another substrate thread

[rigby]

Right now I have my beardie on sand in a 20 gal. long. I have seen sand around his mouth when I hold him and it is making me nervous enough that im changing it. But I have all this sand that I spent money on and I dont want to waste it so I want to keep him on it for about 3 more months until I switch him to his permant home:

A) eyespy said that impaction killed by inches so do you think the 3 months my beardie was on sand could shorten his life by a little even though it didnt directly kill him in the long run?

B) what are some other substrate choices other than sand, paper towels, and newspaper. Right now im think bran but is that digestable by beardies?

Thanks,
rigby

[burmer]

You could use a calcium sand. Even if your dragon takes some in it won't harm or impact him.

[eyespy]

burmer, it's easy to believe the product claims on calcium sands but many studies and vets' experience show that calcium sands cause far more frequent and severe impactions than any other type of sand. Here's the study folks often call the watershed study on calcium sand:

http://www.pythons.com/calcium.html

It's great for mixing in potting soil for growing your own collards, mustards, dandelions, prickly pears, etc. though!

Rigby, the beardie I showed in the picture who was on sand for 5 weeks still has some digestive problems and is slow to thrive but in my experience that doesn't affect the expected lifespan if the problem is resolved when the dragon is still young. It's after they are adult sized and their body tissues don't regenerate as quickly that longterm damage is more likely to occur.

Yes, wheat or oat bran are digestible, most folks prefer wheat for its softer texture but either appears to be safe.

[Dragon_Slave]

Rigby: If you are noticing sand near his mouth then you need to change his substrate right away! If you wait and he IS impacted... he could become even more impacted the longer he stays on sand. Please, do your beardie a favor and switch to something that isn't granular like sand... maybe try the bran or oats that were discussed earlier. If you don't want to use that... I suggest reptile carpeting which is exactly like indoor/outdoor carpeting. You can get some for cheap at Lowes or Home Improvement stores, just tell them what color and size you need and they'll cut a peice for ya. Hope this helps. :) Good luck with your little beardie. Aren't they just the cutest things?

Eyespy, what about the ''dust'' in the bran? Could that ever cause respiratory infections of any kind? I'm sticking with reptile carpeting but I'd like to know this for my own knowledge. Thanks. :)

P.S.- I 100% agree with Eyespy, calcium sand(calci-sand) is a very life threatening substrate to use with any reptile.

[eyespy]

We haven't seen any cases of RI reported from bran, beardies handle dusty substrates fairly well, it tends to be humidity that bothers them more.

The only dusty substrate I've seen problems with is peat moss, and that causes aspergillosis from a fungus that commonly grows on the moss rather than being a "just dust" problem.

[Dragon_Slave]

Thanks a lot Eyespy. :)

[drewlowe]

ok question, wheat bran how often does it need to be changed? how well does it clump when they go to the bathroom, or do you need to clean the whole area where they go to the bathroom.

Is there any benifits/problems from them eating the bran?

It's time for me to clean my tank and i'm trying to find a replacement for the playsand i'm currently using.

[rigby]

don't worry dragonslave, i changed the substate today. I just lost my snake (seriously, I lost him.) and I dont want this bearded dragon to die. I changed it to papertowels for now.

About bran dust, as eyespy already mentioned, that shouldnt really be a problem. These are desert creatures built for sandstorms.

[Dragon_Slave]

Good thing Rigby and good luck with your little one. :D

[drewlowe]

rigby i'm not worried about the dust. its with the actual digestion of the bran and the way it cleans up. One question i forgot. How about water absorbtion and mold?

Thanks eyespy for any info you can give.

[eyespy]

Whether or not a substrate clumps you should ALWAYS remove a good healthy divot around wastes to remove the urea and bacteria they pass. I've never used bran personally because there are no local feed stores and it's very expensive to buy "people quality" bran which is sold loose or in small bags.

I always do a total substrate cage scrubout monthly, including replacing the bed a beast I use, to cut down on the risk of bacteria colonies growing. B-a-b is more acidic and so is slightly less prone to bacterial growth but ANY substrate can promote it. Sand doesn't by its nature have enough organic material to allow for bacteria growth, but absorbs urea and grows bacterial colonies more quickly than cellulose-based substrates like paper or bed a beast because it's not at all acidic. Even playsand should be changed out at least every couple of months to reduce risk of parasite eggs or bacteria thriving on the proteins passed in your dragon's urea.