Substrate

I'm done with using paper towels. It's so messy and I hate that the fact I gotta clean it every single day and spray the cage with disinfectant.

What substrate can I use besides paper towels and newspaper?? I want to use sand, but still looking for more options. I feed my Beardie insects from tongs and she eats her greens off of a plate, so nothing is ever on the substrate.

I currently use newspaper for my beardie. I realize you said you didn’t want to use it and would prefer sand. My biggest problem with the sand was the smell and the dust in my apartment. What would happen is that the dry sand would suck the moisture out of the urates and stool, so even though the sand didn’t actually have any urates or stool it would still smell.

When it came time to do a full clean it was a nightmare. I used a shop vac a few times and the static electricity that would build up would cause the sand to 'volcano' out of the shop vac when I opened it to dump the sand into a garbage bag. If you like physics it was kind of neat; if you like a clean floor...not so much.

I don't know if my beardie is a particularly messy eater or what, but when I was keeping him on sand, I always found little bits of leafy greens all over the place.

I switched from sand to tile and have never looked back. They are fairly cheap at Hope Depot or Lowes. I bought some of the larger ones and overlap them. Gives her a little difference in terrain. Plus I got some that are darker colored, a dark grey... they hold the heat GREAT and are so easy to clean. Spray them down, wipe them off, good to go.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

I don't know if my beardie is a particularly messy eater or what, but when I was keeping him on sand, I always found little bits of leafy greens all over the place.

I switched from sand to tile and have never looked back. They are fairly cheap at Hope Depot or Lowes. I bought some of the larger ones and overlap them. Gives her a little difference in terrain. Plus I got some that are darker colored, a dark grey... they hold the heat GREAT and are so easy to clean. Spray them down, wipe them off, good to go.

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Wow that seems pretty effective. I might as well try the tiles. Do they look like just normal tiles you put in the floor of a house or do they have a rocky look to them?

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

...I switched from sand to tile and have never looked back...

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Do you use tiles that have a coating on them or uncoated (and therefore maybe porous?). I assume they are some kind of stone tile as opposed to linoleum? I would also like to try the tiles, sounds like a great idea.

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Originally Posted by flynn

Do you use tiles that have a coating on them or uncoated (and therefore maybe porous?). I assume they are some kind of stone tile as opposed to linoleum? I would also like to try the tiles, sounds like a great idea.

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How about she just posts a pic of her tiles:D

You can use any kind of tiles that you want. You can even use linoleum or shelf liner if you want to. Just depends on what you want your cage to look like.

If you purchase something that's been treated, just make sure it doesn't have a strong smell, and also make sure that it isn't too slippery (for instance, self liners are fine, but get something with bumps or grips). Beardies get uncomfortable on slippery surfaces.

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

How about she just posts a pic of her tiles:D

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I'll take pics when I get home for you guys :)

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

You can use any kind of tiles that you want. You can even use linoleum or shelf liner if you want to. Just depends on what you want your cage to look like.

If you purchase something that's been treated, just make sure it doesn't have a strong smell, and also make sure that it isn't too slippery (for instance, self liners are fine, but get something with bumps or grips). Beardies get uncomfortable on slippery surfaces.

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I'm thinking about getting like a rock-like tile so that there's bumps and edges it can climb on so it doesn't get uncomfortable

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

I'm thinking about getting like a rock-like tile so that there's bumps and edges it can climb on so it doesn't get uncomfortable

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'Rock-like' tiles may also help with keeping those beardie nails filed down. Mine HATES when her nails have to be clipped lol.

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Originally Posted by flynn

'Rock-like' tiles may also help with keeping those beardie nails filed down. Mine HATES when her nails have to be clipped lol.

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LOL well hopefully with the tiles I'll never have to clip my girl's nails :rofl:

It does keep their nails down :) My tiles ARE pourous because they haven't been treated. They're rough and still have the nicks and grooves in them. Looking back now, I'm probably going to get some treated ones when I get a bigger cage for her, but they work for now. After she goes, I just spray down the area with Virusan and wipe it down well.

Personally, my fave part is the heat they hold. She doesn't even need a basking rock, so just spreads out right on the tile lol

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

It does keep their nails down :) My tiles ARE pourous because they haven't been treated. They're rough and still have the nicks and grooves in them. Looking back now, I'm probably going to get some treated ones when I get a bigger cage for her, but they work for now. After she goes, I just spray down the area with Virusan and wipe it down well.

Personally, my fave part is the heat they hold. She doesn't even need a basking rock, so just spreads out right on the tile lol

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LOL awesome, I'm really wanting some tiles now. :D

Here are a couple pics... they were taken with my cell, so they aren't the greatest. Please pardon the mess... I'm actually cleaning and feeding tonight :P

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...Dragoncage.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ragoncage2.jpg

As you can see, these are really large tiles. You can get smaller ones and just put more down. The one thing I did forget to mention: because these are untreated, they do tend to get her belly a little dirty when she lays on it. Nothing a good bath doesn't clean up, but still... one more reason why I think I'm going to go with a different set at some point.

i use shelf liner granted i have to clean it every day maybe 2x a day but all i know is im soo happy i dont use sand its so dusty and it smells after a couple days

desert blend by zilla is the best looks like sand but its actually ground english walnut shells wont cause impaction passes right through them just if you want something that looks natural plus has pleasing smell

The problem with sand or crushed walnut is they will eat it out of curiosity, not just if there is food in it.

And crushed walnut is 'said' by the producer to not cause impaction, but it still very well can because it will actually absorb liquids and expand in the stomach.