Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want my future (next week) hognoses environment to be as natural as i can get it. I was think of using filtered playground sand as the substrate. I know someone who uses this without problem.

Anyone have any experience with this substrate? I don't want to risk impaction. Why isn't sand a threat in the wild?

Thanks in advance..

Oh yeah...bring this forum back to life!
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0.0.2 RES's (The Boondock Saints)
0.0.1 Common Snapping Turtle (Aggro)
0.0.1 Eastern Red Bellie (Jake)
0.0.1 Map Turtle (Mappy)
0.2.0 Bearded Dragon (Yeungling,Killian)

I recently went to the Jacksonville Zoo (FL) and they had a display that housed an Eastern Box Turtle, a Gopher Turtle, and Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, and an Eastern Hognose together on a sand substrate. I do not know that I would care to house those species together, but they didn't seem to mind the sand at all. I do not know if that was just a daytime enclosure or not, though I doubt it. Do not know if that helps or not.
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Jenea

1:3 Eastern Hognose
0:0:1 Florida Redbelly
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:0 Red-eared Slider
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

I think we can all agree that is a very risky setup! Especially since hogs have been documented TRYING to eat box turtles (going back to the 1800's here). I just read an article about the remains of a box turtle with a copperhead fang imbedded in a limb.

Substrate: Using sand as a substrate under the sole premise that it is natural is pure bunk. There is nothing natural about UTHs and 4 glass walls. The rules of the wild are usually not applicable to captivity. Aspen is the preferred substrate of MANY people. I have used sandY (not pure sand, mixed with peat moss and leaf litter) substrate for exhibits just fine, but maintaining sanitation is MUCH harder (it doesn't clump liked you'd think, and it doesn't dry out like it does in aspen). I have used the calci-sand products with a Western and had problems with the nares clogging up because of the larger grain size. Conclusion: don't let your decisions be guided by a bias towards so-called natural, go with what has worked for 1000's of others in captivity.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Just so we are clear, I was only reporting something I saw at a zoo. I do not work there, or even live close by. I just made note of the exibit because it was interesting. Not to mention the Boxie was full grown, I doubt any Hog would attempt that one unless it was deaperate! As I said in my previous post, I do not agree with housing those species together.
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Jenea

1:3 Eastern Hognose
0:0:1 Florida Redbelly
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:0 Red-eared Slider
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

I work at a zoo, and yes, that does sound like a very strange thing to do (as far as the two snakes). We have very few, if any multi-species herp exhibits, due to that fact. The ones I can think of off hand are some Sanzinias with some Day Geckos and some aquatic box turtles with some skinks.

I thought it odd myself. It was part of their "Wild Florida" exhibit. The Florida Loop it was called. The Diamondback was the biggest I has ever seen. Its head was at least the size of a womans softball!! Off track, sorry. It was not the only multi-species exhabit they had. They also had either the Cottonmouth or Copperhead in with other reptiles. I just cannot remember which ones, that exhibit did not impress me as much as the Hoggie one. The only local venemous snake not represented was the coral, though they did have a good replica. Anyhow, my point to begin with was not the multi species, just that the zoo used a sand substrate.
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Jenea

1:3 Eastern Hognose
0:0:1 Florida Redbelly
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:0 Red-eared Slider
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

Well, the reason we don't have corals is the difficulty of getting them to eat in captivity, and the fact that they don't make the best exhibit animals (always trying to hide). I have seen some at other zoos where they have multispecies exhibits with venomous snakes and non-venomous, so it must be somewhat common (I think I saw that at the Colombus Zoo).

We have Sanzinia at the zoo I work for too. You haven't had any problems with the Sanzinia eating the Phelsuma? That sounds like an interesting idea. What species of Phelsuma do you use? What zoo is this exhibit at?

I believe we have phelsuma m. grandis (If I remember correctly). I just know it as the Madagascan Giant Day Gecko - little green guys. We've had no problem with the Sanzinias trying to eat them - since our Sanzinias are pretty old (I think 18-22 years old or thereabouts). The geckos are way too fast, and we keep the sanzinias well fed. I work at the Abilene Zoo in West Texas as the Education Curator.

No problem, I took the post as exactly as you describe below.

>>Just so we are clear, I was only reporting something I saw at a zoo. I do not work there, or even live close by. I just made note of the exibit because it was interesting. Not to mention the Boxie was full grown, I doubt any Hog would attempt that one unless it was deaperate! As I said in my previous post, I do not agree with housing those species together.
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>>Jenea
>>
>>1:3 Eastern Hognose
>>0:0:1 Florida Redbelly
>>0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
>>1:0 Red-eared Slider
>>2:0 Cats
>>1:1 Kids
>>1:0 Spouse
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I think some animals can be housed together no problem. If enclosure big enough. I dont see anything in the slightest wrong with two full grown turtles like that with a hognose and rattle snake.
My friend has a yellow ratsnake and a cornsnake for over 7 yrs housed together in a large climbing display type enclosure at her job.
I think if large enough and you dont house something like a kingsnake with a hognose,etc than no big deal. I like mixed displays if large enough.
Since my tank is only 20 gallon long it houses 1 hognose male baby.

The Houston Zoo had an exhibit with Emerald Boas and Dart frogs some years ago. The dart frogs stayed hidden most of the time except when the misters were on.
Jim

Hi all,

I work at the Jacksonville Zoo, although I'm not a reptile keeper. I just wanted to clarify a couple of things. First of all, there is no hognose snake in with the Eastern Dimond Back Rattlesnake. The EDB enclouse includes aa massive EDB, a gopher tortoise and a Floriday Pine Snake. There is another enclosure that has a gopher totoise and a box turtle. There is an enclosure with only a copperhead. And an enclosure with a cottonmouth and a stinkpot. We also have a dusky pygmy rattlesnake with no other species in it and there is an enclosure with a Canebreak rattlesnake and a gray rat snake. There are also a few other exhiibits but those are the ones with venomnous snakes. And yes, the coral snake is fake, but the kingsnake beside it is not.
I cannot tell you what the substrates are becuase, as I said, I'm not a keeper and I'm not in there all that much becuase I work mostly in other areas.
Just thought I'd clarify a bit

Jonathan