Please explain the sand thing..

[Courtzrocks]

Ok I have seen so many times here people say that sand is bad for reptiles as substrate...but what if sand IS part of their natural environment? I don't understand how it can be bad if they live in it in the wild? Obviously not all do but those that do...I don't understand why it would be bad...I have heard about impaction and what not but how do the wild reptiles live in it if it is so bad? Just confused, please explain?

 

[Shonfield]

it is only bad for some reptiles when they eat it
and it is because in captivity the most widely available types of sand have been washed with lime or something else that is harmful to reptiles

not sure about this but it just my impression. also i have used "sydney washed sand" for all my geckos and a ridge tail and havent had any problems yet...

 

[Pythonking]

well as fare as i understand courtz a lot of dragons can get compaction, not owning any myself I can't verify this however in the case of pythons it comes down to cleanlyness. People either get a little lazy or they don't want to spend the dollars replacing the sand week by week which is needed. For all my pythons I use newspaper and I know lots of people say well thats not natural but i can guarantee my animals have clean homes

 

[W.T.BUY]

i use sand for all my reptiles never had any problems with it

 

[Courtzrocks]

So really it's not a deadly sorta thing, it's more not too good for some, ok for others sorta thing depending on the reptile?

 

[bundy_zigg]

we are not replicating the WILD!!! we are improving on the wild. In the wild some reptile live in sand but it causes alot of death from impaction. You have to understand that as keepers we need to make sure that we keep our reptile in as safe an environment as possable to minimise harm and to prevent uneseasery death. Sand in an enclosure is fine so long as you do not feed them on it, but in my oppinion i woul not use it at all. I hope this helps

 

[Courtzrocks]

Ok, because we have some of our dragons at work on sand. We chuck a few crickets in their enclosure but we usually take the dragon out and feed it in a plastic tank with lots of crickets or whatever first and the ones in the enclosure are more like a snack..but they hide anyway..

 

[Helikaon]

Ok, because we have some of our dragons at work on sand. We chuck a few crickets in their enclosure but we usually take the dragon out and feed it in a plastic tank with lots of crickets or whatever first and the ones in the enclosure are more like a snack..but they hide anyway..

well one thats just silly as the crickets get hungry to and start to eat your dragons. 2 beardies have nice sticky tongue so when they are grabbing crickets of the sand they take in some sand as well. the simple fact is if you use a substarte that is small peices bits of it Will get into your reptiles digestive system, if this causes issues you have a problem, most of the time it doesnt some of the time it does, and it always suprises me , my friedns bought a coastal carpet beign kept on the coco peat crap, did a fecal sample and the poo was filled with coco peat fibres. he didnt feed in the enclosure so we really were amazed the snake managed to swallow so much by itself. and finding sand in stool samples is another common occurence but it could be argued that a little bit helps with physical digestion, in a very similar way to birds and crocodiles. but overall i feel the real reason not to use certain substrates is hygein, no matter how well you say you keep the tank clean nearly everyone becomes slack and this is why newspaper is my choice, just a matter of rip it out spray disenfectant put new stuff down, simple and easy therefore reducing the possiblitiy of me becoming slack.

 

[falconboy]

Beardies in particular also use their tongues to 'taste' their surroundings, this includes their sand.

Also, I don't understand the people who say 'they live on sand in the wild'. They don't live on the flaming beach which is the type of sand we are giving them, they live mainly on harder compacted stuff and therefore don't ingest as much as they do in an enclosure. Yes, feeding outside the enclosure will help, but they will still taste the sand.

Lots use them, but is it worth the risk? I started without sand, then when mine got a bit bigger decided I'd like the natural look so added sand. A week later one died from impaction, and another was close but I managed to get it through it. Sand is fine if you want to take the risk.

 

[Vixen]

Does all this apply to geckos? Ive just never heard of any impaction problem with them, and majority of people keep and feed them on sand?

 

[BenReyn]

There are problems with sand for some species of snakes,a nd some of lizards, HOWEVER some species of both lizards and snakes thrive on a sand based substrate.

Firstly, with pythons, any specimen in the Morelia family have large open pits under their bottom lip to sense heat. Sand can often become caught in these pits, causefriction and inflaming, and in worst cases, can become infected and possibly threaten the animals life. Also with pythons (im not sure about vens with sand unfortunately ) the sand can be hard to digest, a few granules wont do much damage, but if the fed item of food is damp, and it picks up alot of sand, this may cause a problrm or 2 with your snakes digerstive system. However having said this, the Aspidites branch of pythons thrive on sand, especially the Womas.

Now, with lizards, as far as im aware, sand can damag their claws..? but i am not entirely sure on the details, how ever again, some species thrive on it, like accies and sand monitors.

Hope this helps

 

[TheBoga]

Man this get's more and more confusing and I'm starting to believe it comes down to personal opinion's now in regards to beardie's, don't know anything about snakes.

My adult beardy is on sand, he eat's 100% on sand, no feeding container, I chuck in woodies and crickets and he chases them around eating them off the sand, off the branches etc.

The clean sand, sand pit sand from Bunnings, as I've been told numerous times, contains no lime or harmful substances and provided they aren't juveniles, won't cause impaction, it goes in one end and comes out the other.

So if sand is now out of the question, what about that fake green grass/turf from Bunnings? Newspaper looks crap.

 

[wokka]

Just another internet fact that has been written so many times it has to be right.Things from outside like sticks and stones, not only sand, just have to be bad. Except of course if you buy them in a plastic bag from a petshop.

 

[FAY]

It is a personal opinion.
We keep all our hatchie beardies on sand.Never had a problem. Co.a.r.s.e river sand...not any powdery stuff.
Adults no...as the sand seems to stink after a couple of days.

 

[TheBoga]

Just another internet fact that has been written so many times it has to be right.Things from outside like sticks and stones, not only sand, just have to be bad. Except of course if you buy them in a plastic bag from a petshop.

That's what I thought.

It is a personal opinion.
We keep all our hatchie beardies on sand.Never had a problem. Co.a.r.s.e. river sand...not any powdery stuff.
Adults no...as the sand seems to stink after a couple of days.

Co**** river sand? ****?

The adults do make the sand stink and it clumps up under there waste deposits. I still prefer it as it's fairly cheap and my beardy likes putting his belly on it under the warm end.

 

[redbellybite]

its co.u.r.s.e river sand its because r.s.e is considered as a swear word anything that has that in it comes up with **** lol ..........

 

[JoeBlakes]

it really comes down to personal preference.. i have heard so many stories of compaction issues so my thought is why would you even risk it? I know i do not pay good money for a prize animal and develop a bond to then risk the life of this animal by putting it in an environment that could cause it harm.. It would be the same as an unrestrained branch for a snake.. it might never fall.. but it could so why would you risk it. But each to there own.. you ask any reptile keeper about substrate and you will get varying answers, some have none, some swear by fake grass mat others despise it. some like sand others dont, same can be said with various materials.. each will have pro's and cons.. my thought is if the cons of the product put the health of the animal in jeopardy its probably best not to use it.. why sacrifice the health for aesthetics??

 

[TheBoga]

its co.u.r.s.e river sand its because r.s.e is considered as a swear word anything that has that in it comes up with **** lol ..........

OK, LOL, I wanna type it just to see now.

 

[Aslan]

RBB - It's co.a.rse...as in, not fine.

 

[TheBoga]

Of c.o.u.r.s.e it is I didn't even notice that.