Bearded Dragons

CarolM

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Kind of sounds like paper Mache (but with glue) -

LOL. It probably is, just an easier way of making the paper mache. and you recycle the egg trays.
 

Cathie G

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I've never tried a bioactive enclosure in my bearded dragon tanks. I'm interested to see if anyone else has.

@CarolM I will tell you that neither of my beardies poops in their enclosure unless I've missed a cue and didn't get them out for a shower when they needed to go. I had to clean up plenty of baby beardie poops when they were little, but now that they've both pretty much hit full size, I rarely have to clean it out of their enclosures.
Whaaat
 

CarolM

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I recycle my egg trays. In my roach bins. :D
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Sorry, so many questions. What do you feed yours? I just ordered some of repashy bug burger. Which I believe is powder you mix with water to make a gel. But in the meantime until I get it, I have made a dry food (Dog food, oats, weetbix, and some moringa leaf powder) and last night I blitzed (carrot, apple, bok choy, cucumber) in water to make a paste - strained most of the water out so the paste was left behind with a little bit of water (so that they stay hydrated) and that is is what I am currently feeding them.
I have read that you are not supposed to give them water because they drown. But the other day I watched one that was loose in Phoenix's cage drink water from the water bowl. and he then marched right back off the water bowl once he was done. So I am wondering if this is one of those old fashioned and outdated pieces of information that is out there in the big wide world of reptiles and feeder insect care.

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Tom

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Tom. Can I lay my egg trays flat or should they be vertical?
I suppose you could lay them flat, but poop and "frass" would build up quickly, and the lower ones would be difficult to service. Vertical allows the "stuff" to all fall to the bottom where you want it. The cardboard dividers help with this too and keep the flats from condensing on each other.

Another tip: Don't bother with special gels, water crystals, or roach food. All that stuff is impractical, expensive, and non-sensical. I've done multiple side-by-side comparisons, and those things do nothing. Put a handful of dog or cat kibble in one corner and some sort of wet veggie in the other. No need to grind up the dog food. They eat it just fine whole. For wet stuff I use carrots, oranges, potato, and anything else wet. I also use leftover Mazuri and leftover tortoise greens. It all gets thrown in the roach bins.

Another myth: They do better in opaque dark bins. Nonsense. I prefer the clear bins and the clear bins are smoother inside to prevent climbing in the dubia or the lateralis. The roaches do not care one bit, and breed like crazy in either. Again, zero difference in side-by-side comparisons with bin wall color begin the only variable.

At one time I had 18 species of roaches in 44 bins around shelves I built in my reptile room. I'm finally down to only three species and 4-5 bins.
IMG_5559.JPG

My daughter and her Archimandrita tesselata friend:
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KarenSoCal

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I have read that you are not supposed to give them water because they drown.

Gee, it would be great if roaches drowned! It would be so much easier to get rid of them!

Unfortunately, those awful ones we get come into houses to get water.
 

CarolM

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I suppose you could lay them flat, but poop and "frass" would build up quickly, and the lower ones would be difficult to service. Vertical allows the "stuff" to all fall to the bottom where you want it. The cardboard dividers help with this too and keep the flats from condensing on each other.

Another tip: Don't bother with special gels, water crystals, or roach food. All that stuff is impractical, expensive, and non-sensical. I've done multiple side-by-side comparisons, and those things do nothing. Put a handful of dog or cat kibble in one corner and some sort of wet veggie in the other. No need to grind up the dog food. They eat it just fine whole. For wet stuff I use carrots, oranges, potato, and anything else wet. I also use leftover Mazuri and leftover tortoise greens. It all gets thrown in the roach bins.

Another myth: They do better in opaque dark bins. Nonsense. I prefer the clear bins and the clear bins are smoother inside to prevent climbing in the dubia or the lateralis. The roaches do not care one bit, and breed like crazy in either. Again, zero difference in side-by-side comparisons with bin wall color begin the only variable.

At one time I had 18 species of roaches in 44 bins around shelves I built in my reptile room. I'm finally down to only three species and 4-5 bins.
View attachment 301017

My daughter and her Archimandrita tesselate friend:
View attachment 301018
View attachment 301019
Ahh Okay. Well the repashy will be a once off and I will use it occasionally. Your daughters Archimandrita tesselate is huge. I am going to show this to Jarrod my son. And thank you for the above. I will let Jarrod know that he needs to put the trays vertical and maybe put in some cardboard dividers like you have. We did get the black bins. LOL but for us the price is the same as the clear ones so it did not make a difference and my cat does not see them as well, so will leave the bins alone. What she cannot see, she cannot play with.
 
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