walnut shell

[nscar00]

In a nut shell, no pun intended, ok maybe a little. I have my beardies on ground walnut shell bedding.
http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?sku=1038990

I wanted to know what other lizards might be able to do well on it? I like it and wanna use it in other tanks when and if I get my added collection later this year. But not sure where the substrate will do best. Its good with heat. So any suggestions?

 

[jojackson]

Id suggest you get rid of it entirely and that its not suitable substrate for any species.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Yeah, I'm surprised they even sell this stuff.

Though many substrates can cause impaction, walnut shells are known to
be a leading cause, and although they may not cause impaction if ingested,
because of their sharpness can cause some internal harm.

Of course this depends on the quality of ground shells you are using,
if it is really really finely ground then the sharpness shouldn't be an issue.

As for what other lizards would do well on it (even though I'd advise against
using it at all), it is really meant for desert lizards. Uromastyx, beardies,
maybe some species of skinks.

 

[Jon S]

I had my beardie on walnut shell and I highly suggest switching substrates. I tried many types of substrate because I wanted a naturalistic enclosure. Sand, Calcisand, walnut shell, etc. Fact is, the kind of sand they live on is not loose like the kind we would have in a tank.

I really did not want to go this route, but I started using the green repti carpet. I couldn't be happier. It doesn't look as ugly as I thought, he gets a firm grip on it when he walks, it is machine washable and very easy to spot clean (because you can see shed skin, droppings, food, etc) and best of all, he can't ingest any of it.

I also found that using sand distorted his color. He would get a find powder from the sand all over his legs and tail which made it impossible to see his true colors. I'm convinced that it wasn't good for his shed cycle either. With the carpet, he can rub against it and there is enough resistance or gruff to it where it can assist his shedding. Not so with walnut or sand.

For someone who wants a naturalistic environment, it can be tough to make the switch. I keep being told to switch my ball pythons substrate from aspen bedding to newspaper because he has a nice looking enclosure and has had no problems. In my beardie's case, it came down to this: Do I care more about how the enclosure looks or his health? The question was easily answered and we are both happy with the change!

Hope that helps you!

 

[Jon S]

One more thing about the ingestion of walnut shell... I didn't think it would be a problem with my beardie because he eats his crickets in an empty tank and I have a food bowl for him in his regular tank. But if a piece of food gets out of the bowl, he will pick up tons of little walnut shell bits if his tongue touches the substrate. Same for if he does this while just sniffing around. It WILL impact him. An expensive vet visit and many sleepless nights hoping that it will just pass rather than him dying showed me that!

 

[Corruptedmuffin]

The breeder that my boyfriend and I got our beardie from suggested walnut shells. I don't know why they suggest this. We keep her on paper towels. Its doesn't look great but its super easy to clean. We also feed her live food in a separate container but she gets her veggies in her normal enclosure. Often times she will run around with her collard greens in her mouth and eat them on the opposite side from where we put them at so I'm glad that she's not on walnut shell or sand when she does this. She also had a habit of licking EVERYTHING so I doubt we'll ever use sand or anything. We may move her to reptile carpet eventually but for now its paper towels