Give me reasons why sand is good and not good? I know cali-sand is bad. but what about normal sand. That is there natural ground.

Agreed with OrcaManic. Also, sand doesn't help to file thier nails. Sometimes they have bits on them and it's very annoying when you handle them. I also don't see any reason why to have sand when it's a pain in the you know what to clean and is expensive (at least in San Diego) and annoying to keep. I use slate tiles and they work great. Easy to clean, easy to keep, and file the nails. Someone add on please. Don't know much about health.

Corey

Beardies don't exactly live on rolling dunes of loose sand in the wild. Even if they did, what they get in the wild isn't always what's best for them in captivity. But, for the most part, I've always heard they live on hard packed dirt, rocky, and grassy areas.

Anyways, beardies can still get impacted on playsand, though it isn't nearly as risky as calcium sand. Risks of impaction are higher in small dragons than in full-grown adults. Beardies use their tongue to smell their surroundings, and some beardies will lick everything, including their substrate. Beardies that lick their substrate should never be housed on any type of sand.

Sand is also very messy, difficult to spot clean thoroughly, harbors bacteria if not completely cleaned out once a week or so, etc.

That said, it can still be a decent substrate if the proper conditions are met. I just don't think it's worth the trouble. Tiles are simpler, cleaner, and safer. Also, slate tiles are every bit if not more comparable to their "natural" ground in the wild as loose sand.

I only have two reason

1 why would you take the risk of impaction
2 its not not even close to there natural habitat

Aflie

Ok. Where can you get tile or slate????

Lowe's or Home Depot.

is there any cerant brand or whatever?

Like Mandee, Lowes or Home Depot. One thing to add, personally, I like the 6'' x 6'', but the 12'' x 12'' works fine too. You can also get them cut to match the exact inner cage dimension.

Corey

Thanks everyone about ur ideas. what about reptile carpet?

Reptile carpet can be good provided you clean it properly, you normally get two peices in a pack so when your washing one you put the other one in the tank, the only thing with it is once your beardie poops you will have to take the hole thing out and clean it which depending on what you have in your setup can be a pain, were as with tile you can just take that one tile she pooped on and clean it and also if you dont have the option on washing it in your washing machine you will find it get smelly quite quickly.i didnt have the option to do this and i found i had to throw the carpet out after few months of use. i personally think reptile carpet is more suitable to something like leopard geckos( always poop in the same area so you can put tile in that area saving the carpet getting messy)

You could alwyas use mixture of the two, this saves getting the tiles to fit perfectly into the tank.

Hope this helps

alfie

You should use reptile carpet where he eats and the hot side should have sand

sorry i disagree with Dlyles2, by far the safest and the most natural to beardies is either tile or reptile carpet or a mixture of the two.

Alfie

I agree reptile carpet or tile is the best i've known far to many people who have put their new baby beardies on sand only to have them die a few months later, b/c they didn't realize how much sand he was eating everytime he ate a cricket. My Adult beardies like the sand, but i never put babies on it, its far to risky.

Another thing with reptile carpet is that when you cut it, the sides are kind of rough and are a pain. Also the beardies claws can get stuck in the loose strings (experienced this) and really is not the most canvenyent. And, as everyone else has stated, IT'S A PAIN TO CLEAN!

Rather than duplicate the whole answer and photo, please see this link that is also posted this week about substrates
http://www.reptilerooms.com/forumtopic-61747.html and the photos of set ups on the second page. Good reptile carpet is not an issue with thier nails or hard to clean, i have 16 dragons and use an aread of it in all their enclosures.