# sand



## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

i have sand in my bearded dragon tank i use desert white repti sand from zoo med. love it. i suggest staying away from colour sand, used an orange/brown colour and it died the silcome on the glass and my lizard until it shed next ... but any who im getting off topic.

my question - is there another type of sand i can use other then the expensive sand at the pet stores for a snake and or lizard? like can i use play sand?

im thinking its not so much a big deal for a snake cause there diet is a mouse or rat, so there is less of a chance of the sand being ingested. i am going to stick with i sand i use for my bearded dragon cause i like it a lot.

any thoughts a welcome, i want everyones thoughts

dark FrOsT

(ps. the snake isnt a burrower i want just a dessert snake)


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

What snake are you looking at getting?


----------



## nswhite (Mar 23, 2005)

I would say even still with the snake eating mostly live food I would still use the zoo med stuff just because its ok if they do eat some and you dont want you snake getiing hurt from the sand. But good luck


----------



## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

im not really sure what i want ... something like a rattlesnake but not a rattlesnake, any suggestions. i was thinking the i should stick to the zoo med sand but i am wondering if anyone else uses other types. i also think that the sand in a snake inclosure should stay cleaner then a lizards, so i wouldnt have to change it as often


----------



## Red Eyes (Nov 25, 2003)

Alot of people say not to use sand because if is ingested it can cause impaction (when feeding I place his food onto a paper towel and he usually consumes his meal there). Having said that I have a couple of pics of our Chihuahua Mountain Kingsnake with T-Rex Calci Sand ...

Red (Sept 09, 2005)








Black (Aug 07,2006)


----------



## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

cool pics red eyes thanks the paper towel idea is a good one


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

The western hognose looks a lot like a rattle snake in terms of its markings but stays very small. Males can be kept in a 10 gal for life (20x10x12) and females can be kept in a 15 gal for life (24x12x12). My friend just picked one up from the store front of a local reptile zoo and it's the nicest little snake. Very handleable and everything... The only thing is I don't think it would do good on sand. Your best bet would be aspen shavings.

Anyway. Good luck.


----------



## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

cool ya i was considering the hognose maybe even getting a pair. but i might wait a little till my mentor gives me the green light in the venomous snake department and get a them ... it would be for a least 8 more months but ill most likely crack and get some hognose(s)


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

The hognose isn't really venomous... It's a tricky area. They have remnants of the glands but they're kind of shrinking. And their 'fangs' are positioned at the back of their mouthes so that they can better 'pop' frogs... And it's their saliva, not any true venom, that causes the irritation.

I've read a couple of places about people who are allergic to bees needing to be cautious around these little guys. And the one bite I know of personally - all that happened was the guy's finger swelled a little. Nothing else.

These things are for sale all over in pet shops. They're not typically considered a 'hot' and I wouldn't put them in that category in the least. I've handled quite a few and they were no problem at all. Generally a very well tempered animal for the most part. I would also have no issues letting young kids near them, either. Something I would be hesitant about with a hot.

Anyway. Do more reading on it and in the end make the call for yourself. But hognoses are really great. My advice though is to get the western hognose. The easterns are notorious for never going off their anphibian diets.


----------



## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

cool thanks a lot that was super helpful


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

I should also say that their fangs are not hollow like true venomous species. Normally fangs are used as a delivery mechanism for venom but in the case of a hognose this is not the case, because as stated before, they don't have venom. It's their saliva that presents the particular irritatnt that some people are getting ancy about.


----------



## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

nice i didnt know that ... thanks again


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

No problem.









Hognoses are super interesting and very attractive snakes. Their rattlesnake-like markings and odd face is what initially drew me to them. One day I would like trying to breed them.


----------

