# Sand, adhesive tiles or lino for bearded dragon



## Pushkabounce (Jul 2, 2012)

Hey, I just need some advice on what to use for my bearded dragon.

She is a rescue and is only 9 months old, eats well and has already laid her first infertile clutch of eggs (I think she is feeding up for a second lay!)

When I got her she was on Chipsi so I took her straight off and at the mo she is just on newspaper. I'm not having any trouble with newspaper but it doesn't look the best and she rips it up a lot.

I am wondering what would be best to use for her but have heard a lot of pro's and con's when it comes to didn't substrates etc and I still can't make up my mind..

Sand?????? Yes she is still young but she is mature and eats well (doesn't miss her targets very often). She has play sand for digging in to lay her eggs and I just wonder if sand is a good idea all over? Messy? Smelly? Gets caught in runners? Not good because moisture from poop gets soaked up and then can cause bad bacteria growth? Not good for bearded dragon muscles?

Self adhesive vinyl tiles????? Easy to apply, cheap, easy to wipe clean.. Does dirt get trapped down the gaps? Is the adhesive dangerous is heated (toxic fumes?) Annoying to remove if want a change?

Lino (vinyl flooring)?????? Does it curl in the corners? Would crickets hide under it? Slippery for bearded dragon to walk on?

What are your opinions?

Thanks


----------



## Pushkabounce (Jul 2, 2012)

No one?


----------



## Gazfather (Nov 24, 2010)

I use AstroTurf for all of mine, swear by it.


----------



## MartinMc (May 19, 2011)

I used play sand for a couple of years when I got mine. He was around the same age. Recently moved him on to lino but will be putting him back on to sand as he seemed much happier before.


----------



## LittlestarRed (Sep 8, 2011)

I keep mine on sand. Not had any problems with it.


----------



## Lacerta. (Jul 27, 2011)

I am a sand fan. 
Messy: kinda if your beardie runs in it water and splashed it the sand will stick to anything wet but if it remain will bush of anything.
Smelly: Only if you don't keep on top of cleaning, I find a sieve is the best way to get out waste and then when the smell begins to linger you know you need to change it. Nice and simple.
Runner: Yep and my god does it make a hirrid sound lol.

Lino/Tiles
I use either one of these under the sand to ensure nothing soaks into wood.
clean: yes and you can disinfect regular which is a plus. 
smelly: Not if your quick but I find poo smells more on lino I guess as it had nothing to soak into.
Slippy: Yep and watching my lot slide around on my wooden floors I don't thinks its fair to put then on it but that’s just me.

For me sand is more aesthetically pleasing and so long as it’s not too loose and includes area of rock/wood piles I tank it most natural and stimulating for animal.

Couple of others

Astroturf: easily cleaned. Semi disposal. grippy. Aesthetically pleasing but not very desert. No digging space. beardie might try and eat.

Carpet: grippy. easyish to clean. Semi disposable. Comes in lots fo colours. Claws might get stuck. No digging. Crickets tend to get under it.

You could also divide the tank and use more than one substrate.


----------



## CHATAfrog (Feb 27, 2012)

sand - they don't have lino in their natural environment and if we have them living in little glass boxes the least we can do is make it a little bit like it would be in the wild


----------



## MCEE (Aug 8, 2011)

Nothing wrong with sand. It does get everywhere though, including in the glass runners. Tiles and lino are fine if you do not want your enclosure to be natural looking but I think BDs like to have a little scrape and dig occasionally and would probably feel happier on loose substrate.

Have you thought of clay based substrate like Lucky Reptile Desert Bedding?


----------



## Chris18 (Mar 22, 2009)

CHATAfrog said:


> sand - they don't have lino in their natural environment and if we have them living in little glass boxes the least we can do is make it a little bit like it would be in the wild


A valid argument but they don't have sand in their natural habitat either. Most of it is dried, baked earth not sandy. Lino replicates hardened earth so is actually more natural for them.
Animals who live on sand tend up have adapted feet to spread their weight so they don't sink and waste energy, beardeds don't have this.


----------



## sam n mushu (Jun 4, 2012)

can i ask you why you took her off the chipsi, i either use extra large chipsi or aspen, never had any problems at all.


----------



## nicnet (Apr 3, 2011)

Chris18 said:


> A valid argument but they don't have sand in their natural habitat either. Most of it is dried, baked earth not sandy. Lino replicates hardened earth so is actually more natural for them.
> Animals who live on sand tend up have adapted feet to spread their weight so they don't sink and waste energy, beardeds don't have this.



Agreed, (even though I keep mine on sand at the moment)

I once read somewhere, I think it was on the Melbourne or Brisbane zoo sites, that a good number of dragons studied in the wild were semi Impacted. Another interesting thing that was on there was that studies of dead dragons found that their diet consisted of more than 80% live food and they thought htey only ate greens for moisture. I'll try find that link again as I lost it but wanted to keep it to print.


What I'm starting to look into is a natural substrate of topsoil mix of some fashion. I can't decide whether it should be hardpacked or whether to do it so I can put in a cleanup crew in there. I'm looking into possibles for cleanup crew still. I tend to think that a topsoil would be less of an impaction risk than sand as it doesn't tend to clump up as much when its damp and goes more muddy than clumpy. I'll be testing different things (not with my dragons ofc) at some point to see about that clumping when damp.

Although dragons are from hot arid area's, they are not strictly speaking desert reptiles. More scrubland and sparse tree area's.

Interesting thing I did was to go on google maps and 'drive' along a road that was smack in the middle of the area they are from. Not one grain of desert sand to be seen but looooots of bushes and trees and dead branches around. Also a lot of rocky structures. Go try it. makes you think twice about a lot of substrate choices.


----------

