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Bedding!!!

Mile_High_Dragons

Mile_High_Dragons

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I would like to know what bedding/substrate works best for you when it comes to bearded dragons.

I have personally tried everything from sand, newspaper, shredded newspaper, shredded fluffy pine, and all kinds of stuff!

Also,

Is sand bad for your beardie? Does it shorten their life? Cause Impaction?

I wanna know what YOU think! :)

Mile_High_Dragons
 

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This is just my opinion on the matter based on my own experience but I feel what substrate you use and your success with is has a lot to do with your individual dragon and your level of keeping. I've used calcium sands, play sand, excavator clay, tile, shelf liner, newspaper, reptile carpet and many many more particle and non-particle substrates.

Any particle substrate has the risk of leading to impaction. Some pose a greater risk than others though. In my opinion it's not just the substrate that causes impaction (I'm sure there are exceptions) but a combination of particle substrates, the dragon's immune system, low temperatures, and other aspects of husbandry not being as great as they should be or being adjusted to suit the substrate you are using.

I've had success with tile, shelf liner, excavator clay, soil and a sand/soil combination. I like to keep all dragons under a year on something solid like shelf liner or tile but once they age I try to observe their behaviors and determine if they like the substrate they are on or not and adjust everything accordingly. In the past I had dragons with a strong instinct to dig so I gave them soil or sand mixed with soil and they were as happy as could be. I also raised the temperatures and fed outside of the enclosure to minimize risks of ingesting the substrate. I've also had dragons who didn't mind the tile or shelf liner and when I offered soil or the mixture they avoided it. I've also done a half tile and half soil enclosure for them which worked out well.

I didn't try particle substrates until my dragons were older and only when I had the time to maintain it properly. A lot of nasty stuff can build up in the soil and sand/soil mixture if not taken care of properly. Spot cleaning sometimes just isn't enough. I usually don't recommend people just getting into keeping to use particle substrates until they've spent a good amount of time observing their dragon and feel confident in their keeping ability.
 
No problem. Like I said in my post before, this is my experience and opinion. I'm sure others may have different opinions.
 
My very favorite substrate is non-adhesive shelf liner. I also put a couple pieces of slate tile in there just to keep the dragons' nails trimmed.

Sand was too messy and couldn't be fully cleaned, which was gross to me. Also, I didn't want to risk impaction at all.

Vinyl is good, but it doesn't have much grip at all to it, and my dragons slide around and can't get their nails into it to climb their ramps.

Non-adhesive shelf liner has been great! It's clean, and wipes clean with water, and it poses no danger of impaction.
 
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