best substrate for beards

[Gagesmith]

We use bird seed, looks like sand and healthy for the beardie to digest, or paper towel or newspaper will keep compaction away !


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[A. gigas]

Impactions are a myth so long as the animal is well hydrated and you don't use calci-sand.

 

[Gagesmith]

Impactions are a myth so long as the animal is well hydrated and you don't use calci-sand.

That's why when I first started with reptiles and housed a pair of beardies on play sand , both got impaction, and later on died. Both got autposties ( think that's how it's spelt ) on their bodies and the only reason for their death was impaction


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[crayfishguy]

That's why when I first started with reptiles and housed a pair of beardies on play sand , both got impaction, and later on died. Both got autposties ( think that's how it's spelt ) on their bodies and the only reason for their death was impaction


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

they were most likely not properly hydrated, or very small.

 

[Gagesmith]

they were most likely not properly hydrated, or very small.

Nope. Misted every other day, made sure they drank. They were each 16" .


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[FAT daddy]

autopsies*
spelled*
It's such a bummer when a pet dies but I friend whose Australian tree frog died because supposedly it ate a cricket that was too big for it. I wouldn't say impaction is a myth.
http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html
and to answer your question I would use newspaper.

 

[Gagesmith]

autopsies*
spelled*
It's such a bummer when a pet dies but I friend whose Australian tree frog died because supposedly it ate a cricket that was too big for it. I wouldn't say impaction is a myth.
http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html
and to answer your question I would use newspaper.

Like I said wasn't sure how it is spelt, thanks for that tho .


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[FAT daddy]

http://www.anapsid.org/substrates2.html

I think that a substrate is ideal if it easy to clean, unfortunately aesthetically pleasing substrate is usually inversely proportional to ease of cleaning.

 

[crayfishguy]

^ i completely disagree. The bio active soil i have in my uromastyx in is very nice looking, and i dont ever need to clean up after him, as his feces are gone in about 24hrs.


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Just my opinion but in the end it really comes down to personal choice. Both sides have their pros and cons and both sides have been used successfully for many individuals.

I myself have always been one who tries to make natural, display type setups. I guess I get inspired by mother earth and the animals' native habitat. I'm a true believer that if an animal wants to dig, I'll give it something to dig into. Yeah, substrate can be a P.I.T.A. but it has it's pay off's. You can keep your animal in a bubble but I figure we're all ready doing that by shoving them in a small box. So why not add some element of stimulation? Isn't it our job to make them as comfortable as possible? Don't we want them to act and behave naturally? This is were I become the risk taker... I have numerous setups from rainforests to deserts that have substrate. Most of my animals have been thriving and breeding successfully for years now. I'm a big fan of research and my goal is to make it appear as if I removed a small portion from the earth and placed it into a box.

Then there's the other side of the coin. If you're keeping a lot of animals (in my case crested gecko juveniles) having simple setups such as sterilite containers, rubbermaid tubs, rack systems, etc....isn't the bad way to go at all. For me this isn't a display and I want to keep it simple. I want something that has easy access, cleanability, and is organized. There are plenty out there who do just the same. I also keep quite a few turtles. I'm a firm believer in bare bottom tanks for turtles (depending on the species of course). It just makes everything easier, trust me. I give mine plenty of other stimulation such as driftwood and stonework to crawl and explore around. There are also herp keepers who want to keep risk down to an absolute minimum and chose to go the non-substrate route. But keep in mind that can remove stimulation for some species. Then sadly, there are people who want a pet but don't want to take care of it so they like to keep it simple to minimize work. It stinks because sometimes a few people can ruin it for us all. Oh....and we can't forget the people who just have plain bad luck!

By the way, I have a pair of leopard geckos that live on a 50/50 ratio of organic soil/play sand. So perhaps I'm a bad person to some but did I mention that they'll be in my care for 20 years in April?