WARNING TO ALL BEARDIE OWNERS!

Nope. If I were you I'd let it air dry until it didn't smell like bleach any more.

I noticed you indicated in one of your posts that it "works and its alot cheaper lol." Did you already put it in the cage with it smelling like that?

 

I let mine dry overnight when I wash it. In fact, I keep two sheets. I take one out and replace it with a clean one immediately, then I wash the dirty one that same day and hang it up in the spare closet until I change the liner again. That way there is always one that is clean, dry, and fume free when I clean the cage.

 

Yes but it was only in there for about an hour. I didnt feel it was safe for him so I cut another one out of my cupboard and put it in there. I only cleaned it with water.

 

Well kephy... At first, I wasnt going to get rid of the sand because I thought it was perfect for him. I actually thought you were crazy for saying that the sand was bad for him. After a few days of it nagging at my attention, I gave in. I put the shelf liner in there. I hate it but I will get use to it. Here are some pics of the new setup tell me what you think:

 

Well, I'm glad you did the right thing. I must say you'll probably continue to hate that shelf liner. What you have is the kind with many dents and divets, practically impossible to spot clean, mess will soak right through. Next time you're at walmart pick up the smooth kind.

Also, keep in mind I wasn't the only person who referred you to it. You had a strong majority urging you to make a change, not just me.

Trust me, sand is not perfect. Many people use it for adults with few problems, but most will still tell you it's a big no-no for babies. Even in adults it still poses a few risks. My vet was telling me some stories not only of impactions, but of toes which he had to amputate because the sand stuck to the feet causing bad sheds. He was of the firm believe that the ONLY safe substrate for beardied dragons was paper towels or newspaper, until I showed him my shelf-liner. Not only will it never cause impactions or bad sheds, but it's also far more sanitary. When in enclosed conditions "naturalistic" environments are a haven for bacteria. Personally, I think shelf-liner looks a lot cleaner and more tidy in a tank than sand dumped in it, but maybe it's just a matter of taste. It's just so much easier to catch every speck of food or feces that might otherwise be buried to later promote bacteria. You have the piece of mind knowing that there is nothing you missed. When I see a tank filled with a particle substrate now, my first thought is of all the risks it's posing and the filth it's hiding, not how it looks.

You may hate it now, but your beardie's safety is so much more important than the look of his enclosure. He is young, so he won't have a hard time adjusting, and when he grows up if you want to give him a sandbox in one side of his enclosure you can do that. Or, if you just can't stand it put the sand back in, at least as an adult the risks will be reduced significantly.

 

i use calcium sand with all my reptiles. it so fine that if they do end up eating a little of it while eating a cricket or salad it is not a problem

 

Well you just opened up a big can of worms here. Prepare to be enlightened!!

There are numerous reports of vets, breeders, hobbyists, etc of having their animals die because of the substrate you're using. There will always be those who have had no problems but there are also those who smoke crack and don't become addicted and have their lives ruined yet the general consensus is DON'T SMOKE CRACK!

 

FALSE.

Did you even read the responses to that question? Calcium sand is one of THE WORST substrates you can put a reptile on. Don't believe the labels, believe the people who's pets have died because it didn't digest in the stomach like it claims! Do a little research on other internet forums and see what people have to say about it.

Here are a few articles, too.
http://www.pythons.com/calcium.html

http://www.anapsid.org/substrates.html

I would venture to say the reason you've never had a problem is not because it is safe, but because you have been VERY lucky up until this point.

 

You know how it clumps when it gets wet or your animal defecates on it? It does the same thing when it's in your beardie's stomach except it can be sneaky. What happens is you dragon ingests just a little at a time and it begins to clump up. Does the dragon expell it when it goes? No, it stays in the digestive system and continues to build and clump up until suddenly there's not enough room to let anything else by and now you've got one of three situations on your hands. First what will probably happen is your beardie starts to lose the functioning of it's back legs because the impaction is pressing against his spine causing motor loss.

Scenerio One: You notice this and try soaking it and giving it mineral oil. After a week your beardie finally passes the impaction through his entire digestive track and two weeks after you've been hand feeding him and placing him on his basking spot every day he regains the use of his back legs. For the next month every time you see your beardie poo there's that evil sand in his waste.

