SAND

[Tyanna]

Ok, I'm getting real sick of these Facebook groups. I have always learned sand is a big NO NO.

I inquired about someone giving advice to use sand for a turtle tank -- I asked if it could cause impaction like a tortoise.

They said "A turtle will simply pass the sand, just like any HEALTHY tortoise would. Only unhealthy turtles & tortoises won't pass it."

I'm just in awe, because they said the impaction issue is a myth. Someone help me, I'm utterly confused now, as I seen so many pictures of sand impaction..

 

[Merrick]

Hermannii Chris and others use sand in their tortoise pens and some use it in bio active enclosures but I have never personally dealt with sand or impaction for that matter

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

sand is bad! it doesn't matter if the tort is health or not, they should not be kept on sand. look at this tortoise and all the build up of sand!

 

[Merrick]

Who's tortoise is that

 

[Tyanna]

I know sand is bad. But now people are saying it won't cause impaction if you have a healthy tortoise. I kinda want to know if this is actually true or not, since sand is always said to be really bad.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

Who's tortoise is that

i don't know i got it off Facebook a while ago.

 

[Merrick]

Also most people use sand and some other material

 

[Tyanna]

In my top soil there is sand in the ingredients but there's almost none in there. I've had no problem, so with small amounts I would assume okay, but these people are saying all sand will cause no problems with a healthy animal.

 

[Tyanna]

Curious to hear @Tom answer.. If he has one.

 

[tortadise]

All sand is entirely too difficult to maintain proper balance of temperatures, humidity and a safe firm floor to help keep nail trimmed and the tortoise walking properly. I use it mixed with numerous other amounts of substrates. But never used it alone, as it wouldn't benefit any species. More arid species I use a mixture to help trickle water that's sprayed in the enclosure to make it's way to the bottom and dry out the surface. If ingested in large amounts it can cause some serious problems. Sand has a very heavy density to it and is very difficult to pass in the gut. If built up it can cause sepsis if other foods aren't passed and caught in the gut with the sand. But this purely large amounts. Which would be easier to obtain this issue if kept on strictly sand. A mixture I see no issues with. But most species even arid species should have no more than 20-25% sand mixture with other soils! mulches and substrates. Hope that makes sense.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

All sand is entirely too difficult to maintain proper balance of temperatures, humidity and a safe firm floor to help keep nail trimmed and the tortoise walking properly. I use it mixed with numerous other amounts of substrates. But never used it alone, as it wouldn't benefit any species. More arid species I use a mixture to help trickle water that's sprayed in the enclosure to make it's way to the bottom and dry out the surface. If ingested in large amounts it can cause some serious problems. Sand has a very heavy density to it and is very difficult to pass in the gut. If built up it can cause sepsis if other foods aren't passed and caught in the gut with the sand. But this purely large amounts. Which would be easier to obtain this issue if kept on strictly sand. A mixture I see no issues with. But most species even arid species should have no more than 20-25% sand mixture with other soils! mulches and substrates. Hope that makes sense.

tortoise expert!

 

[diamondbp]

I would imagine tortoises that are kept on sand alone and deal with impaction issues probably had their food lazily placed directly on the sand rather than a saucer or tray. Wet food would pick up all kinds of sand but a proper food tray would solve that problem.
That being said I would never ever use sand alone, but sand mixed with various substrates seems to be just find depending on the species.

 

[Iochroma]

I live on sand. So do many of my tortoise guests. For me the biggest problem with sand, is how easy it is for them to excavate. I have to put down subterranean walls 3 feet at least, and add an internal lip.
They seem to have a knack for avoiding eating a lot of it. Wetting it down, topping it with a layer of leaf litter, and feeding on a hard surface can also help reduce the incidental ingestion of sand. Of course, YMMV.

 

[WillTort2]

Why take the chance? If there is even a 2% chance of sand causing an impaction, why risk it.

It's a little like not looking at a RR crossing because the train only runs by this crossing twice a day; I'm all in favor of preventive measures that make sense. So, I'll look before crossing the tracks and I'll not use sand as my substrate.

 

[Merrick]

Why take the chance? If there is even a 2% chance of sand causing an impaction, why risk it.

It's a little like not looking at a RR crossing because the train only runs by this crossing twice a day; I'm all in favor of preventive measures that make sense. So, I'll look before crossing the tracks and I'll not use sand as my substrate.

Sand can some times help dig burrows which as you may know tortoises use to stay cool and hide away as well as getting some exercise

 

[Tom]

In my top soil there is sand in the ingredients but there's almost none in there. I've had no problem, so with small amounts I would assume okay, but these people are saying all sand will cause no problems with a healthy animal.

If you put 100 tortoises on a pure sand substrate, not all of them would get impacted. At least not right away. What percentage would? I'll never know. Its the people who somehow get away with this practice temporarily that go around saying its fine. They either disregard the people who have had issues and pretend it didn't happen in their own minds, or they find a way to dismiss the person who did have a sand problem by insinuating that their keeping methods are wrong or that their tortoise was somehow unhealthy.

As far as mixtures go, well its basically the same thing. Mixing the sand with something can reduce the chance of impaction, but it doesn't eliminate it. I've seen the x-rays to prove it. Still some people do it and their tortoises don't drop dead, so then they go around telling everyone that its perfectly fine. It isn't. As Will pointed out, the risk is far too great whatever it is.

 

[Tom]

Sand can some times help dig burrows which as you may know tortoises use to stay cool and hide away as well as getting some exercise

Burrows dug in soils with a high sand percentage tend to collapse.

 

[Tyanna]

So everything I've learned about sand is true, heathy animal or not. I was just surprised to hear someone say only unhealthy tortoises won't pass sand.

 

[Tyanna]

All sand is entirely too difficult to maintain proper balance of temperatures, humidity and a safe firm floor to help keep nail trimmed and the tortoise walking properly. I use it mixed with numerous other amounts of substrates. But never used it alone, as it wouldn't benefit any species. More arid species I use a mixture to help trickle water that's sprayed in the enclosure to make it's way to the bottom and dry out the surface. If ingested in large amounts it can cause some serious problems. Sand has a very heavy density to it and is very difficult to pass in the gut. If built up it can cause sepsis if other foods aren't passed and caught in the gut with the sand. But this purely large amounts. Which would be easier to obtain this issue if kept on strictly sand. A mixture I see no issues with. But most species even arid species should have no more than 20-25% sand mixture with other soils! mulches and substrates. Hope that makes sense.

It does make sense! So healthy or not, any large amount of ingested sand will NOT pass through a tortoise or turtle? The biggest mind boggle to me was that they said a healthy tortoise will not become impacted.

No more tortoise groups for me!

 

[Tyanna]

Why take the chance? If there is even a 2% chance of sand causing an impaction, why risk it.

It's a little like not looking at a RR crossing because the train only runs by this crossing twice a day; I'm all in favor of preventive measures that make sense. So, I'll look before crossing the tracks and I'll not use sand as my substrate.

I don't plan on using sand, I was just wondering if his statement about how a healthy tortoise would pass sand, not leading to impaction, was true.