Beardie Substrates

[=bECS=]

i was told today that a dish of water may not be safe,and that i should stick to spraying them,and possibly with a little calcium in the water..

With regards to feeding on the substrate,can you elaborate?

Basically if your keeping them on sand, and you feed them in their enclosure, they are more likely to get a mouth full of sand when trying to catch their food.
If you take them out and put them in a tub to feed, with no substrate, they will have no chance of copping that mouth full of sand.
That way no bugs get left inside the enclosure, especially crickets, which can cause damage to your dragons of left in the enclosure also.

 

[benashki]

Basically if your keeping them on sand, and you feed them in their enclosure, they are more likely to get a mouth full of sand when trying to catch their food.
If you take them out and put them in a tub to feed, with no substrate, they will have no chance of copping that mouth full of sand.
That way no bugs get left inside the enclosure, especially crickets, which can cause damage to your dragons of left in the enclosure also.

Ohhh so i shld remove them from the enclosure to feed? I have them now on paper towels is feeding inside the enclosure still an issue?

How do crickets damage ur beardy if left inside?

 

[=bECS=]

Ohhh so i shld remove them from the enclosure to feed? I have them now on paper towels is feeding outside the enclosure still an issue?

How do crickets damage ur beardy if left inside?

Its completely up to you. I prefer to feed outside the enclosure so that there is no food except for greens left in it.

Crickets will feed on your beardie, eating its skin. There have been stories about beardies loosing toes, tail tips and worse from crix being left in the enclosure.

 

[lemonz]

...

Ohhh so i shld remove them from the enclosure to feed? I have them now on paper towels is feeding inside the enclosure still an issue?

How do crickets damage ur beardy if left inside?

they bite them

 

[benashki]

thanks everyone..

i was wondering if anyone has ever used sheets of aquarium backing plastic as a substrate? not that its a substrate as such but a removeable and cleanable flooring.

i saw someone say tiles,and thought the plastic wouldnt feel too much different from that and it would look good on the floor

 

[lemonz]

i dont see why not benashki

 

[Reptile_Boy]

red desert sand. ive never had any problems with inpaction, i think it looks the best

Yep second that

 

[Kirby]

red desert sand isnt actually calci sand, the stuff i use is just red sand brought down from teh red centre and bagged,..it can be confusing since u can also get red calci sand,...

i use that fro my adults (the bagged stuff), and they grew up on it as hatchies,..

BUT

to be on the totally safe side i raised my last hatchies on newspaper and moved them to bunnings playsand at around 6 months old.

i recommend newspaper or paper towels, not only because of impaction risks, but little ones poo 2-3 times a day and since they constantly taste their enviroments re-injesting bacteria form pooing on sand can make them sick.

i love a natural setting and my dragons love to dig, so i say bunnings palysand is a good middle ground, very unlikely to impact, looks nice and is great fro digging.

a bigger cause of impactions is incorrect temps, my dragons pass the playsand as granulated as it went in.

red dune sand is calcium based.

 

[gravitation]

so im ignorent selfish and stupid am i? ha. the bitchiness comes out. just be like a normal human being. if its not too much. GET OVER THE FACT THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES! seriously, i can report you to aps for saying that, all over a stupid little reason. the fact that you can be all high and mighty just because you have lost them. and saying you dont care about the ones in the wild that get run over..shows how much you love your beardies.

Saying that i don't care about the ones being run over? Ummm I think you really misinterprated what i just said to you, i suppose you are a youngin' or something.

You want your dragons enclosure to look nice, therefore you use sand even though you are aware that they can die from eating it, that son is my point.

 

[benashki]

i was told to spray my beardies with a water bottle with some calcium in it..wat do u guys think?

 

[gravitation]

Funny, i recall several occasions where people have had their dragons impacted and sometimes die due to using substrate like yours as well............
At the end of the day its up to the owners what they choose to use, and the safest would have to be either paper towel or newspaper.
Everyone else spouting off about something else being dangerous, then recommending stuff like astroturf etc, all this has the potential to be dangerous as well.

Alot comes down to feeding on the substrate etc........... and if u use astro turf, make sure you have trimmed any loose threads and dusted off any excess grassy bit

I use newspaper based kitty litter and newspaper/wood chippings based litter, it crumbles when it interacts with moisture.

I've done my research : P

And for the record all my dragons are fed out of their tanks and in a seperate container.

 

[gravitation]

The picture looks like your beardie is on rabbit pellots

Like i said, newspaper based kitty litter and newspaper/wood chippings based litter.

It disintergrates when it comes in contact with moisture so they are able to digest it if they should ever eat a piece or two, which they don't or atleast i have never seen it happen.
They can dig in it, it soaks up bad smells and moisture, it stays warm.

Perfect for my children.

 

[gravitation]

red dune sand is calcium based.

Yep, it is.

 

[LullabyLizard]

Originally Posted by Renagade
red desert sand. ive never had any problems with inpaction, i think it looks the best

Yep second that

How could you risk the death of your beardie for a nice looking enclosure?

 

[=bECS=]

Like i said, newspaper based kitty litter and newspaper/wood chippings based litter.

It disintergrates when it comes in contact with moisture so they are able to digest it if they should ever eat a piece or two, which they don't or atleast i have never seen it happen.
They can dig in it, it soaks up bad smells and moisture, it stays warm.

Perfect for my children.

The problem with the hard pellet type kitty litter is that it gets bits of plastic and metal mixed and whatever else is along the machines line mixed in. I too have done my research
A good newspaper based substrate to use is the coles branded kitty litter, i find its softer........ not a compacted pellet, i havent found any other ,materials in it such as plastics and metals (unlike breeders choice and the oz pet litter of whatever it is that pet barn sells at a rediculous price), its cheap and looks just as good.

And wood chippings dont disintegrate

As for the aquaruim backing that was mentioned, it would be too slippery, especially if it was to get wet.

 

[Dave]

Like what Falconboy said.. top 3 is tile,tile and tile... After you've gone tile you can't go back :lol: (And personally I don't like any of the woodchips or kitty litter)

 

[Chris1]

red dune sand is calcium based.

in that case i keep mine on evil sand and its fine!

 

[Emzie]

i was told today that a dish of water may not be safe,and that i should stick to spraying them,and possibly with a little calcium in the water..

With regards to feeding on the substrate,can you elaborate?

ild leave the water dish just fill it up so if your beadie goes in it is able to keep his head above the water

You can mist if you think there not getting water but if they know how to use a water bowl no need.

I some times spray the greens with water so when they eat they get some water also the greens last a little longer

 

[Chris1]

u can also drop roaches in the bath wth them, that way they get a big mouthful of water with their insect!

 

[Chilali]

wow this thread turned into a bit of a cat fight.

I have to agree that with brand new baby hatchies i didnt want to risk anything to my little babies and they are on fake turf they love running around on it and it is easy as to clean.

I think i will never risk sand due to impaction issues.

Each to their own!