Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard conflicting views on Calcium sand. I know one breeder/reptile shop owner who has had nothing but exelent results, and would reccomend it without a thought. But I have heard people on this forum who insist it is even worse than playsand.

Calcisand doesn't digest and clumps up more than playsand causing a greater risk of impaction. Personally I wouldn't use either one of them but definitely avoid calcisand... horrible stuff.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

i agree. I had indie on calcisand for most of her adult life until one day i saw a bunch of it in her poo. It was undigested and VERy sharp still. That can hurt their digestive tract immensley. aShe is on paper towels now, and i have actually seen an improvement in her demenor, and her eating habits.

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"raised by a cup of coffee"

1.0 ball python- Azazel
1.0 columbian boa- Brooklyn
1.0 red blood python-Hiss
1.0 peach phase thayeri-Sancho
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 partial stripe ghost corn- Raven
1.0 Sunglow motley corn-
1.1 hognose- Pricilla and Odd
0.1 russian tortoise- Manja
0.1 collared lizard-O-ren
0.1.1 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.0.2 Red american toadlets with 0.0.7 legs total (er, i have one w/3....)
0.0.1 gray tree frog toadlet
0.0.6 land snails
0.0.2 millipedes of unknown species from TN
0.0.1 spotted slug
5.3 bettas
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
2.3 ratties Rizzo, Bounce, Bree, Blitzkreig, and Zelda

>>I have heard conflicting views on Calcium sand. I know one breeder/reptile shop owner who has had nothing but exelent results, and would reccomend it without a thought. But I have heard people on this forum who insist it is even worse than playsand.

I sold a ten lot of beardies to a guy who owned a pet store and he put them on calcisand the green color.... Not only did the dragons turn a green color but they had poor appetites became lethargic and a couple died. this was oput of the first clutch and of course they had adeno virus but the ones I kept thrived much better till later on when problems began to surface.
Can't really say that it was definately the calci-sand but I wouldn't recomend it to anyone......... Just my opinion.
Later,
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Robert Wood
Tulsa,OK

Before I knew the risks, I purchased calci sand, and had been using it for months. I had no problems with it as far as my beardie's health, BUT I will never buy it again. I was using the natural brown color and it stained my beardies feet a dark brown. He looks like he is wearing socks. (i'm hoping they will fade back to normal) Also it is the dustiest (sp) stuff I have ever seen. My dragon was always dusty, and cleaning was a mess. And if my dragon got stirred up he kicked up dust everywhere. If you want the look of sand, go with playsand. Its cheaper anyway. Forget the colored sand, let his true colors show through. Just my opinion and experience. PS: I no longer use sand at all. Its just a pain in my book.

Thanks guys.

yup, i bought a beardy off my moms friend the other day and it was very sick and i wanted to try to revive it. (75 bucks for the enclosure and everything so why not try and save it right?) the beardy at first was very lazy and unhealthy. wouldnt eat or anything. the tank came with sand so i left it for about 3 weeks. about a week ago i cleaned out the tank and put in outdoor/indoor carpeting like my other beardy. now shes more active and eating habits are better. her feet also look like she has socks on. i raised her back to health and now shes and active healthy beardy. now all i need is a name... ive had her for a month with no name. right now its Mr. Lizard
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Thanks in Advance
Stephan S.

I just switched to the indoor outdoor carpet.. How do you like it? I think it is much easier to keep clean, and cheap enough to replace.

I have a name suggestion for you. Call him NoSocks since now that he's off the sand, he doesn't have 'socks' anymore

Thats lame, call him Baba-Mustapha.

>>Thats lame, call him Baba-Mustapha.

And that's not? I'd call him

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
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Rob Talkington