No need to continue this thread

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December 6th is fast appraoching!

Is sand safe for monitors? Maybe he's getting impacted? I know they like to dig...how about throwing in some sterile plant dirt for him to mess around in? Maybe he wants to be handled more? I dunno, just throwing ideas out there for ya...

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Some think they can. Some wish they could. Some do.

We have thought of that. But we have watched him, and he's not eating or even digging in the sand. He just lays there. And no intestinal problems, everything is working fine. Most of the time, he's not even touching the sand, he lays on top of one of his hides. We are having touble handling him, he is very aggressive, I think he was abused before. You come anywhere near him and he puffs up and hisses, and he will bite you. It stresses him to be handled, it takes a few minutes to catch him and then when you have him he is fighting to get away, so we have kept any handling to a minimum. He's been with us around a month, and he is not calming down. He is much better than when he came in, but not really happy. I have no idea what his life was like before. Only that he had been abandoned and was without food and water for 1 month before we got him, so maybe he just needs more time to adjust? I will see if I can find a different substrate for him in the mean time. Thanks!

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December 6th is fast appraoching!

He could be bummed because when he tries to dig in the sand, it just caves back in on him....
They love to hide in burrows that they made (makes them feel safe).I would try mixing in some sterile potting soil in the sand you already have and add some flatter type wood for him to make a burrow under. Just make sure it forms in your hand when you squish it in your hand so it don't cave in on him.
Have you had a fecal test on him lately?
I would love to see him!

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Some think they can. Some wish they could. Some do.

Yawn...I am sleepy...I took a nap while the power was out here. He's checked out ok as far as testing goes. I can send you a pic of him...I will try to do that here in a little while.

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December 6th is fast appraoching!

Hmm, I dunno, but I do know I'd get rid of that calci sand for your Leopard Geckos. If you really feel you must use sand, use a fine-grained playground sand. Much safer and cheaper than any sand you'll see in a pet store, and looks more natural. However, if you're going for a look that best mimics their natural habitat, ditch the sand completely and get some slate, shale, and/or clay. Otherwise I'd use tiles, paper towels, or carpet. Leopard Geckos don't even come from sandy areas, calci sand can easily cause compactions, and since their not supposed to eat the sand anyway, having calcium in it is only a bad idea cause it will encourage them to swallow it. Although there's less risk for your monitor than for your Leopard Geckos, you might wanna ditch the calci sand for him too and go with a dry soil/playground sand mix, with plants and grass.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

We talked with a friend of ours who is a herpatologist (spell?) about our substrate after I read your post. He recommends what we have. Any healthy rep will not eat sand. And he had a fit over the paper towel thing...that is a fire hazard, no matter what you use to heat the tank. He said the best substrate for them is the sand, but you could mix in some aquarium gravel for a little texture change. He talked to us about the evolution of paper towel, tile, and laminate type materials in the keeping of reps. He doesn't recommend it, says it may be easy to maintain, but that is about it. So, we have decided to keep our tanks the way they are. I, mean, hey, can't get better advice than that from someone who studies them for a living. Our guys are happy, and the SM is happier now that we are giving him some larger live prey to chase. We do appreciate the info, but we are going to keep what they have. Also, my friend made this point, no leo's don't live in really sandy areas in the wild, but nowhere in the world do you find them living on paper towel, carpet, or tile. So, I have to agree with him, trying to give them a nice, sterile environment so they never get hurt ends up with unhappy animals, who die of boredom! See ya later!

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December 6th is fast appraoching!

Its not so much that they eat it it is that it gets stuck to the food and is accidently swallowed. This is a danger with any particulate substrate.
If its hot enough to start a paper lining on the bottom of the tank on fire your reptile is long dead and cooked. The ignition temp of paper is 451F.
The use of sand as a substrate for anything is a long on going debate. There is a danger of impaction. And as bad as sand would be to pass aquarium gravel would be worse.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I use sand for the big Bearded Dragons, but carpet for the smaller ones, mind you at the moment i'm testing linolium = cushion floor, its easier to keep clean but it stains when they poo, so i'm thinking about going back to the repti-carpet, the only thing with the repti-carpet is you cant see the cricket poo whereas with this lino stuff you can and its cleaned up quite easily, same with the sand, I think its murder to keep clean unless you sieve it every day, as you do get the odd crickets hiding what come out at night and poo all over.

We have no trouble keeping our sand clean. We do not leave live crickets in the tank, we only put in as much as they will eat, and if there are any left over...we remove them. We hand feed all worms, and our Leopard Geckos are potty trained. They only go in one corner of the tank...even the babies. I guess we have weird Leopard Geckos. And as for sand sticking to the food...it won't stick to dry crickets...everything else we hand feed. I just feel it is cruel to keep something as a pet and keep it on a paper towel...how low grade is that? You shouldn't keep something that is unhappy, and as long as my Leopard Geckos continue to be happy, we won't change a thing.

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December 6th is fast appraoching!