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Eating Sand

Posted By:

Justin S.

In Relation To:

Cali

Is it ok for my bearded dragon to eat a little bit of its sand? How much is dangerous?

Attached Photos:


Points:	150
Topics:	General Health , Feeding , Digestive
Tags:	Ingestion, Sand
Species:	Lizards > Lizards > Pogona vitticeps
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Accepted Answer

2/7/2009 11:23:34 PM

ChrisMontgomery

it depends on the sand. calcium sand is generally ok, but i have even heard of intestinal impactions from that. real sand like playground sand and beach sand are not ok in any amounts, they are abrasive and can hurt your beardies.

the real answer is more of a suggestion: put those guys on paper! paper towels as babies and newspaper or butcher paper as adults. no impactions! i even knew a guy who kept his babies on small paper napkins so that he could change the soiled ones more easily. best of luck!

Assisted Answer

2/7/2009 11:41:36 PM

deathscythe801

I agree with Chris. I keep all my baby beardies on paper towels if they are fed crickets in cage. I house my 7 adults on play sand but feed them crickets inside of a bare plastic bin. This also helps to monitor how much they are eating. this eliminated any and all risk of impaction.

Member Comment

2/8/2009 12:31:26 AM

Kaiyudsai

CALCIUM SAND IS BAD.............. calcium carbonate turns into concrete when it reacts with Hydrochloric acid

Member Comment

2/8/2009 1:25:39 PM

ChrisMontgomery

kai is right!

i have seen geckos and beardies do well on calci-sand and then one day their guts are rock hard and they die 2 weeks later from starvation.

JD is right too, feed those guys in a seperate container :)

Member Comment

2/8/2009 1:47:07 PM

Kaiyudsai

I don't know what genius invented calci sand...... He definately slept during chemistry class....LOL

Assisted Answer

2/8/2009 8:29:04 PM

jenerallizationn

I reccomend using brown paper bags or paper towels. Besides the risk of impaction, it is best to keep babies on a harder surface while their bones and joints are developing. Adults can stay on sand, but feed the crickets/worms in a seperate container as to not accidently ingest any sand while gobbling them up. :)

Member Comment

2/8/2009 8:51:59 PM

Joseph Jenkins

I use paper towels untill they are a little over a foot, then i use playsand.

Member Comment

1/14/2011 7:34:17 AM

abi21491

This question has had no activity for 14 days and will be closed by an administrator unless the original poster takes action.

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