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I redid Drakes enclosure recently, adding a basking rock and this huge piece of driftwood I found. He is in a 55 gallon tank right now, soon to be a 4' x 2', as soon as we move out of our current house.
Here it is:
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0.0.1 Northern Blue Tongue Skink
0.1.0 Ocellated Skink
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
1.1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.2.0 Wood Frog
0.0.1 Red-eared Slider
" Human kind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." - Chief Seattle, 1855
"The Past is history, the Future is a mystery, but today is a gift. And that is why its called the Present."
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very nice, off topic Q: with your moving you are going o get another blue tongu, correct? do you think youll be able to get more herps?
My Herps 1.2.0 fire belly toads: Bombina Orientalis pair, one Bombina Bombina Coming: Jan. 30-31 2010 a pair of blue D. auratus poison dart frogs vote for Cricket at: http://www.reptilechannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=117170 post replies there
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| Nice tank, glad to hear you are upgrading it soon; it looks pretty small for Drake. I would ditch the sand. Impaction (whether calcium sand or not) is a HUGE risk with bearded dragons, plus it is harder to clean. Tile is so much better.
0.1 Eublepharis macularias
1.0.1 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.0.4 Terrapene carolina
0.0.1 Theloderma corticale
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again nice, roho- i as going to tell him about that but maxium is an experienced herp keeper so dont you think he is being careful? just a thought
My Herps 1.2.0 fire belly toads: Bombina Orientalis pair, one Bombina Bombina Coming: Jan. 30-31 2010 a pair of blue D. auratus poison dart frogs vote for Cricket at: http://www.reptilechannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=117170 post replies there
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herpsrule: I am going to get more herps. And I am trying to get a new bluey soon, but most likely I will get it when we move.
Roho: I do know the risk. I have put Drake on tile before, only to have him hate it. He had trouble walking and stayed in his hide most of the time until I changed. So now he is on play sand which he enjoys very much. I only feed him using his bowl, using his large rock (free of substrate), or he eats outside in his pen where he spends most warm, sunny days in.
And I find its much easier to clean, all I have to do is scoop out the stool and the surrounding area. Contrary to having to move the decor, lifting and maneuvering the tile, taking it outside, hosing it down, disinfecting it, drying it and putting it back in.
Thank you for the comments!
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0.0.1 Northern Blue Tongue Skink
0.1.0 Ocellated Skink
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
1.1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.2.0 Wood Frog
0.0.1 Red-eared Slider
" Human kind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." - Chief Seattle, 1855
"The Past is history, the Future is a mystery, but today is a gift. And that is why its called the Present."
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I would stick with tile, but, ultimately, it is your choice. You don't really know if your bearded dragon "hated" it. Reptiles don't exactly have emotions like mammals, just instincts. I think that he would eventually get used to it. In the wild, bearded dragons live in hard packed areas of sand (basically like rock, AKA tile!) and are not burrowers by nature. Bearded dragons are also very liable to impaction whether you are being "safe" with sand (which isn't really possible).
0.1 Eublepharis macularias
1.0.1 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.0.4 Terrapene carolina
0.0.1 Theloderma corticale
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i think reptiles in a way do have "emotions" by which i mean just like any other animal they can be afraid or discomforted by something in a way that makes them avoid that thing, they can be finicky and choose to only eat foods they like and to only allow people they know to touch them. My monitor knows who he knows, i seriously doubt he would hurt anyone but he knows what he wants and doesnt, it took him a long time to go from the flooring he had been on for almost a year to the flooring he is on now, easy to clean but a little smooth. he is cool with it now but walked funny for a month and would only hang out in half his cage. i prefer cage carpets over any other flooring for lizards but it is up to everyone to choose what works for them. i tried sand , for a very brief period of time with my monitor as a youngin and verrry quickly noticed it wasnt for us at all at all. as far as i know playsand it the safest if you are going to use sand and it sounds like drake is happy now and not eating it so thats good, basically what i wanted to say was ... your enclosure looks so cool, very natural and bright. 5 months ago we got a new cage and we are loving it, there is a vid in the vids section of my monitor running around in it, we decided to just give him his blankets and a few little carpets and not do a "real floor" because the only thing i would consider and did consider would be a system of attatchable carpets (like i used for his old cage) that could be pulled out and thrown in the washer when they got scaley and stuff but i decided it was easier just to clean it out bare and its going great! Like the pic!
See updates on Quest at: http://www.reptilechannel.com/blog/viewbio.aspx?apid=113305&entitycrt=1
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| uh... not so sure about that zero emotions part... and I think what he means by "hated" it, was the animal acted miserable... I think you are mixing up emotions with an actual condition... But, hey, I think if they were completely without opinion of their surroundings I wouldn't have seen someone reach into an enclosure to pet a large beardie and have the thing close it's eyes and lean into her hand.....
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Grant imapactions are not caused by sand or dirt or any other loose substrate. Just like when your mom would say not to swallow your gum cause it will bind you all up, its B.S. Impactions are caused by long term low level dehydration. Just like when a human is sick and dehydrated they get constipated and unable to go to the bathroom, its the same thing. Really just think about it , if loose substrates caused impactions then every beardie in Australia would be impacted right? But they are not. The reason being is they have access to a much wider temp. and humidity gradient in the wild then most people provide them in captivity. They can choose what temps and humiditys they want at what ever time to function at full capacity The problem starts with keepers housing their captives in an open/screen topped enclosure and then adds a high wattage heat bulb and deciding for the lizard what temps it can have access to and what the humidity levels are. All the humidity and heat escapes out the screen top and then you have a dehydrated lizard prone to imapaction. A properly heated and hydrated lizard can pass what ever particulate substrate it ingests its as simple as that. Maximum your setup looks well on its way and better then most but if i was you i would put a solid plywood or plexi top on that tank,add about another 6" or so of MOIST playsand (not too moist. you want it dry on top but moist at depth). And try to nail that beardies basking temp with an inferred temp gun to 125F-130F. If you do you will have the happiest healthiest beardie on your block! p.s. All this talk of reptiles having emotions is laughable. You people need to stop thinking like mammals and start thinking like reptiles since that is what your keeping.
Jsin. - 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.'
- Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
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| Beautiful enclosure! It really is looking great! And Grant I have kept my beardie on sand his whole life, and I know many people who have done the same (including many breeders, "famous" herpkeepers, etc.) and have never had any problems. I personally find tile annoying since their poop can leak in between the pieces making cleaning rough, and if the poop dries then you have to scrape it off, etc. It also has, like zero traction, making it very difficult for lizards to move (they seem to just run in place - lol.) REMEMBER: he didn't make this thread asking what your opinions about sand were, it was to show you his enclosure. I know him, and trust me, he knows what hes doing. Congrats on the great enclosure!
 You're unique...just like everybody else.
Check out my nature photography blog at: http://wp-nature-photography.blogspot.com/ 
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