Bioactive Substrates

[EmbraceCalamity]

Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing

I have no idea.

How many inches is one side?

~Maggot

[beardeds4life]

Regarding the topic of keeping bearded dragons on bioactive substrate I was talking to somebody on another forum that kept his dragons in one. He used a sand soil mix. He also had basking spots of about 130 degrees. His animals seemed very healthy so it must be working.

[BarelyBreathing]

Originally Posted by EmbraceCalamity

How many inches is one side?

~Maggot

13". That's weird. Who makes something that is 13"? Why not 12"?

[SpOoKy]

Both of my beardies got switched to 50/50 sand dirt substrate from the advice of a highly knowledgable keeper on another forum. Both of them have never been happier/healthier and I will frequently find them roaming around finding bugs and digging throughout their enclosure. I did find a little bit of a humidity rise the first couple of days as the dirt was a little moist but it sorted itself out quickly. Now my enclosures both have really dry/dusty substarte on the hot side and a little more moist on the cool side. I will sometimes find my female a little burried on the cool side which makes me think she may be using the moister soil as a hydrating meathod.

I will never go back to paper towel/tile/carpet/....
at least for my beardies.

[Terranaut]

Originally Posted by SpOoKy

Both of my beardies got switched to 50/50 sand dirt substrate from the advice of a highly knowledgable keeper on another forum. Both of them have never been happier/healthier and I will frequently find them roaming around finding bugs and digging throughout their enclosure. I did find a little bit of a humidity rise the first couple of days as the dirt was a little moist but it sorted itself out quickly. Now my enclosures both have really dry/dusty substarte on the hot side and a little more moist on the cool side. I will sometimes find my female a little burried on the cool side which makes me think she may be using the moister soil as a hydrating meathod.

I will never go back to paper towel/tile/carpet/....
at least for my beardies.

Did it reduce the or help with the smell of their poop? I clean it as soon as possible but if I was at work alk day and it has baked under the lamps it can be rancid and stink up my foyer next to the snake room. Gonna try this very soon.

[SpOoKy]

I do not get a poo smell from my beardies at all. Only time it ever happened was once my male pooped on the basking branch right under the light there was a mild smell. I also keep very high surface basking temps so it dried up very quickly.

[BarelyBreathing]

Thanks for posting, Spooky!

[beardeds4life]

They have been known to absorb moisture through their vent. That is what they do while in brumation and part of the reason baths help so much. It is pretty limited though. I might have to try that. Mine smells absolutely horrible. At times it makes me gag.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

They have been known to absorb moisture through their vent. That is what they do while in brumation and part of the reason baths help so much. It is pretty limited though. I might have to try that. Mine smells absolutely horrible. At times it makes me gag.

May I please ask your source for this??

[SpOoKy]

I never bath my beardies. They get all of their moisture from the veggies and once in a while they will drink from a squirt bottle.

[Little Wise Owl]

Thanks for posting this thread. I've been wanting to move my beardies onto a bioactive terrain but didn't know how to approach it due to their low humidity needs.

[Terranaut]

Its been a great thread. Gonna post my buildup to this in this thread. This weekend for sure. King snake first then beardies. I also have a standings day gecko who I think this will be perfect for.
Thanks for all the input. More pics if you have them.

[EmbraceCalamity]

I put soil from the woods into my leo's enclosure mixed with a little sand, but it doesn't seem to have done much of anything. It just got really dry with hard chunks in it. But that works just fine for leos, so I'm not complaining. They're neat reptiles anyway.

~Maggot

[BarelyBreathing]

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

They have been known to absorb moisture through their vent. That is what they do while in brumation and part of the reason baths help so much. It is pretty limited though. I might have to try that. Mine smells absolutely horrible. At times it makes me gag.

Originally Posted by infernalis

May I please ask your source for this??

Same. I always thought that this was a myth.

Originally Posted by Terranaut

Its been a great thread. Gonna post my buildup to this in this thread. This weekend for sure. King snake first then beardies. I also have a standings day gecko who I think this will be perfect for.
Thanks for all the input. More pics if you have them.

I can't wait to see them. I personally think that all tropical or semi-tropical geckos should be kept in this type of environment. There really isn't a better way to keep up humidity than live plants.

[beardeds4life]

Originally Posted by infernalis

May I please ask your source for this??

Sure it wont be for a few hours though till I get the time to dig it up.