Sand as substrate for diamond python?

[Ryderthefrog]

I was just on Instagram and saw that someone had a photo of their little diamond python with sand as the substrate. It looked like washed play sand. I was just wondering if its a suitable substrate and if I should tell them to get kritter crumble or astro instead but I don't want to get my facts wrong.

Thanks, Ryder.

 

[Jacknife]

I wouldn't really be comfortable using sand as a substrate for any Morelia species. chance of ingesting decent amounts at feed time is a factor as is fine grain sand potentially becoming a scale irritant if caught between ventricles ect. But thats just my thoughts...

 

[ronhalling]

So what you are saying is if a snake of any kind in the wild be they Morelia or whatever catches a mouse/rat/bandicoot etc and it caught this prey item on a sandy gully or creek bed then that snake will drop the prey item and slither away because there was sand present ??? or if they had to get somewhere like pick up the kids or go shopping they would bypass sand areas just in case they get sand between their scales...............................Ron

 

[Jacknife]

So what you are saying is if a snake of any kind in the wild be they Morelia or whatever catches a mouse/rat/bandicoot etc and it caught this prey item on a sandy gully or creek bed then that snake will drop the prey item and slither away because there was sand present ??? or if they had to get somewhere like pick up the kids or go shopping they would bypass sand areas just in case they get sand between their scales...............................Ron

Where and how on earth did you interpret my answer as that!?
I said I would not be comfortable having sand as a substrate for the life of a python in case of things like this. Frozen thawed rats and such can often get substrate stuck to them, sand being the easiest of most substrates to do that. Over the 20 or so years that a snake can live, thats a lot of sand potentially ingested.
A lot of Morelia by their nature don't spend much time on sand due to location or species.
Fine grain sand getting stuck in ventricles and irritating a snake isn't an issue in the wild, but it has a potential to as the confinements of captivity mean there is greater potential for it.
These are MY reasons for never choosing to use sand as a substrate for Morelia.

 

[Timmy-Morelia]

use anything but sand

 

[Melzey]

If you do a quick search on net about sand as substrate for a snake, (from what I have found), it's bad. Maybe just post your friend a link to some info on it..

 

[andynic07]

So what you are saying is if a snake of any kind in the wild be they Morelia or whatever catches a mouse/rat/bandicoot etc and it caught this prey item on a sandy gully or creek bed then that snake will drop the prey item and slither away because there was sand present ??? or if they had to get somewhere like pick up the kids or go shopping they would bypass sand areas just in case they get sand between their scales...............................Ron

You make a good point about many wild snakes encountering sand without problem but how many do suffer any kind of ill effects from sand? Also there is a difference between spending parts of their life on sand and their entire life on sand in an enclosure and also if you have a choice why wouldn't you choose the substrate that is going to be the best and has the least chance of causing harm?

 

[Pythoninfinite]

So what you are saying is if a snake of any kind in the wild be they Morelia or whatever catches a mouse/rat/bandicoot etc and it caught this prey item on a sandy gully or creek bed then that snake will drop the prey item and slither away because there was sand present ??? or if they had to get somewhere like pick up the kids or go shopping they would bypass sand areas just in case they get sand between their scales...............................Ron

Of course sand is an unsuitable substrate for pythons - 1. because it is always dry and loose in an enclosure, and will stick to prey items, 2. because it can and does stick in thier heat pits and around the mouth, 3. and because it is very cold where it is not heated, whereas the usual substrates of bark, paper etc are neutral thermally. You cannot compare the circumstance of a wild snake to that of a captive in a static environment.

Jamie

 

[Roughie]

Hi mate, I just use newspaper or papertowel for my collection. It's simple and easy to remove.

 

[BIGBANG]

i use washed river sand i dig out of a creek near by have no issues, but i do make sure the food is dry when given and 9 out of 10 times she feeds in the trees or on i perch. But i do believe that they can handle ingesting some gravel as it would happen in the wild.

 

[jairusthevirus21]

Isn't it a case of rather being safe then sorry??? Wild animals will happily ingest sand and other foreign materials with their food and live happily. There is always that chance it might cause issues... Not using a substrates, that could potentially cause an upset eliminates any chance of a bad outcome. Even if its only 1/20000 chance. Its a simple solution. Not rocket science...