confused

by Katie
(Washington)

I got my beardie (Bruce) about 6 months ago. He is only 7in. Is that normal? Also the pet store told me to put sand in when he gets 8-9in. Is this a popular consensus of when it is ideal to put sand in? (He has been trying to dig furiously and I know his claws can get stuck in the carpet so I thought sand would be a better option) Am I wrong in this? Opinions? Experiences?

Response:
Not sure on the 7in being normal, -every dragon can be different. As long as you are providing a healthy environment, with the "hard" greens (collard, turnip, dandelion, mustard etc.) The proper lighting -heat plus UVB, the right temps for basking 102F to 110F. And providing "live" bugs. The sand in my opinion can be a bad idea, the risk of impaction is there. I've heard of people putting a sand area -way on one side of the cage away from where you feed greens, and then feeding bugs to him in a separate container.