Hello,

This topic is often debated online, and I would like to start a discussion about it on HC.

My largest interest with this topic right now is everyones personal opinions on these types of substrates. What have been your personal experiences while using these substrates?

For those that don't know what a calcium carbonate substrate is, let me explain.

The entire "Calci-sand" line made by t-rex is a perfect example. There are often multiple color variations of this sand type substrate.

Calcium carbonate is a mineral. It is calcium in one of its purest forms. It is sold as a "safe" substrate for reptiles because it is made of calcium and is 100% digestible.

My personal opinion of this type of substrate is that it is not only completely unnatural, but it is utterly dangerous for use with reptiles. I won't go into any specifics as to my reasoning, because I want unbiased responses to this topic. I will however subscribe to this thread to ensure I read everyones thoughts and will add my opinions and information as the discussion evolves.

If you have used these types of products, or currently use these products, post your experience with them. How long have you been using them, or were using them, and why you switched if you were using them.

If you experienced an impaction, or other illness related to the use, please post that as well. If your vet suggested you remove your animal from this substrate, I would LOVE to hear about it, and will likely contact you via PM for their contact info. lol

This thread isn't to bash the substrate. I am earnestly interested in any and all info surrounding its use.

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.:: Rich ::.

+ Spread The Info

Back in the day when I first started doing reptile rescue, I got in a herd of Bearded Dragon babies, and they were just little terds, lol. I did not know as much about the Bearded Dragons as I did not get them in very often. This was a long time ago. I went to the petstore,, I knew I needed a higher uvb light than the typical iguana ones I had, I also had no idea about the substrate to use, so I ask the pet store owner, he hooks me up with all this stuff that I needed for these babies, one including the calcium substrate. My first thought was,,yikes this stuff is spendy, lol. But , I bought it anyway,,,,,, you know it was supposed to be great for them, if they ingest it no big deal, it is calcium and good for them. BOY was I WRONG! A couple of months go by, and my herd is eating great, they take all their crickets, and attack their greens, so I am happy. I did notice that they were ingesting this stuff when they ate, especially on their greens because they would attack the bowl and fling the food on the substrate and it would stick to it,, they would then eat it. No big deal I thought. Well as time went on noticed one stopped eating and became very sluggish, I seperated him and put him in his own setup with the calci sand,,, nothing changed, he just got worse. I took him into a vet and he died within 30 minutes of being in there. I had a necropsy done as suggested by the vet. they found blockage with the calci sand in the lower intestines. I felt like a total terd! Lesson learned!

I will go to my storage tomorrow and pull all my old records, and look for his,, I know there is a file with all the pics of the necropsy and all his basic care I did for him while he was here. When I find his records I will send you all of it as I really do not need them anymore.

The only thing that struck me as interesting was in this tangled mess of calci sand in the intestine there was also some undigested food particles with that. Definately something that struck me as odd.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

As unbelievable as it may sound, that is not odd at all. At least not to me. It was in fact what I would have expected to read from anyone that has seen an impaction from this stuff.

Calcium carbonate (cc) is an acid neutralizer. Its one of the primary ingredients in most over the counter (otc) medications like Tums. The more cc that gets ingested, the harder it gets for normal stomach acids to do their job on things as basic as a cricket or its veggies. The acid can become so neutralized, the calc-sand itself has now become an impaction risk. This is exactly what you experienced. Leopard geckos and Bearded Dragons are 2 of the most common kept species on this stuff, and they are the 2 species most likely to have drastic reactions to its ingestion. This is amplified when they are hatchlings.

__________________
.:: Rich ::.

+ Spread The Info

I've honestly never used it.

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

Yes they were just little terds. It is an awful thing to figure out the hard way. This was back in the day where I believed everything that was told to me by someone who worked in a pet store. I at the time also kept my iguanas on reptile bark. With this instance, I started doing a lot of research on substrates and realized that was junk too. Now its either tile, linoleum, or paper towels!

That is an interesting point you have about the undigested food, it is something that has baffled me for years! Even the vet could not answer that question.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

I have never purchased any, but sometimes I am given some with leopard geckos I take in or what have you....I use it for my tarantulas sometimes or the hermit crabs....they are safe on it in my opinion...everyone else has newspaper....

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

I was sold cali sand when I purchased my first leo. And like everything else the pet store employee told me about leo care it was wrong too! It wasn't cheap, like $10 a bag and I bought two! I got rid of it as soon as Rich suggested that I do so and have used paper towels ever since.

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Kelly

My pets:
Leopard Gecko ~ Ducky
Rabbit ~ Chester
Kitten ~ Lil Fang
Black Bear Hamster - Charlie
Parakeet ~ Ray
Eastern Box Turtle ~ Ollie
Hermit Crab ~ Mr. Crabs
Teddy Bear Hamster ~ Poppy RIP 7/12/07

I have never used that product before. I never saw how you could keep the inhabitants from eating too much of it. Too little calcium is just as bad as way too much.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

since I am an avid person on re-creating natural environment as best as possible, i would never put it in there. For the plain and simple reason is its not found out in the wild where your creature is orginally from.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

When we first started seeing the calci-sand in the stores, and were told how wonderful a product and how great it was for the reptiles, we bought some right away. My daughters ball python ended up with horrible sores starting on his underbelly scales from irritation from the "sand" getting under his scales. We quit using it for him. We did continue using it for our beardeds and the one impacted and died possibly from ingesting it. The only thing I am currently using the leftover for is the bottom of the birds cage, as he cannot access it. It does make it easy to clean the birds poops up. I will never again use it for any reptile, and do not suggest any use it for reptiles.