most consistent...ie texture, dust level and even quality of sift.
I was a long haul trucker for over 24 year and have haul a lot of sand ....lol and a lot of other stuff too.. can tell you for fact that as Germ stated the quality is dependent totally on the source of the supply and although the bags may say the same brand say at Home Depot that they do.at Lowes when you open up the bags there is noticeable difference.
When you go to for instance to a.commercial sand pit you will see all kinds of brands being bagged out of the same pit...Might be Quikrete Premium being bagged one run and then next run might be Uncle Joe's Real Grit brand...lol
Thats the nature of business and not just in sand but many consumer products...its one of the things I.have shook my head about for many years.

Anyway..I got side tracked..long and short is that I.have tried all available brand and.supplies of sand over the years and have for that Quikrete Premium in general is the most consistent by far across the board and at least in my area Lowes consistently sells the highest quality of the Quikrete brand.

As far as dustiness goes there is a dust factor but its not a big deal..most of what I experience is.a heavy weight dust that will puff up momentarily and then settle right back.to.the ground of the enclosure..it is not like clouds of dust are going to spread all over your home..lol and as far as tracking again.as Germ stated its a dry environment so that is not an.issue.

As far a odor goes I.will be the very first in line to tell you that these lil dragon can and will leave some of foulest smellin poops on occassion...Im talkin the kind that will curl your nose to.your toes stinky..lol...consistent husbandry is a must...and must be done daily if not a couple of times a day...Our Mungi is very "regular" and you can pretty much set you.clock.by his "movements"...he poops twice a day most days...once about an hour after his lights go.on and then again late afternoon. And we dont allow his "presents" to lay around in his enclosure for anytime at all...they are scooped out usually immediately. And I can tell you that is the key to no odor...btw that is the key to no odor no matter what reptile or other critter you have...we have a lot of scaled; finned; feathered and furred family members in our home Good husbandry is essential...there are no odors period in our home
Also I think that another key ingredient is getting you dragon.on a set lighting schedule...have found that all reptiles in particular thrive on that and are stressed more easily with sudden changes in their lighting schedules...get your lights on timers if they arent already. I think that is a factor for instance in Mungi's "regularness"
Lastly I.agree with the frequency of changing out sand that Germ stated...Mungi's is changed out aproximately once every 5-6 months and as long as you are vigilant with your housekeeping that is all that is needed
Enjoy your day!


Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[Vincent]

Using paper towels is the safest way...... but if you want sand because you think your beardie is adjusted to it thats just fine, but of course make sure its at least 14 inches . but it wont be as good for the dragons as paper towels. there is no way you can get all the fecal out of the sand and the dragon will ingest this when it is eating insects. Will also be breathing in the dust from the sand and ammonia from the fecal waste. NOT GOOD! - Tamra, owner/operator rainbow bearded dragons

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Vincent....I see that you are back to unnecessarily alarming folks about "the dangers of playsand substrate" ...your grounds are not correct as has been told to you before and as has also been pointed out to you previously playsand is perfectly safe for use as a substrate as long as it is for ADULT beardies atleast 10 + inches...I say 11 but woulf be perfectly fine with a 10 inch adult dragon.put on sand. On the off chance that your beardie ingests any of the Washed, Sifted Childrens Playsand there is very very little chance it will cause impactions because this type.of sand does not clump and will pass straight thru. As far as Ammonia spell or left over fecal matter is concerned I suggest you try to improve your husbandry practices...We do and there is absolutely no odor from any of our enclosures and as I have pointed out to you before I would glady place my enclosures cleanliness against anyones no matter their choice of substrate and dare say mine is at least as and probably more so clean than any! If you are having that kind of issue then your husbandry practice is shotty....and lastly as far as the dust goes it is minimal at most and poses no more risk and probabbly much less risk than your dragon being taken outside and.allowed to breathe the pollution contained in the "fresh air" we all breathe. If you have a heavy dust problem.in you viv I.would strongly suggest you.find the source of the cyclone that is kickin it up.

Would still like to see you produce the 2 articles that Germ asked you for showing any real proof of the danger of using sand as a substrate.

Sorry to rant but its ridiculous when someone throws false info in the ring and touts it as fact..

I.will agree with you that paper towels are a viable option for substrate ad are many other substrates materials for beardies and so is sand but not for babies or juveniles...Adults only 10+ inches perfectly safe and used for decades literally by bearded dragon owners and breeders without incident.
Have a great day!

