Bearded Dragon's can use SAND !!!!!

The full thread can be found in "help! My bearded isn't opening his eyes...diagnosis/cure".

Gist is...he had 3 different parasites. Was on meds for 10 days...showed improvements...then regression...back on meds...and appears improved again. Symptoms were ZERO opening of eyes as well as no movement.

My vet was sure he didn't pick up parasites from sand...said he was either born with them or picked up at pet store...just <might> eliminate sand till he gets better...or permanently...still debating this.

When I think of shelf-liner I think of sticky paper...which I'm sure people aren't using...they mention this rubberized stuff...not familiar with this.

 

If you think silk worms are gross/wierd...you should check out "blood worms".

You use them saltwater fishing...and they ARE totally disgusting. They have like fanged teeth and are VERY formidable.

Straight out of Dune movie...look them up on web...totally freaky...and they are a worm.

 

cool. yeah it sounds as if you are talking about superworms, hanny loves those nasty buggers too.

at the moment yes, i use artifical carpet in my beardies tank, the benefit of her is that she tends not to defecate in her cage, i bathe her every other day and usually she poos in the bath, which makes it easier to keep her cage clean. scrubbing the carpet is a PAIN so if she starts pooing in her cage again i will have to switch to something like shelf liner that is easy to clean. i might try linelium too, which one of my leos (jeffrey nothing) is on, because it seems to work well, its super easy to clean and jeff seems to enjoy it allright.

Iggys are great too, tons of work! but definately great, i had one before. well, sort of, he was my ex-fiances, which is why he is no longer under my care. One thing about iggys is because of their large size and their ability to be pretty nasty they often end up homeless reptile rescues are flooded with iggys, if you decide to get one a rescue ig is a great way to go. The rescues will make sure the igs are nice and healthy before adopting one out and they can pair you up with a really nice mellow one (it also has the added benefit of you being able to bypass the baby phase of biting, scratching, tail whipping and desperately trying to get away from you). My friend Jen got her ig Sunny from a ig rescue, and she is such a doll!!

good thing i dont have to work tomorrow, or it would be bed time for me too. as it stands...the night is just about to begin. PARTY! lol

 

Well, I am feeling a little left out since I think I may be the only one here that hasn't posted yet!!!! Anyway, I raised my now 3 yr old Kowalsky on playsand from when he was a baby.

Only this year I had switched to carpet, then the non adhesive shelf liner. The reason I did this was more of a hygenic one than impaction panic. I found that if we were at work when they pooped.....the sand was very dirty after a week or so.....and is such a pain to replace. Our vet had also recommended ditching it when we had to treat Maggie and Peyton for parasites (again hygenic). So we went to carpet.......which looked good but, got saturated in fluid when they pooped and we had to take a piece out to replace....... We washed these pieces in the washing machine........but after a while.....got tired of how often we were washing them (three adult dragons!!).

Then we switched to the shelf liner (not the sticky stuff.....it is almost like a thin piece of flexible linoleum.......approx 2 mm thick). This stuff has been wonderful as we just use paper towels and baby wipes to clean out poop, and every few weeks they can also be thrown into the washer and dryer. We also have a dirt devil hand vac, that we use to vacuum up dried lettuce, shed skin, or cricket poops. Our dragons get good traction, and it warms up nicely.

Our vet had also suggested putting a box of peat moss in our dragons to dig and hide in, though I haven't done it yet. There are so many ways to care for EVERYTHING, I know you have your animals best interests at heart.....everyone does. The main reason I switched from sand is for the cleanliness.......which I didn't see touched very much on in the 4 pages of this thread. Do you live in Canada or U.S.?? If so, head to walmart, and take a look at the shelf liner area.....there are a few rolls of this non adhesive stuff......some of it looks like mesh but some is a solid sheet (Duck brand I think). I am not trying to tell you what is right......but as I found, it was nice to keep my options open.....and we found that this worked best for us......and our monsters!!!!

 

Here is a link to what alot of us use. Hopefully it will give you a better visual. http://www.duckproducts.com/products/detai...02&PID=1315 The photo doesn't really do it justice, but it's the best I could find.

 

i am in the US and yes there is a walmart, kmart lol we have all those stores here. i will check it out tomorrow after work and see what i can find and like i told ReptileCrazy i will switch the sand to the liner and see how my girl likes it and also make her a " play box with sand " like Reptile said and see if she is ok with it. Thanks for explaing this liner better i would not place a paper towel in my Dragons cage cause GOD forbid she sticks out her tongue like she is always doing and a piece gets in her throat and gets caught ? that is a chance i will not like to take with her. i am too afraid of that happening.

mklien sorry to hear about your Dragon really . hope things work out for him .. By the way i looked at your web site that you have and your house is cute :0) .. nice beach house also.. those trips look nice to take too lol i am going to Alaska next year actually my first cruise ever. my Mom wants to go on one before she gets too old to enjoy one so her gift from me is Alaska but next month i am leaving for Italy to see some Family will be gone for a little over a month. wish they had beaches like that one place did on your page haha but it is nice though in Italy Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh piece of mind away from NJ lol

Enjoy your night all bed time for me its a little past 11pm here and i have work at 7:30am

 

wow...just read all the posts. every site i have ever been to have these nasty debates on sand. i don't think it is a question that will ever go away.

