Sand is dangerouse?

[george101]

Ok, so about a year ago, my brother and I brought home two new baby beardies named Fred and George(Harry Potter fans). Everything was fine until they were a couple months old and Fred started not doing anything. No potty, no food, no getting up, but he was still alive. We took him to a herp vet and he said that Fred was er, I forget the term, but his colon was full of sand, so he couldn't eat or go to the bathroom. The petstore said sand is perfectly safe, and everyone says the same, but Fred never acually ate the sand, just the crickets, who had sand on them. Because of this Fred passed away. George now lives with me and is spoiled rotten, but it is sad that his twin can't keep him company anymore. Anyone have any opinions on this matter?

 

[kirby]

its well known, and well ignored by some keepers that sand is dangerous, especially calci-sand.

the term is impaction.

George doesn't need a friend, beardies are solitary and do far better alone.

what is his substrate now?

 

[vickson420]

Hi
I am very sorry for the loss of your beardie.
Yes sand is very dangerous especially to babies and juvies and even more so if its the reptile sand known as reptisand,calcisand or vitasand.All of these are calcium based which means they clump together and over time they turn into a rock in the gut of your beardie.Sifted washed playsand is ok for adults but it still carries an impaction risk.Generally they lick for curiosity and even though you may not have seen it he could have easily swallowed some.

 

[george101]

its well known, and well ignored by some keepers that sand is dangerous, especially calci-sand.

the term is impaction.

George doesn't need a friend, beardies are solitary and do far better alone.

what is his substrate now?

George now has shredded paper towels covering the floor, and I taped a paper towel on the glass above the heatpad to avoid burns.

 

[kirby]

please use a lamp, heat pads overheat very quickely... trust me on this. if you dont use a thermostat.

also, shredded probably isnt the best. just lay it flat.

 

[george101]

please use a lamp, heat pads overheat very quickely... trust me on this. if you dont use a thermostat.

also, shredded probably isnt the best. just lay it flat.

The paper towels were recomended by the vet, but i agree about laying it flat, i alredy took that advice, also, the heat pad works great and is safe so far, i check it often. It does worry me somtimes though. the problem is were i live it is very cold, so i try to keep one side of the cage warmer for basking. I already have a heat lamp, but it isnt enough, any recomendations?

 

[vickson420]

Hi
The problem with the heat pad is even if it doesnt overheat it can still harm your beardie.Beardies have a pineal gland(third eye) that they use to measure their temps.This is located on the top of their head and they cannot judge temps from below.This means they can become overheated and dehydrated without even knowing it.I recommend a ceramic heat emitter instead however if you absolutely must use the heat pad then I recommend placing it on the side of the tank instead of the bottom in a location where he cant get directly on it.

 

[george101]

Hi
The problem with the heat pad is even if it doesnt overheat it can still harm your beardie.Beardies have a pineal gland(third eye) that they use to measure their temps.This is located on the top of their head and they cannot judge temps from below.This means they can become overheated and dehydrated without even knowing it.I recommend a ceramic heat emitter instead however if you absolutely must use the heat pad then I recommend placing it on the side of the tank instead of the bottom in a location where he cant get directly on it.

Awsome, thanks for the advice, it helps.

 

[kirby]

the vet would have recomended that you lay it flat, not shredded.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

HI George!

I have a little add about your temps because I have recently experianced the same problems. I had my Ceramic Heat emmiter in the recommend ceramic wire cage clamp lamp. Is this what you are using? If so the heat more so goes up above rather than down in to the tank. I stared using the deep dome lamp. Now I wasnt to sure about this at first because the CHE instuctions specifically said to only use the wire cage fixture. However, the Fluckers Fixture box for the dome lamp says that it is rated for incandesent lighting and Ceramic heat emitter. So with that and two other people saying they thought it was alright, I tried it. I got my temps up, WAY up. Now I just need to buy a thermostat to control the heat from getting too hot. One thing to watch out for it the cord gets really hot right near the top if it is touching the ceramic part. So what id was use the clamp to hold it directly center of the Ceramic so that it is not touching the sides at all, so that it doesnt melt. Also make sur teh fixture is rated for whatever wattage you have. I have a 250 watt heater and a rated 250 watt fixture etc. I am in the process of contacting flukers direct to make sure this is a comfirmed OK. But well they put it on the box so it sould be OK. So you may want to try this.

 

[vickson420]

moved to enclosures