 

[Germ]

Gonna go through this again, are we Vincent ...

Well that is one persons opinion . You don't take the feces out of the sand, you take the sand with the Feces ...

We could go on quoting all sorts of personal opinion from the internet. Here's one for ya ...

Strained children's washed play sand is as safe as any substrate out there & will provide a more natural habitat & much more exercise for your Dragon & I like it - Germain, owner/operator GnB Dragons

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Would like to correct a phrasing of words that I have used when.I.say 10+ inch Adult beardies....In using PlaySand substrate I.believe it perfectly safe tried and true for adult beardies and beardies over 10+ inches in length...not for babies or juveniles under 10+ inches snout to tailtip.....it goes to reason that an adult bearded is going to be over 10 inches anyway...(no offense meant to any Midget Adult Beardies that may be in existence...playsand is safe for them too tho..lol)
Thank you to Germ for pointing out my error in phrasing.. as I have said I cant stand misinfo...the reptile world is already rampant with too much of that

 

[thorn]

i want to post a pic of my dragon but my pics are to big and im to lazy to resize them

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

get a photobucket account which is free and upload them there and then to post them here click on the img source of the pic and copy and past that to your post here..easiest way and the way I post Mungi's pics;-)

Also I use a tiny free program called PixResizer...all you do is open the program, load your pic in it and click save...the saved foto will be drastically reduced as far as kbs but will stillretain its quality and dimensions,,,have used it for years;-)

 

[Pat B]

well....my goodness......clean up the poope everyday....it is disgustingto leave it in your enc so the beardie can walk all over it. if your enc starts to stink change out the sand....duh....i agree wit germ and mungi as they KNOW what they are talking about....

 

[sean]

after reading this i have some questions of my own.
my BD is months old and I'm new to this, so I used rep-carpet in Stitches home. but like i stated before on another post, the crickets are hiding under the carpet. My question is can i use slate or ceramic tile for his/hers substrate and when he/she (don't know the sex yet) gets bigger just and a sand box to his viv?

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

after reading this i have some questions of my own.
my BD is months old and I'm new to this, so I used rep-carpet in Stitches home. but like i stated before on another post, the crickets are hiding under the carpet. My question is can i use slate or ceramic tile for his/hers substrate and when he/she (don't know the sex yet) gets bigger just and a sand box to his viv?

Slate or ceramic tiles are perfectly fine.for.use as a substrate..I.would.recommend if using ceramic to choose a tile that is not slick and has texture. My preference would be a non-glazed or natural stone tile.
As far as a sandbox Im not sure what you have in.mind but know several people that use tiles in one part of their enclosure and playsand in other part...so I guess that is the same principle as a sandbox and see nothing wrong with that as long as you wait until your dragon is the appropriate size to use sand safely One side note is that if you choose to.do that be aware that your dragon is going to dig so.make sure that any tiles, rock or other structures are secured in a manner that he cant get under or if he does they will not pose a fallin danger to.him.

 

[sean]

i think I'm going to go with a free floating ceramic tile for now. So I can do a monthly defecting with some water and bleach, and when my BD gets bigger I'll bond them to the tank.

thinking a tupper ware bowl with sand for when they get older.

i have a bunch of ideas

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@sean....the tile sounds like a good idea for now....as far as the tuperware container for the sand goes I am assuming you are thinking you would.then be able to contain the sand...perhaps but I doubt it because your dragon will kick it and scatter it as he wishes...their excavations can get quite extensive..lol...Its up to you how you decide to do it of course but I would suggest you settin your tile in one area and then simply puttin the sand in the other..a simple.divider of say brick can dive the areas but keep them low .. then you can easily sweep the tiled area
If you are vigilant with your husbandry practices the sand need only be changed out every 5-6 months.
Also be aware that when you add sand to your enclosure that you will need to keep an eye on your temps...sand retains heat and you may find that you dont need as powerful a lighting to get proper temps so for the first several days keep an eye on that.
And make sure that the thermometers you use to monitor with are the digital type with remote probes so that your can get accurate reading at your basking point and cool side as well...the probes must be place direct at your basking spot and at the coolest spot in the tank...a difference in placement of only a couple of inches can give you much different readings...digital is the only way to go.
Enjoy your day

 

[Pat B]

I like the idea of sand and slate tile. I had all slate but covered it all over with sand. I think I am going to do half and half with steps up to the sand. I think that will look really cool