DPtortiose
Member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2015
- Messages
- 97
This discussion has been done to death in other parts of the hobby. There were certain keepers who claimed keeping Bearded dragons on sand was extremely dangerous. This was a load of nonsense of course, natural ground types very rarely cause impaction. Improper husbandry does however, a combination of low temperatures and dehydration didn't allow the digestive track to pass the material.
Besides wild tortoise are known to swallow all sorts of large 'invasive' object without any problems. T. hermanni for example are known to eat bird shells, snails, a whole range of beetles with indigestible shields and even small stones. Hatchlings are known to eat sand from the nest to (assumingly) help digestion. It's not so much the material that animal is kept on, but the temperature and humidity the animal lives in.
I can see why cypress mulch would be perhaps preferred over sand, since it's easier to hold humidity, but I sincerely doubt it makes much of an difference with good husbandry.
Besides wild tortoise are known to swallow all sorts of large 'invasive' object without any problems. T. hermanni for example are known to eat bird shells, snails, a whole range of beetles with indigestible shields and even small stones. Hatchlings are known to eat sand from the nest to (assumingly) help digestion. It's not so much the material that animal is kept on, but the temperature and humidity the animal lives in.
I can see why cypress mulch would be perhaps preferred over sand, since it's easier to hold humidity, but I sincerely doubt it makes much of an difference with good husbandry.