Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, I just remodeled my hoggies cage with some colorful calci-sand. She seems to love it, as well and I do, except her water bowl is constantly filled with sand. Will it harm her to drink some?
What are your thoughts on calci sand? She hasn't been eating prior to putting in the sand. So I haven't been handling her to make sure shes used to it.
Can it clog their noses...how much can they really eat of it until it becomes unhealthy?
Some opinions would be helpful...
thanks!!

Hmmm... I've never used calci sand but for a couple days I had my western hognose in sani chips, which is a bit similar in that the pieces are very small. My hognose hated it! She couldn't burrow, even with a good deep layer of it in the cage, It'd just sort of fall around her. (I never intended it to be her permanent bedding, she just had to go in it for a while so I could have a place to put another snake of mine) Does your hoggie really like small pieces for bedding?... or does calci sand hold up better for tunneling?

this calci sand, is just like the sand on the beach so it's very easy for her to dig in. She really does love it and plays in it all day lol.
It doesn't hold the tunnels she makes but it seems she likes to push it around making it lower and higher in some areas. It's just a bit messy!
plus it comes in all colors so it looks great

I used to keep a western on calcisand and didn't like the dust it created (a respiratory irritant for you AND the snake) and I didn't like the way it was always plugging up his nares. It is true that hogs in general prefer sandy soils. BUT, using straight sand is not the same as sandy SOIL. And because you shouldn't ever feed your hog in its tank, there shouldn't be issues with it eating the substrate.
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