Okay, so I have been using a 50/50-ish mix of Bed-a-Beast coir and calci-sand for my Russian Tortoise. Honestly I'm not sure what people mean by 50/50 sand/coir... weight? volume before coir is expanded? after? Just eye-balling it after mixing and saying "hmmm, looks like half and half"?!?! Anyways...
I am reading on various websites that calci-sand is horrifically bad for reptiles and causes gut impaction. So is there some fundamental difference between play sand and calci-sand? Seems like if play sand is for playing and calci-sand is designed specifically for reptile enclosures it should be as good or better than play sand right? Do I need to dump out my freshly mixed 3 bricks coir, 1 bag calci-sand substrate and get play sand instead? My tortoise likes to walk haphazardly through his food and cover it with sand from time to time and will scavange for bits of for in the substrate and eat them. He is surely ingesting plenty of substrate and I've never had any problems with him. He seems happy, active and healthy with a voracious appetite.
I do understand that calci-sand (or play sand for that matter) by itself is an unacceptable substrate for a Russian. Half sand half coir seems to be the consensus so that's what I use, but I wasn't aware that calci-sand was deadly while play sand was not. Is this true? If so, why does calci-sand exist if it is inferior to play sand (and by many accounts deadly) as a reptile substrate. If play sand so much better, why doesn't the company just package play sand in a reptile-themed bag and sell that at the same price?
I will surely get play sand the next time around if only for the fact that it will be much cheaper, but is this stuff really so deadly that I need to toss this substrate? Again - he has lived in this same mixture for 3 years or so with no problems. I know this doesn't mean there won't eventually be a problem, though...
Thanks,
Jacob
I am reading on various websites that calci-sand is horrifically bad for reptiles and causes gut impaction. So is there some fundamental difference between play sand and calci-sand? Seems like if play sand is for playing and calci-sand is designed specifically for reptile enclosures it should be as good or better than play sand right? Do I need to dump out my freshly mixed 3 bricks coir, 1 bag calci-sand substrate and get play sand instead? My tortoise likes to walk haphazardly through his food and cover it with sand from time to time and will scavange for bits of for in the substrate and eat them. He is surely ingesting plenty of substrate and I've never had any problems with him. He seems happy, active and healthy with a voracious appetite.
I do understand that calci-sand (or play sand for that matter) by itself is an unacceptable substrate for a Russian. Half sand half coir seems to be the consensus so that's what I use, but I wasn't aware that calci-sand was deadly while play sand was not. Is this true? If so, why does calci-sand exist if it is inferior to play sand (and by many accounts deadly) as a reptile substrate. If play sand so much better, why doesn't the company just package play sand in a reptile-themed bag and sell that at the same price?
I will surely get play sand the next time around if only for the fact that it will be much cheaper, but is this stuff really so deadly that I need to toss this substrate? Again - he has lived in this same mixture for 3 years or so with no problems. I know this doesn't mean there won't eventually be a problem, though...
Thanks,
Jacob