Why is sand bad for dragons?

I just bought my first dragon 3 days ago and I bought him the calcium sand. The guy at PetSmart seemed to think that it was ok (and he was veryknowledgable about beardi's) but people are saying on here that it is not good for them. What about he sand is not good for them, what will it do?

Also from what I have learned so far beardies are ok to not hav a heat source at night as long as the temp doesn't drop below 65 is that correct? My tank stays about 70 at night. I am new at this so any tips are appreciated!

It has a high risk for impaction, which could kill the animal. All substrate has a chance for impaction but sand is much more dangerous than other substrates.

It's a good idea to keep him on a better substrate than sand, because dragons eat a lot of their substrate with their food. My leopard gecko supposively died from impaction because I used Calci-Sand many years ago.

I keep my KSB on crushed walnut shells but don't feed him on them, because they are also high risk for impaction.
Good luck!

Its a heated debate.....


Most people seem to think that in the wild, beardies lay around all day on rabbit pellets, or cage carpet. That they dont live in sand, THEIR WHOLE LIFE!

But in captivity we like to reduce as many risks as possible. Most people will not use sand for fear of "impaction". The same time, there is a lot of people who use sand with no ill effects.

what are signs of impaction? Is it something that happens gradually or all of the sudden?

impaction means that the feces that normally will pass through its body will get clogged with sand.

Beardies can act lethargic when they are impacted. Lack of new feces is also a sign

Thanks so much, I will probably go ahead and switch to repti-carpet or soemthing just to be on the safe side. It has been bugging me anyway that sand keeps gettiing all in his water.

Im not sure exactly what they are, but the pellets that people use for rabbits, are used quite a bit for beardies. If it gets wet it basically just dissolves into powdery stuff.

i had dragons for years and kept them on the repti sand which is supposed to digestable. supposed to be all calcium or something.

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Originally Posted by cierahailee

I just bought my first dragon 3 days ago and I bought him the calcium sand. The guy at PetSmart seemed to think that it was ok (and he was veryknowledgable about beardi's) but people are saying on here that it is not good for them. What about he sand is not good for them, what will it do?

Also from what I have learned so far beardies are ok to not hav a heat source at night as long as the temp doesn't drop below 65 is that correct? My tank stays about 70 at night. I am new at this so any tips are appreciated!

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Trust me, hes not. Hes more than likely just trying to get you to buy something that costs more that will keep you coming back for more.

Impaction is a very slow process, calci sand/reptisand turns literally into cement when a beardie eats it, one missed cricket bite and lead to death on any particle substrate. It will also dye your beardie the color of the sand which is why some beardies at pet stores are red or blue. Keep it simple and either use paper towels or ceramic tiles

I used to use sand with my adult beardie. It worked fine because I fed insects outside the enclosure. I probably wouldn't use it for a baby or juvi though, or if your dragon likes to lick things :P