Scenario Two: If, after your soaking and mineral oil treatments, he still fails to pass the impaction you end up taking him to the vet and luckily the vet is able to get the impaction out by either an enema or surgery. Again, after a couple of weeks of hand feeding and placing him on his basking platform he regains the use of his back legs. Meanwhile you've been eating dog food since you spent hundreds of dollars at the vet.

Scenario Three: You've done the mineral oil treatments, you've taken him to the vet eaten the dog food and now your beardie has lost the use of all four of his legs. After a month of trying to care for him the best you can by hand feeding and moving him to where you think he wants to be, your beardie dies a slow death. It was determined a long time ago the initial problem was caused by the calcisand he had been living on. You realize your beardie didn't have a choice as to what his substrate was. You realize you had been warned about this sand by people who have experience and know it is horrible stuff. You sit there with your dead beardie in your hand that you loved so much and you realize you've learned a lesson at the sacrifice of your beardies life and it's all your fault. The rest you can figure out on your own.

Please get your beardie off of that sand if you want him to stay alive.

 

Well, when I first heard of calcium sand, I thought that it would dissolve once it got in their stomach. I cant believe that the sell that stuff. After I changed from sand to shelf liner, I sifted through the sand and it was INCREDIBLE how many large clumps their were. I am so glad I switched.

I wait for it to dry and it comes off real easy.

 

Ok, well that's good. I just know we had another person who tried that kind first and had a lot of trouble with it.

 

sorry that happend about your beardie

 

Kephy... Im not gonna do this and im just asking but what would you do if a female was pregnant? Leave her in the shelf liner? Dont they want to dig?

 

Yes, they need an egg laying bin to bury the eggs. You can either make it in a completely seperate enclosure (if she's housed w/ other females) or in her own. Basically when she gets close to egg laying time (you can usually tell because she will gorge herself on food in the days prior, then stop eating completely) you pile topsoil in one corner and she'll bury the eggs in it. When she's layed all her eggs you remove them to the incubator and restore her cage to normal.

 

sandy, if you want something that's diggable and a little bit (not really) more natural looking than the shelf liner or newspaper, you might try alfalfa pellets, like you'd feed to rabbits. if the beardies eat them, they're totally digestible, and they provide something to dig in and to anchor cage furniture. you have to be pretty careful about misting and cleaning poop, because the pellets will mold if they get wet. when i use them i don't offer water inside the cage; i take my beardie out to soak instead.

a lot of keepers on dragontank.com like something called Yesterday's News, which is basically newspaper recycled in pellet form.

the only thing to worry about with newspaper/paper towels/shelf liner is cage furniture. be very certain that any driftwood or rocks are impossible to tip over (especially taller pieces that are easier to overbalance) because they won't have anything around the base to stabilize them.

 

What about using a under the tank heater with paper towels? How do u think that would work?

 

Beardies don't need an undertank heater. They sense heat from above, and therefore when seeking warmth they climb up to the light, not down to the heater. It's really just pointless unless maybe using for cold nights (under 65F), but even then a ceramic heat emitter would be much better.

With alfalfa pellets, wheat bran, Yesterday's News, etc. you just have to make sure you clean the tank religiously. Even just a tiny bit of urates or moisture that gets soaked into a pellet and missed when spot cleaning can quickly because a sanitary issue, so you have to completely clean the entire tank more often.

 

I think im just gonna stick with the shelf liner. Thanks.

 

Can anybody help me?

I have seen the piccy's of the Duck white shelf liner that you use and it looks great and would love to use it in my viv. Unfortunately I live in England and the shops do not sell anything remotely like it. Does anyone know of an English equivalent or where I can get it from in UK I live in the Midlands by Birmingham. How much does it cost over there too so I know that i'm not getting ripped off.

Thank you for the unusual help.

 

Idk. Iv had 5 bearded dragons, and i have used sand for all of them. Every single one has been fine with no problems. I currently use vita sand and im quit happy with it. I see no reason to chage my substrate because all of my beardies have been fine. too me it seems more of a hassle with shelf liner etc.... than with sand you just scoop out the poo. So im still going to stay with using sand, because i have had no problems.