Substrate Question (Whats your opinion?)

I've had my Norbert now for just a little over two years. When he was just a wee little dragon I kept him on cage carpet. When he upgraded to a bigger cage, he upgraded to sand as a substrate. He's been on sand now for almost a year and a half. My question is what kind of substrate do you beardie owners use? I'm thinking about switching substrates because sand is rather expensive $15 for a 10 pound bag, and I need 2 bags. Sand is also real dusty and its a pain to get it all out of his cage. So any recommendations would be lovely. Thanks!

I "tiled" the floor of my cage with slate rock. I then sealed it. So now it's easy to clean up and doesn't require any changing.

This doesn't answer your question but in regards to cleaning an enclosure I use a vaccuum to get the remnant dust and debris out.

That's an interesting idea Serpent. Any chance you can post a pic?

I don't have any of mine currently, but here is something similar:

(picture from google)

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...5.jpg~original

I had my beardie on sand his whole life. Had him for 5 years and he just passed away in February from impaction. I wish I could rewind time and put him on carpet it's cheaper just more work and it doesn't look as nice as sand.

That's a real cool looking cage. I kinda like it not gonna lie. So its either that idea, or put him on newspaper.

Another question for you Serpent. What did you use to seal it, and how long did you wait before putting your dragon back in after sealing?

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Originally Posted by Montypython696

Another question for you Serpent. What did you use to seal it, and how long did you wait before putting your dragon back in after sealing?

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Here's what I did:

1. Purchased and had cut to size slate rock at a local gardening center.

2. Cleaned/disinfected the slate with dish soap then F10.

3. I assembled the cage (an AP T25 72" x 30" x 18" (L x W x H)) but left the glass doors and top of the cage off for better access.

4. I placed the slate into the cage and grouted it.

5. As per the instructions I let the grout cure for 48 hours.

6. I then used 2 coats of this stone/tile sealer: http://www2.dupont.com/Stone_Tech_Pr...of_sealer.html (link includes instructions for application and safety information)

7. I let the cage air out without the doors or cage top on for 2 weeks.

8. I finished assembling the cage (put the cage top/lights in) and started to get my temperatures set up.

All in all it took about 3.5 weeks to complete. In the near future I'm going to be making a collection update thread so I'll try to remember to get some good pictures of the cage then.

I kept and bred Bearded Dragons on Desert Blend (Crushed english walnut shells) for years and years and years (9 to be exact). Never had any issues at all. Has a SMALL dust problem, but not that bad IMO and for sure not as bad as sand! It's not too expensive when you buy the largest possible bags locally, or buy in bulk ad pay lower rates on shipping through places like petco.com

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

I kept and bred Bearded Dragons on Desert Blend (Crushed english walnut shells) for years and years and years (9 to be exact). Never had any issues at all. Has a SMALL dust problem, but not that bad IMO and for sure not as bad as sand! It's not too expensive when you buy the largest possible bags locally, or buy in bulk ad pay lower rates on shipping through places like petco.com

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Every bearded dragon care sheet I've ever read says to never use crushed walnuts for substrate...

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Every bearded dragon care sheet I've ever read says to never use crushed walnuts for substrate...

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Used it without issue for a very very long time with healthy dragons and good clutches year after year. :)


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I have about 2/3 of my enclosure covered in excavator burrowing clay from zoo med, you wet it then apply it to the cage and can form it to a certain degree, and hardens into a nice terrain, I keep the food and water on the other side where I just have a piece of cage carpet. Never had any ingestion issues with it and it's been a couple years. depeding on how big your tank or whatever is it can take a lot I think I put 3 10lb bags in 40gal breeder tank.

Kitchen towels... :)

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/29/ybuhubev.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/29/ny2ejame.jpg

X2 for the tiling. Makes clean up so much easier!!! Yes I know I need to vacuum. :)

I wanted something low maintenance and effective. I went to Lowes and bought some indoor/outdoor carpet and cut it to fit the cage bottom. It gets dirty, I pull the old one out, put the new one in and then hose off the dirty one for the next cleaning.

I put tile in my bear dies viv. I adopted him from a fellow military member over here in Germany, and he came with sand originally. :(

He loves his tile now, and the new reptisun 10 bulb instead of the generic uvb he had.

Tile is the way to go!
I went to a local tile/carpet store and asked for their left over samples. I was able to find three that fit my custom build quite nicely. SO easy to wipe up and keep clean. I hate the messiness of sand. Once you go the tile route, you won't go back. No risk of impaction due to sand, and it keeps your baby's nails trimmed down! Plus there is not a need to replace it when it gets dirty. Give it a try!