I have had problems with a group of chucks that originated in the Box Canyon area, and I finally took a few adults to the vet. One big male started having weakness in first one limb then another, and I have had a devil of a time keeping weight on one female. One other female died.

So the first thing we did were xrays which revealed nothing as far as bone changes go. But the male had a GI track full of sand! The lab work reveals that there is a nutrient deficiency, but not a calcium deficiency, so the male at least has not been absorbing his other nutrients. We strongly suspect that the sand is at least partly responsible. It is also possible that these chucks have a blood parasite or a latent virus that is causing many of these issues. Where such a virus would have originated is a mystery, but I suspect that it probably would not have originated in the wild.

I just got off the phone with Doug Dix who stressed that chucks, particularly wc, do not do well on sand. I will be getting a copy of the xrays and will send them to Doug, and post them here. In the meantime, I am in the process of flushing the big male out, and both will be given Oxbow Critical care to replace nutrients and hopefully increase appetite.

I know that many keepers use sand as a substrate and believe that it is fine. I have to wonder how many animals are not as fine as we think. A friend did make a suggestion about sand use, though. If you use sand, make sure that it is only a base substrate and that most of the living surface is boulders and rocks.

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