crushed walnut substrate for Bearded Dragon?

[Bruce and Maureen Tyrrell]

I am looking at setting up an appropriate home for a bearded dragon. I
will be starting with a baby of 6-7 inches long. The pet store employee
(an avid reptile breeder and keeper) is advising me to use a substrate
made of crushed walnut shells instead of calci-sand or anything else for
that matter. He states the substance is cheaper, harmless to the dragon
and VERY odor absorbent.

Any one have any experience with this type of substrate or any other
suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Bruce

[Bonnie Keller]

> The pet store employee
>(an avid reptile breeder and keeper) is advising me to use a substrate
>made of crushed walnut shells instead of calci-sand or anything else for
>that matter. He states the substance is cheaper, harmless to the dragon
>and VERY odor absorbent.
>
>Any one have any experience with this type of substrate or any other
>suggestions?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Bruce
>

I very STRONGLY disagree. Crushed walnut shell has been the cause of many, many
impactions in bearded dragons. I suggest the use of CareFresh, a paper pulp
product that works great for most reptiles. For an article about substrates
and their pros/cons, see my website.
Bonnie Keller
VA Reptile Rescue
804-272-5324
http://www.vareptilerescue.org

[Snakela...@webtv.net]

I also disagree with the pet store's recommendation of walnut shell
substrate. I use & recommend paper towels for all my baby lizards. As
adults I use & recommend either newspaper or calci-sand. I have seen
many impactions in lizards secondary to substrate ingestion that have
resulted in the lizard's death. It's just not worth the risk to my
lizards to use these substrates. snake lady

"Medicine to produce health has to examine disease" Plutarch
http://community.webtv.net/SnakeladysFarm/SnakeLadysReptile0

[Adam]

I use walnut shells for my plated lizard, and he's never had a problem. He
kicks a lot of it into his food, but it always passes through him just fine.
I've noticed, though, that there are basically three choises for litter:

1. Ugly, safe and economical (i.e. carpet, paper etc.)
2. Atractive, risky and economical (Walnut shells, sand, bark and other
naturalistic substrates)
3. Attractive, safe, and expensive (Calci-sand, specialty litters.)

This means that if you keep a lizard the way you keep a cat or dog, choice
one is fine. For those who keep lizards as part of a larger display or
environment, similar to the way people keep fish or the way zoos keep
animals, choice 2 is best. If your a rich hobbyist who wants to best of
both worlds, go for three. The reason I use walnut shell is because I find
it to be the safest of the natural looking products, and I trust it at least
as much as most paper litters or carpets. I've heard of lizards getting
impacted on cage-carpet strands, paper or just about anything else, and I've
also met experienced breeders who have had no problem with standard sand or
other products frequently refered to as "dangerous".

"Bonnie Keller" <varepti...@aol.comREMOVEME> wrote in message
news:20010820151055...@mb-fc.aol.com...