Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone's lizard actually ever die because of this sand? I mean, from personal experience? Because it would seem that if it was so dnagerous, it would be taken off the market by humane services.
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~Julie~

God are you kidding? Do you know how many things on our shelves have killed animals, even humans. Hot rocks or those hot mats are another of the killers. It sure would be a safe and perfect world if all the stuff that killed an animal was taken of the shelves. Fact is there is to much money to be made by selling these products to uneducated people who have yet to experiance a tragedy. I did have a leopard gecko die from that junk. Not a pretty sight, but very rememberable.
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Ya, thats true. It's kinda scary how much you have to research everything you buy...I mean, you should be able to trust these "educated" people who make it. Is Vita-Sand the same as Calci-sand? Jw...I bet it is. I plan on using sterilized play sand though.
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~Julie~

Yeah and it sucks about the false info printed on a lot of products, like how calcisand is "digestable", and how cedar bedding packaging sometimes has pics of many small animals that are usually allergic to it on it, and how little 2 gallon fish bowls have tons of tropical fish printed on the box swimming around in them... so much false info, and people go by what they see on the package if they are uneducated. =(
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~Melissa~

Melissas Menagerie

Hey from what I have been reading and from vets advise:

NO SAND!!! of any kind....

I have stuff now that is going in the trash today
(walnut shell chips to be exact)

after reading all the posts here and talking to the vet here is what I am starting to think of all this:

1) any material in the cage *CAN* be a place for bacteria, protozoans and other stuff to hang out and get into your dragons gut.

2) any small material can be ingested.

3) if it's not there they can't be harmed by it.

4) seems like some things are worse than others but in the end it's a crap-shoot, after spending hundreds or thousands of $$$ and you time and love do you want to gamble with the life of this reptile who depends on you to care for him/her?

granted some things are far less likly to cause problems than others.... and some folks go years without a problem....

but then you hear of that one time when....

so you decide: better safe than sorry or take a chance?
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Why take chances with pets we hold so dear. Makes not one bit of sense to me. Personally I also use no substrate that can be ingested. Even if some say my set up looks ugly, or plain because I use paper towels, or repti-carpets. The dragons inside are beautiful, And safe I actually just started using a non slip plastic linner for all my cages. Dragons get good traction on it, spotless cages now. With a wet paper towel I'm able to clean everything out daily. Safe, sanitary, and easy to use. That's an extra bonus when you got 6 tanks to clean daily. Just my opinion. Why take chances? That's the reason I also dust with cal with vit d3 and also provide uva/uvb lights. Why go half way?
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Sounds good to me! What kind? I have 6 tanks to clean daily too...
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TheClassyLizard

It's been great so far. I took the plastic shelf liners you would get at wal-mart and cut them to fit the tanks. They are non-slip so the branches and rocks don't slide, and the dragons get footing. This works great to keep a spotless tank. You just take a spray bottle with water, and scoop and wipe the poop out. Once a week I take them out, through in the repti-carpets and clean them real good with a bleach and water mixture. When you put it back in make sure it is totally dry, because if you put it in wet the wetness gets trapped under it. I was also suprised that under 5 minutes in the hot tanks the plastic forms and attaches right to the bottom of the cages, No lost crickets. So far so good. I would recommend it. Worth a try, seems very sanitary.
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Be sure to keep it clean. Use some bleach when you clean it to help minimize the risk.
Nothing is without risk. You just have to figure out what works best for your setup and your schedule etc.
Just thought I would point that out.

Joel R

I got it for my Kenyan Sand Boa and it killed her. The problem is that it gives off a fine powder and if injested in large amounts is unhealthy. So in reality it is better to stick to washed playsand.

Sorry but here goes:

Food for thought:

"Play Sand" is Silica sand.... which is also used to make sandpaper to sand wood and other "soft" material.

so what might it do inside your pets digestive tract?

it can't be good AFAIK.
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I don't want to use the repti-carpet, it's too much work when your wirking with a big cage, having to clean it everyday. And I want it to look natural. I'm sure sand it OK, I mean, what do they do in the wild? Mother Nature doesn't replace the sand for carpet when it's time to eat.
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~Julie~