T-Rex Calci-Sand, Liars?

[TheWerewolf]

So, I was in our basement doing laundry and saw a bag of Calci-Sand from when we had our leos. I decided to read it and it said something that confused me. Here is what it said.

"T-Rex Calci-Sand is the only substrate for reptiles designed to be not only ingestible, but digestible when swallowed. Many reptiles freely eat particles of sand and other substrates in an effort to gain the calcium that they require. T-Rex Calci-Sand allows this process to occur naturally in the vivarium."

What I underlined confuses me the most. I thought they got calcium from bugs. It also says,

"T-Rex Calci-Sand makes spot cleaning both easy and accurate. It clumps up readily to wet waste materiel, drying it and preventing it from being spread."

Doesn't that mean it'll also clump up inside the reptile? Is T-Rex lying to make a product and killing many reptiles from impaction? Or is this true?

I know not to use Calci-Sand for Nim but I used it for my leos. Should I have not given it to my leos? Could they have possibly lived a longer life? Is this a lie and did my leos suffer from it like many other herps? I just want to see what the lizard experts say.

 

[Goonie]

[Moved from General to Enclosures (more fitting)]

 

[anc90]

Sounds like a kitty litter add.

 

[vampy]

They get calcium from bugs because we dust them with calcium. The natural calcium/phosphorus ratio in most feeders (other than phoenix worms) isn't high enough for them to get all the calcium they need. Their diets in the wild will be more varied and they might eat eggs and get calcium from the shells, and I think maybe wild insects might have higher calcium levels because they eat different things. But I guess they might also ingest a bit of sand in the wild which helps keep their calcium up.

However you're right, the whole clumping up when wet thing is bad when the substrate is eaten. Maybe not if they only get a grain or two of it at a time, but it's so hard to control this it's much much better to avoid the calcisand altogether and supplement calcium in their food safely.

 

[TheWerewolf]

Thanks Vampy. Very informative. That answers my question. And I think they also make Calci-Sand irresistible for reptiles. Which is very bad. And I even got the Glow-In-The-Dark sand. That must've not been good for my leos. But I can't change the past, I can only learn from my mistakes. I was too young to do the leo's research and my mom did her best. Even still, my leopard geckos did live for a long time. I hope this will help others with the same question.

 

[Claudiusx]

Why don't you provide us some entertainment and send them this question and see what there response is, and of course, post it here. :lol: :mrgreen:

-Brandon

 

[TheWerewolf]

I'll see if I can do that tomorrow. Sounds like fun. I will definitely post what they say.