Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I purchased Icarus three months ago, it so happens that I was not properly informed on the potential risks of using sand as a substrate. Aside from impaction, it was a hassle to deal with in terms of mess and the water dish. Now that I'm almost finished his and his new girl's cage - I have the opportunity to finally get a better substrate in there.

Are there any natural options? I've considered that "Desert Mix" stuff, which I believe is crushed walnuts (?). It would be nice to plant some safe plants in the cage as well, and a firmer substrate would be nice. Has anyone experimented with different substrates (or combinations thereof), and had good results?
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Peter - Since when did they change the meaning of "for" to "from?"
Brian - They had a meeting about it last night.
Peter - Why wasn't I informed?
Brian - They sent you a card, but it said "For Peter" so you must have thought it was from yourself so... It's just easier to call you stupid.

hehe i had a question about substrate too, so instead of starting a new topic i figure i'd just put it in here , but anyway, i was wondering about using the aquarium liner stuff(i'm not sure if thats what it is) its the fake green stuff lol anyway... just wondering if you can use it with collareds because my girl seems to be getting a taste for sand, sometimes she'd just look down at the sand and bite it, only a grain or two but its still worrying me. I just wanted to see what the options were other then sand for substrate.

....that sort of heavy felt-looking liner, I'm not sure the toenails on collareds would not tangle in the fibers. You don't want anything in the tank they can snag the toes in.

Most of my collareds "peck" at the sand too, what I've seen is they will look for grains of calcium dust and pick them out of the sand! Try sprinkling a bit of clumped-up calcium here and there and see what yours do. I am not real happy with sand as the main substrate either, but I've never had the lizards do poorly on it, and I've seen them get quite a bit of sand in the mouth when pounding crickets. They just don't seem to be as prone to sand impactions, from what I've seen. I'm converting all the floors in my tanks to a fake rockscape when the weather is warm enough.

DC
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I've got the blues...LOL...them screamin' yellow-head blues...

Sand is pretty much considered to be a proper substrate for collared lizards, with washed "playsand" being the preferred product (at least for "many" of us LOL). I can't remember hearing of a documented case of impaction from regular sand in collareds, though there may have been one somewhere in history. Sand is NOT good for species like Leopard Geckos, however, and that may be where some of the info you are hearing originates. I'd say walnut hulls are one of the worst things you could use if you are concerned about impaction!

The "best" substrate for collareds would be ROCKS, probably much more trouble for the keeper to keep clean, but the collared lizards most frequently kept as pets are at home on rocks, and almost never found on a sandy desert floor type of environment.

I've recently tried several types of bullet-proof cacti (soft thorn types) and I'm pretty sure now that collareds can destroy ANYTHING put in the tanks with them LOL. I am looking at some new types of durable plastic parsley to cement into the fake rocks, its the only thing that seems to hold up!

Stay with playsand, larger grain sizes and lighter weight materials like walnut hulls are far more risky.

DC
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I've got the blues...LOL...them screamin' yellow-head blues...