Reptile & Amphibian Forums

explain to my husband that calcium sand is not good for a bearded dragon. A local pet store is offering 50% off everything because it is going out of business, and Lord help him- his heart was in the right place- he bought a bunch of T-Rex bone-cal sand for our dragon.

The pet store owner must have wanted to get rid of the stuff awfully bad because she filled my husband's head full of reasons why he should buy it. Would someone please list for me the reasons I should not use it so that I may print it out and show my husband? He doesn't seem to think I know more than the "all mighty" pet store owner. If I am wrong, please feel free to tell me the benefits of using this sand.

Thank you!

its known to cause impaction....this in itself is more then enough reason to not use a substrate... nice of him to go out and buy something he thought was good fro your dragon tho..on the weekend my man picked out a new basking log for carrick, we werent even at the store for that, but he wanted it, and even took a couple hours of his saturday afternoon..to "hollow" out one area inside the log so he could crawl all the way through it as most of it was already hollow and doubles as a great cave..guys can be so sweet sometimes

Its also NOT digestable like the package claims..there is a website out there where someone did an experiment with it and found its not digestable in a lizards stomach. i really wish i knew the address, but maybe someone else does
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~Melissa~

Melissas Menagerie

Main reason to not use is what reiko stated impaction, can be deadly in dragons. Also most is made of silica sand which has sharp edges, used to make glass. If was a nice jesture though maybe they can give you credit towards other thinks in the store if they don't refund your money. Good Luck.
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Sorry to say but I've used T-Rex Bone Aid sand for years on numerous lizards, I've never had an impaction. I know of the very flawed experiment that a young woman on here performed and her data is at best weak. She used large amounts of a calcium carbonate sand that was intended as a cattle food additive, and small amounts of acids. Little wonder it turned into a gooey mess.

To the poster who said that it contains silica, get your facts straight. Play sand is silica and comes from Quartz. Calci Sand is calcium carbonate, the same calcium carbonate that is in your mineral supplement, that is if you use one.

Lizards I have that currently on Calci Sand.
4 Beardies, on it for two years now, no impactions.
3 Mali Uros, 18 months, no impactions.
2 B&W Tegus, 22 months, no impactions. These guys eat a lot of it.
8 Leopard Gex, 3 years, no impactions. These eat it intentionally for the calcium.
1 White Throat Monitor, 1 year, no impactions.

In addtition to not having impactions I've never witnessed what I have with play sand. Undigested play sand in the stools. If anything could cause an impaction play sand would.

Some of the posters here get that bone in their teeth and can't let go. Others read the former's posts and blindly repeat what they read. Doesn't make it fact. The biggest drawbacks to Calci Sand it the expense and certain of the colors stain your lizards. It does need to be changed occaisionally but so does play sand.

If you'd like to perform and experiment try disolving play sand in any strength acid. It won't it's inert in acids. Please don't try to justify it with the "silica sand converts to calcium in the digestive tract" argument. Silica is a pure element and if it can convert to calcium then lead can turn into gold.

BigT

If you jumped from a bridge I would surely jump only if I got to hold your hand, because you are one real lucky person.lol. Make sure to post when your vet removes it from their intestines. good luck buddy. my 6 cents
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Well in looking back at the previous posts I see your the one who incorrectly said that it is made of silica. Get your facts straight before you attack buddy.

So Mattman what do you use?

BigT

Well in looking back at the previous posts I see your the one who incorrectly said that it is made of silica. Get your facts straight before you attack buddy.

So Mattman what do you use? How many years of herping experience do you have?

BigT

I personally take no chance with any substrate that could be swallowed. I use paper towels, repti-carpet, and have started using a non slip plastic liner. These all give no risk of impaction what so ever, are extremely sanitary, and easy to keep clean on a daily basis, no feces in my tanks. Why risk death to our beloved pets, when there are other much healthier things available. Pick that apart bigtatto.
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just my opinion of course
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When I was shopping for a new substrate I visited a local(highly respected) herp store that advised me not to use Calci-sand because they had 3 different cases of calcium overdose within the last year. Not their own, but people shopping for a new pet.

Sounds like a good reason to me...

the stuff is calcium carbonate, same stuff used in antacids, which could mean calcium sand acts as an antacid which neutralizes stomach acids, adversely effecting digestion. You can look that up on the net, i read it awhile back. Also just the sand itself ingested can cause impactions, the particles are large and if you get it wet it gets gummy and dries hard, i wouldnt put any of my animals on it, thats for certian.

I like wheat bran for my dragons, and my dragons love living on it

I bought my first baby gecko about 2 years ago and the 'pet store owner' told me to use calci-sand. He said it looks good and won't hurt them at all. It will even give them the much needed calcium if they should happen to eat it. Within a couple of weeks my gecko wasn't eating and started to look thin so I took him to the vet. His response was 'calci-sand is for the owner not the lizard! It may be pretty to look at but it will harm your animal!! Get them off of it immediately!!!' Well my gecko had eaten enough of it that no matter what we tried he died. I won't put any of my lizards on calci-sand or any other sand for that matter. I use reptile carpet. It may not be as pretty but I have healthy lizards...gecko's and dragons!!!

I've been using Vita-Sand for my leos. It is much finer than Calci-Sand so it doesn't cause impaction.

Randi

and you get this great hard packed sand.... you can pour it when wet into those cute little plastic castle maker molds and make castle to decorate your lawn, garden or patio... course this should also tell you what it does inside a reptile's stomach when it hits the fluid there

We have also found that it is good for keeping the birds claws filed down if you give them a castle and they can also sharpen their beak on it Course if they eat it , if's safe as as they have the ability to store sand and gravel to aid in breaking down seeds they also eat.

Don't put it down the drain... we have also found it turns to rock and the plummer gets to take his kids to Disney World on our paycheck that week.

Hope this helps with the useful purposes of calci-sand

Gee, calci sand sounds like stuff I bought to sculpt with called Winterstone. Hardens has hard as steel.

Reading it from people who have a lot of experience in the herp business will have a bigger impact than if it was just me telling him about the dangers. Thank you so much!

*Bezz