Don't forget reptile carpet!!



Jean

_____

From: pogona@yahoogroups.com [mailto:pogona@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
emeraldcoast
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 5:38 PM
To: pogona@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [pogona] substrate








"So is using clean play sand only ok or not? Or is it really best to just
provide a sand box"?

Marnie:

I use play sand from Home Depot. I literally saw the walnut shells in
Miss Sydney's intestines when she was xrayed during a pregnancy.

I only use the sand on the cool side of the tank, where they
rest/sleep. I use shelf liner in the basking area.

In their underground cave, I laid a large piece of slate tile in the
back of the cave. The rest of the cave is the bottom of the tank itself.

I believe that the top choices of substrate are: (just my opinion)

1. Shelf Liner (Because it is washable)

2. (PLAIN) Paper Towels

3. Newspaper

4. Pre-Washed/Screened Play Sand








I AM PROUDLY OWNED BY: 2 Bearded Dragons: Darwin and Sydney, 2 yrs. old;
My Beloved Red-Nosed American Pit Bull Terrier named Romeo ( RIP: 12-30-2008
) , 9 yrs. old, (Poster child for the breed!); Bailey, (A Rescue from a
horrible humanoid), American Pit Bull Terrier, 1 year old; Miss Madison, a
Boxer mix, 11 yrs. old, (AKA Tigger); Miss Sable, a Beagle mix, 11 yrs.
old; My sweet tiels: Prince Caesar and Prince Kaiser, Rulers of the Royal
Realm (and everything in it), 34 mths. old (as of July 2009), and Sophia,
the brown and white albino mouse, age unknown.
( 8 hearts for my 8 angels ).


"The quality of our lives is about treating each other well in every
situation. We are all the trustees of one another's happiness and well-being
in life" .



STOP BLAMING THE DOG. BLAME THE OWNER.
There is no valid reason to deprive animal lovers of their well behaved
pets.
PLEASE VOTE NO ON ALL BSL (BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATION).





--- On Fri, 7/3/09, Marnie Villines <drvillines@tx.
<mailto:drvillines%40tx.rr.com> rr.com> wrote:

From: Marnie Villines <drvillines@tx. <mailto:drvillines%40tx.rr.com>
rr.com>
Subject: RE: [pogona] substrate
To: pogona@yahoogroups. <mailto:pogona%40yahoogroups.com> com
Date: Friday, July 3, 2009, 8:36 AM

I also have questions about substrate. I understand what is being said
about certain sands being harmful so we want to avoid those... and I
understand about tile, carpet, newspaper, etc. being cleaner.

My tank came with ground walnut shells when I bought my first BD from
Craig's List... he is still young... 5-6 months old and I haven't changed it
yet. I do plan to thoroughly clean the tank soon and will choose a more
appropriate substrate.

The thing is that my lizards love to dig in the sand... I can't say they
don't eat it, I haven't seen them eat it... but they seem to enjoy having it
and I don't have issues keeping it clean. So is using clean play sand only
ok or not? Or is it really best to just provide a sand box? If so, can
some of you input what you used for a box, how big, etc.

Thanks!
Marnie

-----Original Message-----
From: pogona@yahoogroups. com [mailto:pogona@yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of
Stephanie Goulding
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 8:07 AM
To: scully@jogrant. com; Bearded Dragon Forum
Subject: Re: [pogona] substrate

Ok, so I've got a question about the extra calcium,
When I dust the crickets for my beardie (6mths), I have them in a shot
glass, then shake them out onto the food dish. I've occasionally seen him
lick at the powder, not attempting to eat any of the greens.

Should I take this as a sign of this being him seeking out extra calcium?
And ought I dust the salad in the morning? I'd always assumed that the
coating of vitamins/calcium (I alternate from day to day) was plenty.

Also, I'd like to put in a digging box for him and was curious about how
deep and large people have. And whether they leave it in most of the time,
or only occasionally. If he doesn't poop in it, how often would it need to
be cleaned? If he poops in it, ought I clean the whole thing, or just the
region that would be likely soiled?

Stephanie (& Castiel)

------- Original Message Follows -------
From: <scully@jogrant. com>
To: Bearded Dragon Forum
Subject: Re: [pogona] substrate
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:51:33 -0400

The danger with calcium sand is, it's specially made so that
the edges of each grain of sand will melt when it's ingested. The
purpose of this was so that the sand wouldn't scratch up the beardie's GI
tract as it passed through. What will happen, though, is that as each grain
melts a little, it will stick like glue to the grain beside it...and
very quickly enough pieces will stick together that you have a good-sized
rock lodged in your beardie's gut.

In a perfect world, the beardie wouldn't lick at the sand. But
realistically, few beardies in captivity receive enough calcium in their
diets,
so they instinctively search out extra sources. That big bed of
calcium sand is a temptation they can't resist...and it can be fatal to
them.

Playground sand is actually safer, if you must use sand, because the
beardie won't be tempted to lick at it. But most people won't use it,
except maybe in a digging box, because it's a pain to keep clean.

Shredded coconut bark, cypress mulch, shelf liner, utility carpet,
linoleum, ceramic floor tile, even newspaper are easier to maintain. (Plus,
calcium sand is hideously expensive when compared to other substrates!)
I use ceramic floor tile, left over from our remodeling project, for
my beardie palace at home, and shredded coconut in all the habitats at my
store.

Hope this helps!

Jo O'Brien

Rainforestre
http://www.rainfore st-pets.com
Phone: 321-631-8012

------------ --------- --------- ------

Pogona Mail Page on YahooGroups (check mail on-line, check out the chat
feature, access files and other info):
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/pogona

List Rules and FAQ can be found at:
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/pogona/ files/BD_ FAQ.txt

List Owner and Moderators can be reached at:
pogona-owner@ yahoogroups. com

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
pogona-unsubscribe@ yahoogroups. comYahoo! Groups Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]