Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hades and Draco are both on washed playsand (not in the same tank, Draco downstairs, Hades upstairs). I just want to be sure that the next time I change their sand (which will be in 2 weeks becuase I just put new sand in there) that I can go with silica playsand instead.

I do not really like those big chuncks of regular washed playsand. My mali uromastyx, Ares, got a scrape on his toe and had some regular playsand with big chunks stuck to it. It seemed easier to get the smaller sand pieces our and it was harder to get the big pieces out. His toe is fine now but I would also like to change his sand to silica as well if people think it is good enough for beardeds.

If you have silica playsand in your bearded home, could you post pics of it so I can see what it looks like?
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2 Mali Uromastyx-Ares & Apollo
2 Bearded Dragons- Draco & Hades
1 Saharan Uromastyx-Iris
1 Leopard Gecko-Kalypso
1 Tokay Gecko-Sid Vicious
1 Tarantula-Peter Parker
1 Amazon Red Head Parrot-Pancho
1 African Gray Parrot-Keya
1 Dog-Cheeka
3 Fish-no names
1 Beta Fish-also no name
1 Zebra Finch-Beeps

at least not on its own. It can cause respiratory problems because it is so small and often dusty, and also because of what it is made out of. I stay away from sand substrates for all my lizards. I like a combination of dirt and sand, that way as long as you keep water in it it doesn't get dusty. With the dirt and sand combination there are also pebbles and stuff that could cause a problem with impaction if a lizard managed to eat them, but they have that stuff in their natural environment so they usually know it's not something to eat. I use it with my uro (fat sam...I hope she continues to get better from her recent ailments) and she doesn't lick it or anything. I think with beardies you just might want to be careful about feeding on it. People do it without any problems though. I'm not sure I would recomend it.

It's your choice but I remember when I first got my dragon that I was told NOT to use any silica based sands. Plus, they aren't as smooth so when ingested, they can do some harm. Just stuff to think about.

a friend of mine showed me this picture yesterday. The bottom two are both playsands, but the lower is silica. It is sharp and dirty.
www.inlandreef.com/Testing/SandPhotos.html

Very different. I've always seen people recommend AGAINST silica based sands. Melissa Kaplan's website lists silica as a different sand than other playsands, and recommends against it as well.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
1.0 pictus gecko (Nicodemus)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
0.0.1 tarantula (Calcifer)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)