I use "duck brand" non-adhesive shelf liner. its easy to clean and the beardies seem to like it. I do keep a sand box (washed playsand only) in the cages with my adults who like to digg. their cages are 4x2x2 and i keep thier food at the other end. the shelfliner is worth a try...i find it much easier to wipe up a mess. good luck with all your pets.

joijoi

 

If you use any product marketed as 'safe for reptiles' then your asking for an impaction. calci sand and the ESU walnut shells are the worst substrates out there. period. they BOTH cause impactions, you want proof of the walnut shells?

http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm

DONT LOOK IF YOUVE GOT A WEAK STOMACH, SHOWS A DISSECTION OF A BEARDIE


Calci sand... look at what it did to this leo:





its pointless debating this further, your oviously too set in your ways to listen to scientific facts.

 

I just caught this and didn't see any other responses to it... a UTH should never be used for a beardie. They will burn their tummies on it! A bearded Dragon can only sense heat with that tiny spot on their head. nowhere else. so a UTH would be like if you had no feeling in your hand and leaving it on a frying pan.

 

I hate sand.

 

if you use an UTH properly with a thermostat or dimmer to control the heat then there is no fear of the lixard burning themselves. I used to use them all the time, but got tired of how expensive they were. You are right in thinking that it could burn them, but if you control the temps then they wont get burned

 

Just be careful of temp spikes and hot spots! Thats how my first Iggy Gex died. No matter how my dad tried to regulate the temp.

 

I agree with Tari... they can create hot spots, and burn your beardie, even if they are controlled.

 

I can see what you mean...but here is my question...people use dimmer or thermostat controlled heat pads to heat their leopard geckos all the time. Whats the difference?

 

As far as I know, UTH's aren't known to create hot spots like heat rocks. Besides they are typically placed outside the tank and have extra protective layers of caging and substrate between it and the animal. and Yes, UTH is the most recommended heating apparatus for leopard geckos and I have NEVER heard of a leo getting injured or burned from them.

Having said that, I believe the reason they aren't recommended for beardies is because beardies are not very sensitive to heat on their underside. They sense heat from above. So I suppose they can overheat themselves sitting on a UTH and not know it. So, typically, UTH's are only used in special circumstances, like a hospital set up, where the beardie would be under constant observation anyway.

 

My eldest beardie, lenny, was bought up on childrens playsand and was healthy and happy and l did also have problems with him pooping lumps of sand but never an impaction (lucky l guess) but l now use lino which is the stuff you put on, urm, office floors, kitchens, etc. shiny on the top but nice, soft and spongy on the underside, well l use the underside of that and a square of kitchen roll for their toilet but with the babies l cover the lino with kitchen roll so its easier to clean (and quicker, lol!) l wipe down with a baby wipe or hot soapy water and every other day l disinfect the lino aswell! mesavotz, if you like sand that much instead of taking her off it why don't you change to playsand as it doesn't cause the risk in an adult as it does in a baby (although still a slight risk) l mean if you are happy to change to the lino, shelf liner, whatever, then great and the play box is great fun for them but if you're are feeling a bit bullied into this maybe take it one step at a time, nobody wants to force you to do anything, just voicing opinions and at the end of the day as many have said in this topic (including me) the choice is still yours and you must do what you feel best for you and your beardie and yes as it was mentioned before l believe this to be a touchy subject in any forum not just this one and l'm sure every one apologises for making you feel bullied with any hasty remarks! l for one am pleased that your beardie is healthy and happy and hope to make you feel a little more welcome so you feel you can ask us anything! l'm sure once you get to know us all a bit better you will realise we aren't a bad bunch after all! l have already voiced my opinion on this topic and l don't believe l was nasty in any way and apologise myself if any offence was taken! So how old were you when you got your first reptile then and is this the one that lived till 6 years? ls this the other beardie you were talking about earlier or do you have 2 at the moment?

 

Cool. thanks for clearing that up spot

 

hey Clarinet uses eco earth which by the way is a loose particle substrate which she attacks all the time don't attack one person for using sand when eco earth is just as bad and can do the same thing

 

1) calci-death is not the same
2) i don't recommend it to noobs
3) you have no idea what precautions i go through to make sure it's clean. I like because it's pretty, Feng LOVES to dig in it, etc
4) i only use it for over 10" beardies.

 

eco earth is a terrible substrate, basiclly turns the viv into a toilet unless its VERY throughly cleaned almost daily, it also is VERY absorbant, so can lead to humidity problems, also because it absorbs very readily, harbours paricites, and also the coconut husk (strings) can cause an impaction... all in all, terrible substrate, and i would advise to steer well clear of it...