Why is sand bad for dragons?

Kept all my beardies, juvies to adults, on sand. I used a feeding dish for wet items like veggies.

If you use sand, there is a good cause that your beardie could get impaction of the intestines, which is usually fatal. Adults handle sand better; babies and juvies will often try to taste it.

If the cage is around 70 at night, that's fine. As long as its warmer during the day.

Man made sand and natural sand are very different.


The man made stuff is cut. It's very sharp and can be harmful to the animal in the form of many small cuts.

I haven't read this thread but... we used sand and gave our adult dragons a loft to sit on while they were eating. You can see it here at our free instructions for building a cage. :D

Personally, I just like the look of the sand better than newspaper.

http://www.timelessspirit.com/enclosure.html

One note that I did when using sand, as do most breeders.

I put about 2" of sand in the tank and misted it down really well, let it sit for a few days to dry up and harden. They will loosen some as they run around, but never had any issues.

This has been a debate for years and years. I know breeders that have used sand for 10+ years and havent lost any dragons.

Its a personal choice. I have heard of snakes eating paper towels because the rodent juice was on it. So not all subs are safe.

Calcisand and it's replicants blow. Bigtime.

Playsand has been used by many for years and years, as was mentioned, with no ill effects.

Senior Patissimus must never been to the great rabbit pellet plains of the Australian Outback nor the great a secret forest of Repticarpet that is rarely seen and never photographed rumoured to be hidden deep within the heart of that vast continent.

AHahaHAHAHAHAHahAHAHAHAHAHaAHAHAHahaHAHah

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Calcisand and it's replicants blow. Bigtime.

Playsand has been used by many for years and years, as was mentioned, with no ill effects.

Senior Patissimus must never been to the great rabbit pellet plains of the Australian Outback nor the great a secret forest of Repticarpet that is rarely seen and never photographed rumoured to be hidden deep within the heart of that vast continent.

AHahaHAHAHAHAHahAHAHAHAHAHaAHAHAHahaHAHah

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Ive only heard about them. One day I will venture to that great plain'o pellets

Pat, I wouldnt use bunny pellets. More is to go wrong should they somehow down one and it expands. Safer than sand though.

Particle substrates.... what can we do about them? It is so much easier to miss poop and such with it, I comb through my savs cage every few days and find buried poop all the time. With paper towels it would be easy to spot any poop because paper towel changes colors around it. PlaySand isnt bad for beardies, its how responsible the owner who changes and feeds on is.

I would use slate tile as it will help to keep their claws worn down. It looks nice and is easy to clean.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

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.

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I've seen people use what's called 'Yesterday's News' or 'Feline Pine' that's just crushed paper. When it gets wet it expands and turns into dust. Makes cleanup easy and eliminates alot of smell. I never used it with Beardies, though. I'm also one of those who uses walnut shell and feeds them seperately.