Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this has been beaten to death in the past and i have been in on that too...However. I have a question.

I have been running 1/2 playsand, 1/4 millet and 1/4 calciumsand stuffs. I added the calcisand recently because I was getting too much dust from the sand. The playsand has been way too dusty for me and therefore, for them. I spray them down and their colors really show through. I don't want to have to refill the entire tank...we're talkin a 4x2x2 and there is a lot of sand in there.
here's the deal.. I tried some topsoil and I liked the result but the millet starting growing to grass - no good. They like the millet. The moisture from the topsoil was making it grow - I can't have that.

I need suggestions on what to do to make this better. The calcisand was added to keep the dust down and that worked well for a bit but then got too mixed in.

Should I empty 1/2 the sand out and throw in more calcisand to give the feel of the sand without the dust? should i start from scratch? I don't want to start from scratch cause I don't have a ton of money...

give me some thoughts.......

Neat set-up, took me a minute to find the little lizzard friend!

The occasional sprouting isn't a bad thing, the Uros may even graze on it. I would think that the water spritzing would be raising the humidity in the tank quite a bit though, and that could be problematic.

I actually have not had a problem with the sand being dusty once it is in the cage (putting it in there is definitely a dusty process), could the problem be the dry soil? If that were the case if you kept changing half the current substrate with sand, eventually you would get mostly sand (which is cheap). If the sand really is the problem, I am not sure where I would go with that...

Sorry for the rambling message, not sure that is very useful.

Fun cage though!

Elizabeth
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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

i have 3. they run and dig A LOT. When they do this it gets very very dusty. The curreent config is what I stated. the topsoil is gone completely so it is just the .5 sand, .25 calc, .25 millet. When the calc was on top there was not a problem with the dust until after a week when the calc got mixed in from the digging and running.

Is the grassy stuff really ok? not bad for them to eat? i like the topsoil but I like the millet more cause they eat it. and they like to eat it so the topsoil is out of the question unless grass growing everywhere is ok.?.

They try to jump into the Kyoto pics in the back,,,they think its a way out...or maybe they really are like godzilla and just want to trample japan.....i don't know

ohh... i almost forgot to add something. I spray them down every once and a while when they get really dusty. I spray them in my hand, not in the tank, and they are totally dry before they go back in. just wanted to clarify

I would like to add my thoughts on substate if I may. "Play sand" is being described as safe to use in some books and by some people. However, the irregular size and angularity of the grains of this type of sand is what can cause it to lock together inside a reptile and cause impaction. Play sand is very irregular in size and contains many sharp edged grains (look at it under magnifying glass). It is usually a mix of different types of sand from different sources. I have kept many reptiles on sand for many years but it is a dune/beach sand that has been sifted, sterilized, and washed to remove particulates (dust) which can cause respiratory problems, and consists of very rounded and similar sized grains. I've never had a case of impaction in approx. 8 years of using it with several generations of leopard geckos, bearded dragons, and several uros. Birdseed, while digestable, contains a moderate amount of protein and a very high percentage of phospherous compared to calcium and may not be good, (just my opinion), long term if they are consuming a lot of it. Cal sand when injested acts as an antacid and interferes with digestion.
Anyway, I think that sand is ok to use as long as it is uniform in size and made up of well-rounded grains - not sharp edged such as a manmade sand or sand mined from a source of recent erosion.
You can find beach sand at pet stores that deal with aquariums (fish). I live very near the beach of Lake Michigan so I get it for free...
Paper is the safest substrate of course, but I don't think it looks as nice and is not as easy to clean as sand.