Oats

[batman]

Hi has anyone used oat bran as a substrate ?
Please only those that have used this answer as i would like there opinions.
regards bats

[ozyshane]

i considered using oats for a substrate for beardies but was told by a member on here that 1. oats would swell when eaten
2. oats would rot quickly if exposed to moisture
3. oats would attract flour mites
i dont know wether or not there is evidence to support those claims, but i chose not to use it.however i do know of somebody who has just started using bran as a substrate for her beardies and i assume that she has done her homework first as she keeps high end beardies on it.

sorry i cant give you a definate answer, but hope this helps.

[jarvis and charlie]

gemstone was looking to do this ask her what she thinks ?

[batman]

cheers already on it she has been incredibly helpful, i thought while i was waiting id throw the question out for another opinion.
Bats

[Gemstone Dragons]

Well as said above i have only been using this a week but decided i would give it a go on the advice i recieved from an experienced breeder i trust completely.

I raised the above concerns with her and was told if the bran was kept dry (most of us have no water in with our beardies) and turned over weekly to airate it (whilst cleaning out that isn't hard and the digging lizards help) mites wouldn't be a problem.

Also for it to swell in their gut and cause a problem they would need to eat an awful lot of it, i myself used a cup and put a 50/50 mix of bran and water and while it clumped up a little being wet it did not swell, with twice the amount of water i had the same result, even this clumping was not hard and when picked up in my fingers simply fell apart, even gentle pressure on it wouldnt make anything solid enough to impact.

Sib at Where Dragons Dwell has been using it for years without a problem and all her beardies are much happier being able to dig and bed down for the night which i too have found with mine.

As most of you know i spent alot of money on my collection and wouldn't have tried this myself if i wasn't happy.

Personally in this first week i have found -

It still smells of gorg oats and not beardies

It looks great in the viv

And my beardies absolutely love it

[Gemstone Dragons]

To solve the 1 problem i have found we are off to B&Q once the weather here gets a little better to make up a sand scoop with slightly bigger holes so i am not removing cup fulls when i clean them out

[batman]

thankyou soooo much we are soon to be investors in oats
bats

[tomswel1]

what oats are you using

[Gemstone Dragons]

It is Bran used to feed horses from a farm shop, it comes in wheat or oats and oats look and smell better

I paid £5.50 for 20k sack.

Solve the only scooping problem i had by using a cat litter tray scoop too