Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been using repti-carpet and decided to try out the calci sand to see how The Baron would do in it. The owner of the petstore I regularly go to for supplies just recently switched a bunch of his reptiles over to calci-sand. I asked him about it and he told me he wasnt too worried about impaction. He told me that he had had his BDs on playsand and 1 of them got impacted, but had never had a problem with calci-sand. He didn't reccomend the vita sand or repti-sand but said the calci sand was good stuff. Back to The Baron - I put him on the calci sand and he started to lick the sand alot at first but now he seems to have stopped and hes chomping on crickets like normal. Now here is my question or two-

If he keeps licking I know I should be concerned but should I be concerned for the licking he's done so far? Should I just keep an eye on him for the time being? Should I switch back to the repti carpet right away? and here is my biggest question - Why is all the advice I can find regarding Bearded Dragons so inconsistant? Because I don't know what to do half the time with taking care of my BD because everyone else has different idea on how to do things.

Is calci sand the stuff that "clumps" when it gets wet? If it is, thats what it would do in a dragons stomach.

When I put mine on repti sand(he's now on playsand cause its way cheaper) he stuck his tongue out a few times but then never did it anymore.

I'm getting ready to purchase my first beardie in the next week or two, so I have been getting info from every place on the net i can find. And with the exception of petco and petsmart (they dont hold much water for me, as I think they will say what you need to hear to purchase the products they sell and not what dragons really need.) But for the most part with minor differences, almost all say about the same thing about every aspect of care. I think I purchased the calci sand (its very fine sand), but most people including the breeder I intend on purchasing from have advocated the childrens playsand, so I think I will be buying that next.

Ive seen this stuff get wet and it doesnt seem to clump. The water has actually beaded up on it and the sand seems to stick to the outside of the bead but not very much.

the vita sand is the one that gets clumpy when wet. the cali sand i use be it doesnt harm the bd when eatin. the cali sand also obsorbs wetness when it gets wet. so i use the cali sand bc it doesnt make a lot of dust like the vita sand and it is easyer to clean the cages. bc when the dragons run around it the vitasand it flys every where and forms a lot of dust. so try the cali sand i think you will like it.

~tom~

"cali sand also obsorbs wetness when it gets wet"

hmmm..what do you think it does in your dragons wet stomach?

It lines the dragons digestive tract little by little until it is a problem.
-----
www.classylizard.com

>>I have been using repti-carpet and decided to try out the calci sand to see how The Baron would do in it. The owner of the petstore I regularly go to for supplies just recently switched a bunch of his reptiles over to calci-sand. I asked him about it and he told me he wasnt too worried about impaction. He told me that he had had his BDs on playsand and 1 of them got impacted, but had never had a problem with calci-sand. He didn't reccomend the vita sand or repti-sand but said the calci sand was good stuff. Back to The Baron - I put him on the calci sand and he started to lick the sand alot at first but now he seems to have stopped and hes chomping on crickets like normal. Now here is my question or two-
>>
>>If he keeps licking I know I should be concerned but should I be concerned for the licking he's done so far? Should I just keep an eye on him for the time being? Should I switch back to the repti carpet right away? and here is my biggest question - Why is all the advice I can find regarding Bearded Dragons so inconsistant? Because I don't know what to do half the time with taking care of my BD because everyone else has different idea on how to do things.

I have read nothing but bad thing about this substrate as well as 99% of the other substrates out there made for reptiles. Before you buy give your post a day or so as I'm sure you will get some other opinions.
-----
Rob

I have a large bowl that I feed him in. Crickets don't jump out and he knows to eat there. Lettuce and pellets are also there.