Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an albino king and yesterday after he went to the bathroom he had blood coming out his vent. His subtray is calcisand could that be the problem??

Ingested calcisand can certainly cause impaction so I would imagine that it can irritate the intestines as well - esp. if he is trying to force an impaction out. Has your snake pooped recently?
Another thing to check would be for worms/parasites. They can cause bloody stools. I would take your snake to the vet who can check for impaction and also bring a fecal sample to check for worms.

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I asked about Calci-sand near the bottom of this page, and no one really said it would cause any health problems !!! The major complaints were dust and that its not easy to keep clean.

I switched to it about 3 weeks ago, and so far its great. No real dust and so far it has been easy to spot clean -- it clumps right up and I can spoon out solids and liquids.

I asked the question because of fears that it may get ingested and cause problems, but no one really said it would do any harm. I fed my king about 3 times now, and as long as the pinkies are dried well, it doesnt look like she ingests much of the sand at all.......maybe a grain or three at most. Just in case, I tried feeding her yesterday on a large rock that is inside, and she seems to stay there and partake, so she gets no sand at all this way.

I'm sorry I can't really speak as to your problem, but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that its the substrate without hearing from the more experienced herpers........guys ??

From what I've heard any substrate that is small enough to be ingested can cause problems with impaction. Even if your king eats the mouse where there isn't any sand and you can see that they don't ingest sand then, your king could still be ingesting it when you aren't looking. Since calcisand is a source of calcium, many reptiles will ingest it periodically throughout the day - esp. if they aren't getting enough calcium in their diet. I know that leopard geckos do this. To be safe, I would switch to papertowels.