Calci sand and beardies

Question

we have a baby bearded dragon in calci sand, is it safe or no? every web site says something different. we dont know what to do. our geckos are in it, and the pet stores say to use the calci but were lost. any info would be nice thanks

Answer 1

pet stores are just kids wanting a job like mc d's, they are not scientist. So dont beleave everything they say. If enuff people say its bad, it probly is. I have my beardies on napkins. Rub the sand between your fingers, it like glass. Does not look to digest well. Also beardies come from rocky areas with trees. The only sand they see is between rocks. They prefer branchies to hang out in. So I used fake rock setting with a few branchies why risk sand

Answer 2

Get it off the sand.  Even calci sand isn't fully digestible.  With ANY baby reptile it is important to keep it off a substrate until about 6-8 months of age.  As an alternative you can use paper towel, new paper, or my personal favourite carpeting.  Just some simple turf style carpeting will suffice.  It's easy to clean, reusable and looks nicer than the other two.  There are some types of fully digestible substrates out there that you can use, but when it comes to babies, it's best not to chance it and keep in on a bedding you know it won't ingest.  

Answer 3

I only use play sand in my cages, its cheaper and I found that either repti or calci sand can discolor your lizard. Also unlike play sand that does clump when wet and then can break up when dry, calci sand doesn't break back up when clumping and can clump inside the lizard and that is what leads to impaction problems. The risk is less with play sand. Also, as long as you feed him the greens in a bowl so the don't lay on the sand and get it stuck to it, he should eat very little sand. Maybe a couple of grains when catching a cricket, but it's normal.  

Answer 4

Don't  mess with the calci sand, beardies are not messy, and if they ingest too much of the sand it can cause them to be what amounts to a human version of constipation! I have used the reptile carpet that petsmart sells, newspaper, paper towels, there are way better less expensive things you can use,

Answer 5

no its not safe . dump the sand and use newspaper