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Calci-sand

Do you use Calci-sand as a substrate?

  • Yes - no health problems with it

    Votes: 2 2.7%

  • Yes - but have health problems with it

    Votes: 1 1.3%

  • No - i have other preferences (eg Aspen)

    Votes: 27 36.0%

  • No - health reasons

    Votes: 45 60.0%
  • Total voters
    75
Fordie

Fordie

New member
The pet shop i got my corn from just loves this stuff, having read through some of the posts on here it seems there is a mixed opinion, but here is a poll just to see what is what coz i quite like the look of it, but if there are health risks then i guess its a def no no.
Cheers
 
Sand is no good for your snakes. It can cause an impaction, which could result in your snake dying. There is no reason to use it, aspen is a much cheaper alternative.
 
well i thought it may have adverse effects on digestion too but it seems that on further research that snakes inc. corns can digest calcium sand and that it also acts as an aid?
 
Fordie said:
well i thought it may have adverse effects on digestion too but it seems that on further research that snakes inc. corns can digest calcium sand and that it also acts as an aid?
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Nope! :wavey:
 
Absolutely not, calci-sand is very dangerous to use even for reptiles who would live on sand. The fact that its made of calcium makes it dangerous. Its sharp grains, andit doesnt digest fully leaving it jagged edged allowing it to mush and lock together with other grains, slowely building a mass in the animal. Just about every case of impaction I've heard about was due to calci-sand. Corns get their calcium from the bones of the rodents they eat, they do not eat their substrate in order to pick up nurtiants as lizards do. Loose sand can get under scales, stuck on tongues, in nostrils, mouths, eyes, vents; it is not what they are un naturally and it serves no benefit to them.
 
Fordie said:
coz i quite like the look of it, but if there are health risks then i guess its a def no no.Cheers
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The poll results look like a Saddam Hussein Presidental Election. You may want to follow the masses here and use either aspen or newspaper. Then spend your money on a nice log or something for him to climb on. Functional for him, nice for you to look at.:wavey:
 
Yea shes on newspaper at mo, saw some cool looking blue calci-sand stuff n thought wow, but given some o what ppl are sayin it seems a pretty bad idea to be gettin any of that, soz calci-sand Ltd, no custom today lol
 
Went with the coconut bark

Well got the new viv n got a substrate other than the 'Evil' Calci-sand, ended up with some coconut bark, good stuff it seems, but not electric blue like the calci-sand :cry: , tut, never mind, all is good! :rolleyes:
Heres some pix of the almost finished set up, wanna get some vine in there and a bigger climbing log, stick, whatever.
 

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I've actually USED calcisand (for 2 weeks) when I first started out keeping snakes because I didn't know better. (And pet stores are usually full of idiots). It gets under there scales, in there lungs (its dusty), sticks to their eyeballs, tracks into their water, gets on their tongue when flicking, and down to their tummy.... its awful stuff.
 
Their keeping a pretty little anery on calci-sand. I went and told them that it isn't the greatest Idea. What do they do AFTER telling me i can tell them my concerns that they should change. "We do our research and we know what we're doing and what we're talking about!" Thats when i looked at them well then what is the point of telling you my concerns if your just going to turn around and bite my head off? the lady i was talking to never said anything after that.
 
i would not use any type of sand even for a sand boa. it getsstuck too their skin and makes them not look as pretty.

Well done baba-lou. I hate the way people 'fall in to there trap'
 
I've seen the "pretty colored sand" showcasing hatchlings in pet stores too. Its just to show off their snakes to potential buyers. They usually care little about their husbandry practices, since the snakes are in their hands for only short periods before being sold. Most people employed by pet stores are just there temporarily, and could care less, or are ignorant and just know what they've been told. Its sad really.
 
I never liked it because it's hard to clean, and I had a snake get impacted from it, but I know breeders thats have used it for years and not had a problem, in fact, some well-known breeders such as Applegate have been using it on their colonies and not had a problem, I think its more of a preferance then anything else.
 
Jeez hope folks don't think I'm the devil here.

But I've used calli-sand as a substrate for many years. But not 100% calci-sand.
I do like the added color and the bonus of a little extra calcium just in case.

I've always used a 50 pound ground english walnut shell mixed with 15 pounds of cali-sand.

Never a lost a snake due to this.
My main snake lived for 15 years until she failed to fully digest her last supper. She never had an impaction problems at all she was fed on the substrate.
If the substrate was the cause of her death in the end of things I'll never know, but I would think she would have died long before 15 years or shown some signs of illness if it was negatively impacting her

So for what it's worth I'd say if you want to use it cut it with something else that's what I do and I've not had a problem.

But this is of course just my opinion.
 
No I don't use Calcium based sand substrates, the risks are too great for any reptile under 6 inches to gt impacted. As a few people have mentioned it is always very dusty and can cause serious respiratory issues with snakes.

As a side note, I am a pet store manager and I am always apalled when I walk into a store and see the the basic needs of an animal are not being met. In MY store snakes are on aspen, my little lizards are on carpet, and we tell anyone interested in calcium sand of its potential negative effects and try to steer people to safer alternatives (which is harder than you would think some people get dead set in their ways).

Cheers,
Tom
 
sand can cause serious infections on the skin of the cornsnake and can lead to a very painfull death. i wouldn't use it
 
Midnght said:
I've always used a 50 pound ground english walnut shell mixed with 15 pounds of cali-sand.
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I used to keep my BDs on this stuff (years ago) until I discovered that it is completely not digestible and it comes out whole in there poo. That was enough for me to get scared of impaction and imagining what it must feel like to poo that stuff back out. :awcrap:
 
Walnut shell is not good (For snakes.), as it dries them out and causes shedding problems. No shedding problems with aspen.
Calci-sand is evil, don't use it.
 
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