Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First off, no one freak out this time. I promise I won't use it, ok? I just want to know why it's bad for corn snakes.

Rae

1. It's very drying
2. It's no fun to burrow in because it doesn't 'hold' the burrows.
3. My dog eats it if she can, and that can't be good for her.

My suggestion is that you only use it only for snakes that specifically need sand.

Go with Ashpen Shavings or Repti-Bark. Those are the 2 best and is used by the majority of Corn Snake owners.

I use newspaper on all my snakes.It's cheap,and i get to clean the whole tank out at once instead of spot cleaning.Spot cleaning is ok but your not getting all the matter out.Why would you want to use reptile sand on a non-desert species to start with?

Not sure about snakes but I know repti-sand is extremely bad for bearded dragons and other lizards. It can cause impaction as it is not digestible (neither is that calci sand). I don't think inpaction would be a problem with snakes due to low infrequent they need to eat. It certainly wouldn't be natural for a snake from a woodland/field habitat.

I've never used calci-sand (Reptile Sand?). I don't like silica sand because it gets under the snake scales and is abrasive. Just like sand inside a bathing suit. Silica sand also does not dry well, and the dampness helps bacteria breed.

IMHO, Calci-sand would also be abrasive. If it doesn't absorb water, it would have the poor drying and bacterial growth problem, too. I think it likely that Calci-sand is made of calcium carbonate, and calcium carbonate can irritate both the skin and the respiratory tract, according to the material safety data sheet.

Anyway, that's my $.02.

Paul Hollander