I have a favor to ask of everyone here. If your an experienced herper, and have used sand for a long time, good for you. But there are signifigant risks, and dont force these risks on a vulnerable newbie. If you use it, fine. But dont reccomend it to every newbie that comes on here. When i bought my setup, the petshop practically forced me to buy a bag of calcisand, so i thought it was ok. When i heard about the risk, i was going to take them off of it. But then i read a post from someone in a sand argument. I remember the exact words "dont let all the anti-sand people scare you from using it" That was exactly what i wanted to hear. Well, a couple months later i end up with an impacted leo. So if you want to take the risk, go ahead. But
dont give newbies the idea that its ok, because there is signifigant risk. I know i would've appreciated it if I wouldnt have been told by that person it was ok. I would've saved alot of time, money, and i was so scared i was going to lose my lizard i didnt know what to do.
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Sand experience
Replies (18)
Calcisand & play sand are 2 different substrates. I think I read you had used calcisand, is that correct? or was it playsand?
if you would like me explain to you, the way i would explain it to a newbie, i will. but for everyone here that is pro sand, we all have a limit to how much sand we accually use. i would never make it more deep then 1 inch, and i would always check there stool. there are other things to look for, but i wont get into it right now. i kno ur not speaking directly to me, but i feel after all that has been said the past 2 days, the request kinda reflects on me. i do agree with you, that the newbies should not b told it is ok to use as much sand as they want, and that its 100% safe.
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis
"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"
"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."
º¿º N.P. º¿º
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n.p.
if its 2 inches thick, the leo, could get a hole mouth full of sand, raising its risk of impaction. if its only as thik as a tile, such as mine. being such a think coat of sand, theyl barely get any, if any at all.
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis
"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"
"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."
n.p.
this only wat i think not wat u should do !
.
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis
"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"
"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."
n.p.
All you're going to do with this thread is start arguments....
No one has tried to force anyone to use sand...some of us had just sand that sand is not as bad as a lot of people say. Normally leos that end up impacted with sand had other husbandry problems...and it wasn't just the fact that they were on sand. A lot of the experienced leo keepers/breeders have used sand with no problems and would continue to use it if it weren't difficult to keep clean. As I said before, NO ONE is trying to push anyone to use sand...everyone not against sand is just trying to get the info out there for people to make thier own decisions. A lot of the anti-sand people however, don't give much information other than "it's bad, it causes impaction, your leo will die if you use it" and don't give any actual argument as to how or why it causes impaction and just say its bad because they've had or known people who had, leos get impacted...which doesn't necessarily mean its just because they are on sand. The rest of us are just trying to get the rest of the info out there. Yes, leos can get impacted if they are kept on sand; yes, no hatchlings or juvies should be kept on sand; yes, some leos will walk around eating and licking the sand.......does this mean sand WILL cause a leo to become impacted...no. Adult leos, that do not purposely eat or lick the sand (and are fed out of a dish so as not to get mouthfuls of sand when eating), can be (and have been) kept alive and well for as long as any leo kept on paper towels has been. Does that mean everyone should use sand...of course not! Sand can cause impaction, and if you think your leo might get impacted...then don't use it...just don't tell everyone that sand will always kill thier leo if they use it, because it probably won't if they use it carefully and make sure all other aspects of husbandry are good.
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Christina
Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions
2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)
-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.
.
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis
"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"
"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."
I have said this before and I will take this opportunity to say it again...If you leo becomes impacted while kept on sand, you have only your bad husbandry to blame, not the sand. If you don't trust your husbandry, then don't use sand plain and simple. I don't think experienced keepers and breeders that have used sand without incedent should dummy up there posts to protect "vulnerable newbies". This is not a newbie forum, it is an all experience level forum.
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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung
Everyone is always talking about how sand is bad and you shouldnt use it and stuff like that. But why doesnt anyone ever say the good stuff about it, Your leo's toes cant get caught in it like they can on carpet... And it makes your cage look better and in a way more natural. If your a responable person and you check on your lizard to see if it is eating it or licking it on purpose then you should jsut take it out. If your responsible your lizard wont get impacted. Although i just didnt give alot of good things about sand but there are alot more i havnt mentioned but i'd say their are more Pros than Cons about sand.
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.
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis
"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"
"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."
I dont know what happened, but when i started coming to this forum 8 months ago, it was all about helping people. The last two months it has become a much more personal place. Too personal for me in fact, there have been more arguments on here in the last two months than there ever was when i first got here. Is this a help forum or not? Apparently its not anymore since its only an experienced herper forum. Your basically accussing me of having bad husbandry and blaming it on sand, which couldnt be further from the truth. I'm beginning to see why everybody else but me left already. I dont fit in here anymore.
Bill said ALL experience level forum, not experienced only forum.
And I don't think his bad husbandry point was directed at anyone in general.
Alissa
And I'm all FOR sand...I'm not for bad husbandry which is what will cause an impaction, not a sand substrate. I have used sand in the past and still do with some cages. I put baby beardeds on playsand straight out of the egg.
>>Bill said ALL experience level forum, not experienced only forum.
>>
>>And I don't think his bad husbandry point was directed at anyone in general.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Alissa
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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung
I didnt mean any offense to anyone. I just dont think risky things should be recomended to a beginner, who is gonna have enough problems to worry about anyway. But, since there arent any newbies around here anymore, seeing how this is nothing but an experienced forum, i guess my opinion isnt valid.
I never said this was only an experienced forum...I'm not sure what Bill meant by his comment...Anyway, all I was saying is that no one has actually recommended that anyone use sand...I honestly don't know where you are getting that idea from...I don't remember anyone having ever said that, at least since I first started using the forum at the end of December... All I've noticed is people letting others know that sand is not as dangerous as some try to make it out to be.
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Christina
Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions
2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)
-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.
