I'm trying to find the best substrate for my water dragons, I want something that won't hurt them (obviously) but still does well with humidity. I'm going to be having a new enclosure built for them soon but I was wondering if cypress bark or coconut fiber is better, I know that both have a bit of a risk if they eat it, but I'm going to be setting it up to where the dragons aren't going to be eating in that part of the cage. Does anyone have any better ideas then this? Right now they are in a large aquarium till I get the new enclosure built and also Chidori will be going to a new home soon so it will just be Sousuke.

I've tried the "shredded" cypress bark mulch and it's ok but still has a bit to be desired, maybe I'm not piling it in enough? I don't know, just curious about what you all use.

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Try getting some cypress mulch and mixing it with the coconut fibers. That should create a nice rich subtrate that will hold moisture very well. Also include a large water dish or pond to increase the humidity.

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Josh Shrader

1.0 Ball Python (Monty)
0.1 Red-Eared Slider (Woody)
0.1 Yellow-Bellied Slider (Buz)

Here you go. This is from a care sheet prepared by Tricia who we believe to be a foremost authority on WDs.

Substrate

You can use a combination of soil and orchid bark but the dragon may accidentally ingest some of this when eating its food items on it, or you can use astroturf (but melt/bind the edges so the little pieces of green fiber doesn't fray as this may be ingested too!) With ingestion of substrate you run the risk of your dragons digestive track getting impacted, this could be very serious!

Substrates that I've heard other people mention with few problems resulting in their use are: Sterile soil and playground sand mixture; sterile soil and cypress mulch, or orchid bark mixture; Astroturf with bound or melted edges; bed sheets; newspaper, or butcher paper; paper towels; ceramic tiles, and alfalfa pellets.

I generally prefer to suggest that people use sterile top soil or a soil that has no additives or at most only some sphagnum moss added to it. This has proved to be a generally safe medium and it will also help keep the cage humidity in the proper range. If the soil is not marked "sterile" it would be wise to bake the soil at 300 F for 30 minutes or so in order to kill off some of the bacteria, fungus and or little bugs that could be in the soil before using it in the dragons cage. Some soil mixes have additives such as vermiculite (the shiny stuff) and or perlite (the tiny white styrofoam like balls) that are indigestible but extremely attractive to curious water dragons. Please don't use soils with these additives. Also don't use soils that have added fertilizers. Fertilizers could be extremely toxic to your dragon and I'm sure you'd hate for anything to happen to your dragon because you used a soil with fertilizers added to it.

Substrates that have been known to cause problems are: Commercial brands sold in pet stores such as bark, shavings and other products made with moss- All of these commercial products are easy for the dragon to accidentally ingest, and have been known to cause impaction in several reptiles and amphibians. Whatever you use as substrate don't use cedar or pine as they emit fumes and resins which are toxic to herps!

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Fran
January 9, 1940 - June 1, 2006 (R.I.P)

The sterile soil and the sphagnum moss mixture is probably what I'll use. The cyrpress bark just isn't very good and the reptile carpet didn't have enough humidity. I'm not sure if it's the same, but is the coconut fiber as safe as sterile soil. I've heard some good things about it but not too sure whether it's more or less safe then the soil. I might just go and buy a mister or humidifier of sorts to raise the humidity and use the reptile carpet again, although I think that using some sort of soil or bark looks a lot better.

Thanks for the info!

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Don't use coconut fiber, repti-bark, etc. Go with either sterile topsoil, no additives or indoor/outdoor carpet. Most other substrates have been known to cause eye infections/irritations (been there, done that) or impacting wds. I have indoor outdoor carpet. I tried the soil but he just kept dragging it into the pond and I got tired of cleaning it all the time. I get the carpet at Home Depot (much cheaper), cut it, melt the edges. To keep humidity up I piped a cool mist humidifier into the viv. Problem solved and viv clean. lol I like things that run themselves. lol

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Char

1.0.0 Chinese Water Dragon - Zilla
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos - Geckie & Raven
1.1.0 Parrotlets - Tac & Fauna
3.0.0 Cats - Psycho, Fibber, Angel
2.1.0 Ferrets - Sunshine, Spaz, & Quazie
0.0.1 Bala Shark - Sharkie

I'm with Char, I tried the coco fiber since thats what the petco suggested and it was what Pooka was on when we got her and she ended up with both a skin infection and a eye infection. I like the carpet and struggle with humidity but don't feel keeping it at a constant 80% is paramount. Personally if I can keep it between 40% and 80% I'm happy and can do so with a garden mister that pumps up by hand. If I were to change my entire viv over it would be to soil though. I just gave Pooka some new soil in her lay box and its great its juts local river bank soil sifted through 1/8 inch hardware cloth and baked at 350 for 30 minutes. I added just a tad (Less then a cup per gallon of dirt) of coco fiber to help aerate it a bit. It holds water great and is burrowable like no ones business. Skittle however preferred the potting soil..go figure.

I had repti carpet in there, and I have to say that as far as maintnence goes that was my favorite. But it didn't keep the humidity above 55% unless I sprayed the cage many times a day. I'm having a new enclosure built so I'm planning ahead for it.

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