| T O P I C R E V I E W |
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Posted - 24/05/2010 : 01:43:18
Hello. I was wondering if you can use special reptile sand for snakes. I have heard you can and can't. Just want to hear some opinions because I think it looks cool but I wouldn't want my snake harmed at all. Thanks! |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Fal |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 22:05:18
I say we don't use sand for any of our reps, that wasn't true lol we use it for our leopard gecko, but it is play sand as mentioned above and he isn't directly on it as such.. he has broken tiles all over it with small gaps inbetween, so bits of sand get here and there but not a lot, plus he can't try and burrow into it. It was the most natural thing we could think of doing without having just sand as, lets face it, if you just used sand, its either mimicking a beach or a sand dune desert, and leopard geckos tend to live in dry, arid, rocky terrains rather than sand dune deserts.
So as for Corn Snakes, as far as I am aware, they live in woodland/countyside/barns etc.. not sand dunes? Oooh.. a miniature corn barn in a viv hehe.. I think i'm waffling on now, sowwy.. let us know what you end up using and maybe put some pics on :) |
| LittleMick |
Posted - 25/05/2010 : 23:17:30
Ditto, Kehhlyr, Staple and Fal with the extreme, lol.
Whether you go for a naturalistic or steryle environment is upto the keeper, but as a keep you should really look at the animals activities. As Corn snakes are semi arboreal it would be ideal to give them something to climb on, then as they are mostly terestial and like burrowing you want a substrate where they can easily burrow.
I have noticed my snakey lurrrvvves burrowing, and he will go through the same tunnel he made the day before AND make new ones, this is through Aspen.
Then you have to take into account ease of cleaning, how well it holds temperatures. Although spot cleaning would be relatively easy it doesn't hold heat that well.
If you are insistant on using sand, don't buy the stuff they sell in reptile shops, buy a bag of playsand from somewhere like Argos. I think there is a member or 2 on here that have or do use it for Geckos which I am considering. You'll see sand substrate in reptile shops labelled as Calci sand, some of them haven't got any mention of Calcium on them, I am still tryiing to find out if they do or don't. You should never use calci sand for any lizards that are calcium deficient as they try to scoff it.Even if you use non calci sand you still need to beaware of how you feed you're animal. As a large point, I was told ages ago that Calci sand is mainly for the larger lizards like monitors, but even then the guidelines for impaction still apply. |
| Fal |
Posted - 25/05/2010 : 22:47:36
Sand isn't very good for anything really, bar the odd species that would be exceptions to the rule. We have two desert species of lizards, neither of which are housed on sand due to impaction. People argue that certain species would live in/on sand in the wild.. but most species that do, probably have shorter life spans than they do in captivity. The way I look at it is this, your pet could be eaten by an eagle etc.. in the wild, but you wouldn't put one of those in the viv with it lol.. a bit extreme I know, and I am all for natural looking vivs as I think they look awesome and at least give the reptile a hint of its natural habitat, but anything that can harm it I try and avoid. We use Aspen for our Corn, which is great! She burrows in it until her heart is content and it looks quite good too, but we feed her outside the faunarium to make sure she doesn't get impacted by swallowing bits of it :)
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Posted - 25/05/2010 : 16:09:12
Okay, I dont want that to happen. Thank you! |
| Kehhlyr |
Posted - 24/05/2010 : 17:57:15
I still wouldn't use either of them for corns, as stated they're more for desert dwellers as well and Cornsnakes aren't (Hence the name)  .
I am aware that some shops use sand and sandy type things for their snakes, but this is normally a preference for them because they look nicer so will sell better.
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| Sta~ple |
Posted - 24/05/2010 : 17:55:20
I don't think so... anything grainy can get under their scales. Some snake can be housed on sand but corn's can't as they can get infections from it. I'm sure it's only generally lizards, spiders and scorpions that get housed on sandy/gritty stuff. I think snakes generally just get housed on wood based substrate like newspaper, aspen and chips although if I remember correctly (sorry if I don't!) I think the chips are more for animals that require higher humidity?
If you want cheap snakey bedding that looks nice use aubois, it's horse bedding but it's just aspen that has a picture of a horse on it XD
Edit: take a gander here http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1876 |
| n/a |
Posted - 24/05/2010 : 16:58:42
Would these be suitable. It's not in the sand genre thing. it's under plants and coconut. It's not the same. But just want some opinions. http://www.netpetshop.co.uk/p-27639-prorep-reptile-ground-walnut-grit-substrate.aspx : http://www.netpetshop.co.uk/p-27675-prorep-reptile-ground-walnut-sand-substrate.aspx |
| Kehhlyr |
Posted - 24/05/2010 : 01:49:14
Sand can be used with some reptiles, but unfortunately is highky recommended to NOT use it for cornsnakes.
Other than the obvious risks of impaction through ingestion during eating it can also cause a lot of scale irritations in general, plus it's very drying so could also cause several issues with shedding as well.
If you want to use something that looks good, then why don't you try something like aspen or scent-free aubiose.
/quick edit
Most sands that are listed for sale, although say they are safe for all reptiles, in my opinion they are not.
The only reps that I would put on sand are some bearded dragons, sand skinks and sand boas.
Even then, theres a few owners that wouldn't put a sand boa on sand either because of the risk of potential problems. |
| n/a |
Posted - 24/05/2010 : 01:47:54
I've alson noticed things like walnut sand under the catogry of coconut. So I know there's different types of sand too. Anything in specific different? |
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