Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Why do people risk using sand?

For every post I read saying sand doesn't hurt them; I see another about an impaction problem because of sand.

We have all our own opinions.. Mine is why risk it if you know there is a chance it can harm them.. however some people don't look at it that way. Just forget those who don't do the same we do or believe in the same.. we do not need to start another war that is 8 pages long.
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~Kayla
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1.0 Leo Gecko's *Astrid* - was told he was a her at first
0.0.1 Pictus Gecko *Raine* - too young to sex
1.1 Hollond Lop Bunnies *Panda, Oreo*

Good call Kayla...I don't want to get into it again. In that post I started...Gee willickers...I made a comment about matters of opinion. Go read that
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Christina

0.3.1 leos (soon to be 1.3.1!)
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-0.0.1 albino (supposed Tremper)(Spitfire)
-soon to be 1.0 tangerine rainwater albino
1.0 australian shepherd/cattle dog (Foster...although he was being fostered before I got him...that has nothing to do with his name...It's after the beer!...lol since he's australian and I'm a college student!)

Posting this is almost an invitation to start the arguments up again. But the reasons are simple. Impaction is caused by sand, so some people choose to never use sand and eliminate any impaction risks. Other people see it as a more natural (as compared to paper towels, reptile carpet...etc) and have never had impaction problems so continue to use sand. It's just two different opinions that will never agree! I use sand, always have used sand, but when I sell baby leos at work I tell them to not use it until they are much larger and tell them the risks of sand and let them know they could keep them off of sand their entire life and it wouldn't be a problem. So I know and understand both sides, and when I sell them I let the new owners know the problems with sand so they can choose themselves. I won't push my opinion on any one else. And when people post their pictures of their set ups, I'm definetly not going to tell them to toss the sand right away (unless they ask for substrate opinions) unless they are having health issues with the leo. Let everyone decide for themselves. That why people use sand and why others don't. At least I hope I explained it correctly.

http://www.pythons.com/calcium.html

if you scroll down you will see a table showing how much of the calcium/sand substrates were absorbed by the most acidic (ph 1) liquid and the most alkaline (ph 14)(basic) liquid.
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko
Coming Soon
1.0 ball python