ok so ive had a water dragon before...a few years back...i used the bark for the substrate and never had a single problem with it. well I just recently got a new one and after reading several things and seeing various WD enclosures decided to buy the soil instead...everyone else seemed to think it was better for them..well not even 2 weeks later my poor girls got some of the soil in her eye and wont open it..i have to wash out her eye with a qtip a couple times a day...so I switched back to bark. why the **** is the soil supposed to be better for them..besides keeping up the humidity?

Bark is very bad because it molds easily with all of the humidity that a water dragon needs. Depending on the size of the chips you have, they can also be swallowed and cause impaction. Personally, I think the large ones look very painful for the animal to have to crawl on. I'm aways afraid they will cut his belly or give him splinters. I don't know if that's ever happened, but I can't help thinking that would be painful.

Generally when you use soil as a substrate, you pack it tightly - just like the ground outside. A lot of people like this because with the high humidity, they can maintain live plants inside the enclosure. It kind of sounds like yours was just one of those unfortunate cases where anything that can go wrong will. I'm sorry that she got hurt.

Personally, I didn't like soil either. Kono would drag the soil into the water and I would have to change it twice as often. I couldn't maintain the plants I wanted anyway, so I finally go rid of the soil and switched to repti-carpet.

In my opinion, the best substrates if you want easy maintanance and minimal risk to the water dragon are paper towels, newspaper or repti-carpet. You could also use tile. Since water dragons tend to use their water as a bathroom, the need for a replenishable substrate isn't as great.

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thanks for replying so fast. i was really curious...but whats weird is the soil actually got pretty freaking moldy within just like the first couple days I noticed mold spots under the water dish and under the top layer of dried soil. it was gross. oh and under her food dish too. i was like wth? i think were going to try out the bark again for a little while and most likely end up using that astro turf stuff...the repti carpet you are talking about..thanks again though. i appreciate you replying so fast!

One way to cut down on the mold growing is to circulate the air inside the enclosure.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

what like putting a fan on top of the enclosure? or what how would I go about circulating the air? thanks for the reply and suggestion btw!

I'm not sure what type of enclosure you have. If you can put a vent in the lower half it will draw up air. Usually there's enough air escaping at the top that you don't have to worry about something there.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

It also may depend on the soil you have in there.

I'm no good with plants, so I can't begin to say what types of soil mold and in what conditions. But maybe someone has some information on different soil types, and how to keep them fresh.

__________________
"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

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A small fan works well with a few vents in the enclosure. Pointing the fan down at an angle can also help deliver the heat from the heat lamps. I find that using bacteria made for aquarium fish (cycle) mixed in with a soil/leaf/ect. mixture helps get the nitrogen cycle going in your substrate and reduces mold alot.

Itried every substrate and like you I am using bark because I never had a problem in the first place but listening to others thought I should change astro turf gets to wet and soggy the soil was horrible so I am sticking to bark

Just be careful with the bark. Make sure he can't swallow it. Impaction is nasty to deal with for both you and the reptile, and by the time you realize it's a problem, it can be too late to fix it.

__________________
"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.