# Best Substrate for baby Bearded Dragon?



## rex's_mummy (Jan 9, 2010)

Hi guys and girls - Guru's of the reptilian world!!

I am still in the research and devolopment stage of my bearded dragon want and am looking for as much informations as possible...

I have been reading all of the posts about feeding and possible health issues and the use of logs and stones and baking them etc tec and I think that I have my plants sorted (Thanks to Jabba)

I am looking for some information on substrates now.. I have seen many differning opinions on here and also google on the internet machine and was wondering what you folks had to say - I have read that sand is a resounding no for BD's so young... I have read newspaper, bark chipppings, reptile carpet...

What's your stane folks?...


----------



## Paul B (Apr 16, 2008)

Reptile carpet. or tiles rough side up.


----------



## evilchild (Jul 3, 2008)

rex's_mummy said:


> Hi guys and girls - Guru's of the reptilian world!!
> 
> I am still in the research and devolopment stage of my bearded dragon want and am looking for as much informations as possible...
> 
> ...


young bd i would use kitchen roll, cheap and easly cleaned. for an adult i would use tiles. i used stone tiles 30cmx30 cm. these looked good easy cleaned and help ware down there toe nails.

bark and calci sand are the worst types you can you imo, as they are know causes of impaction.


----------



## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

Newspaper/kitchen lino/slate tiles/carpet/repti-carpet are all completely safe. Tiles look the most natural and are easy to clean.

Beardies love to dig, so after a year or so you can change to playsand, its fine grain and non toxic and doesnt clump together, so minimum risk of impaction.

Id say never use wood chips or calci sand, the risk of impaction is too high and wood chips can cause damp, which leads to respiratory infections. Its a contentious topic though, and everyone has different ideas!


----------



## rex's_mummy (Jan 9, 2010)

Thanks folks...

That was pretty much the answer I thought that I would get ...
I had read that calci sand should never be used - seems to be the in thing in the states that's what was leading to so much confusion... 

Reptile carpet and then sand in a year seems to be the standard response!


----------



## JackieL (May 19, 2009)

evilchild said:


> young bd i would use kitchen roll, cheap and easly cleaned. for an adult i would use tiles. i used stone tiles 30cmx30 cm. these looked good easy cleaned and help ware down there toe nails.
> 
> bark and calci sand are the worst types you can you imo, as they are know causes of impaction.


This :no1:.


----------



## Geckogirl_88 (Apr 24, 2009)

id use kitchen roll also. SOOOOO easy to replace for cleaning 
xx


----------



## Nicquita (Mar 14, 2009)

i know it's safe and everything, but i wouldn't use reptile carpet for a beardie. mainly as i've seen ours scratching things, and reptile carpet doesn't take much in the way of claws...

sandstone tiles look great, and are wipe clean. also, beardies can really reek, and tiles don't absorb the smell...


----------



## rex's_mummy (Jan 9, 2010)

Nicquita said:


> i know it's safe and everything, but i wouldn't use reptile carpet for a beardie. mainly as i've seen ours scratching things, and reptile carpet doesn't take much in the way of claws...
> 
> sandstone tiles look great, and are wipe clean. also, beardies can really reek, and tiles don't absorb the smell...



Will this be okay for his as a baby?


----------



## Nicquita (Mar 14, 2009)

i don't think solid substrates can hurt them. i can't say much on babies, as ours have always been kept on sand. sadly, beardies were our first lizards and we were total noobs. but i honestly can't see why tiles would be a problem. there's not even the risk of caught claws like there is with reptile carpet


----------



## rex's_mummy (Jan 9, 2010)

Thanks Nicquita...

:O)


----------



## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

i changed mine to kitchen roll,from sand.
i loved the look of it,but bert started to lick it a little,
so i removed it megga quick.
he wasn't that bothered just ran to the other side of the viv and ripped
into some lettuce for the locus,and ate a run away cricket.


----------



## Chrisuk33 (Oct 10, 2010)

evilchild said:


> young bd i would use kitchen roll, cheap and easly cleaned. for an adult i would use tiles. i used stone tiles 30cmx30 cm. these looked good easy cleaned and help ware down there toe nails.
> 
> bark and calci sand are the worst types you can you imo, as they are know causes of impaction.


 the thing with kitchen towels and the problem im having is when feding crickets the little buggers can hide under it.

i tryed lyno but as it comes in rolls its curled up at ends making the curled up ends avlable for the crickets to go under it.

the thing about sand calsi sand and that crushed other stuff is i hear a devided opinion on it. some say they never had a problem, some say it will cause impaction, so in the end what do ya do

if you use reptile carpet it will start to stink in a very short period when the reptiles pee and poop sink in to it.

so what i need is something super flat, and the crickets cant get under and it cant harm the reptile


----------



## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

you can buy adhesive tiles,that's what i had in a little viv
easy to clean,and not crickets hiding.


----------



## Miss Lizee (Feb 25, 2011)

After a week of having nightmares about sand I have just put some sealed stone tiles in with our 3 month old. Looks really pretty, no risk of impacting, keeping cool side a little cooler (was previously getting a little warm) and little j has been running up and down them without slipping. 

We have temporarily had some vinyl tiles at one end whilst the stone is cut to size. He slips around on that - not too grippy, even though it was the roughest one I could find


----------



## Dean Cheetham (Jun 1, 2009)

For a Baby beardie i would either use newpaper,kitchen roll,tiles untill they are about 7-8" in length then i would try them on sand to see how they get on, if they eat the sand whilst catching food then you could always take him/her out at feeding times. :2thumb:


----------



## darren81 (Aug 13, 2009)

Here we used kitchen towel as baby then moved her onto bran after trying a few.


----------



## Chrisuk33 (Oct 10, 2010)

lee young said:


> Newspaper/kitchen lino/slate tiles/carpet/repti-carpet are all completely safe. Tiles look the most natural and are easy to clean.
> 
> Beardies love to dig, so after a year or so you can change to playsand, its fine grain and non toxic and doesnt clump together, so minimum risk of impaction.
> 
> Id say never use wood chips or calci sand, the risk of impaction is too high and wood chips can cause damp, which leads to respiratory infections. Its a contentious topic though, and everyone has different ideas!


i dont think carpet is good because it will smell very bad in a very short time


----------

