Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anyone ever try their eco-earth? [url=http://www.zoomed.com/html/eco_earth.php]click me[url]
what about the vita-sand or the repti-sand? they claim their vita-sand is not harmful in large doses. the repti-sand is basically a rounded natural sand that isn't harmful or dusty and is very samll to not cause impaction....

curious about the eco earth stuff...."Eco Earth is a compressed coconut fiber that is ideal for burrowing animals."

thoughts?

Well eco-earth is fine but do not use repti sand or vita sand they impact animals if you want a natural substrate you can get dirt w/o fertilizer or any dangerous chemicals or eco earth or you could also use washed play sand which is 2$ for 50 lbs(fills one 40 breeder)

repti-sand is in every way better then play sand its real fine real desert sand, the problem is that its expensive, to fill a good size tank it will take u anywhere from 25-40 dollars in sand, playsand is good too u just have u have to sift it and get all the big pebbles out, the repti-sand is almost dust free though where as the playsand is very dusty, and yeah the calcium sand is very bad any of those calci sand or vitamin sands are all bad , this is my egyptian occelated i have always kept him in red repti-sand, even doug dix likes the repti-sand but he too doesn't use it because for him it would be too expensive, well happy to help in any way

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1.1.0 cb red saharan uromastyx 0.0.1 cb egyptian occelated uromastyx 0.0.1 cb mali uromastyx

I was just going with info I got from other places and people.I once considered using and everyone told me it impacted them easily and that neither repti sand nor vita sand is a good subtrate and that if I wanted a natural subtrate use soil or play sand.But even if repti sand looks nice and all but 40$ to fill a tank instead of 2$?

wow, i never realized that repti-sand was not the same thing as calci-sand. i know that they are different sizes but i thought that they were all along the same lines. i used to use repti-sand when i only had one cage and yes it does get pretty expensive, but the lizards really liked it. in fact, in order to get one of my collared females to lay their eggs in their box, i had to use repti-sand. she would not lay in the playsand. hmm..maybe i can mix them
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

yeah, repti-sand and calci-sand are defiantely two very different products. I have never had any problems with repti sand, it is very fine and relavtively dust free. I choose to use fine grade washed play sand because its cheaper.

but calci-sand is VERY different, or vita-sand, or any sand claiming to be digestible. They all cause impactions and shouldnt be used.

Thanks for reading!
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1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

Just wanted to say, that is a very nice animal you have there. One of the nicest Egyptians I've seen

1.0 soon to be uro
2.0 American Bulldogs
0.2 felines
3.0 betta splenden
1.0 pet goat

You need to look at whatever sand you are using under a 10x - 20x magnifying glass. Are the grains rounded or flat edged? Are the grains all approx. the same size or are there big and small ones mixed together?
When injested the smaller sized grains fit into the spaces between the larger ones and the flat edges lock together and this is what causes impaction. The grains of whatever sand you use need to be uniform in size and well rounded. This is not a brand specific feature but a feature caused by erosion from wind or water over a very long time. True desert sand has been blown around for hundreds of thousands of years and has eroded into round grains. Any sand that is manmade or that has been collected from a source of recent erosion will be angular in shape.

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1.1.0 cb red saharan uromastyx 0.0.1 cb egyptian occelated uromastyx 0.0.1 cb mali uromastyx

i wanted to thank all of you for responding.

I have been using sifted playsand but it is WAYYYYYY too dusty for me. that is why i want to move away from that. I am thinking that it will be expensive to change to the repti-sand but it will be one big start up and that's it so it may be worth it.

Thanks again.

You can get rid of the dust by washing the sand. I put the sand in a 5 gal bucket and run water and stir until water runs clear. Then I dry (and sterilize) sand on baking sheets in the oven. Of course I have two ovens and get the sand (beach/dune sand) for free.
I'm not not saying sand is the safest substrate, or that everyone should use it - just that I've not had any problems after eight years of using it and it works well for me....

we're talking over two 50lb bags of sand. will washing it prevent it from being dusty forever?

on a side note. I have contacted soomed for some info on buyin in bulk. I will post what happens with them. see if they are helpful or not.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you ask will washing keep it from being dusty forever.... the dust is particulates > (very small particles), and once these are removed the sand will no longer be dusty... You can also purchase/order a well rounded grain sand that has already been sifted and washed. From either a pet shop that deals with tropical fish or from a local "industrial sand and gravel" company.

good to know thanks...
ok..i will try to ask a little bit better sand is dusty now, if I was it would it be dusty again later on? you basically answered the question and I am going to get ahold of my pet shop and ask what they can get for washed playsand. thanks again