Using Play Sand I know everyone in here has a strong dislike for sand... and as many of you know, its my prefferance.... so heres the question without a big discussion about impaction ( i know the risks) can someone give me detailed directions ( as detailed as possible) about how to wash and sift playsand to make it suitable?
RE: Using Play Sand at petsmart they have these sand sifters i dont know if they workbut you could giv it a try
RE: Using Play Sand I'm not sure about the washing part...I believe if you buy playsand they are already prewashed. I wld spread them thinly on a backing sheet and bake it in the oven 350 deg for around 20 minutes to kill any potential mold/fungus on them. The sifting part, you can use the fine mesh screening you'd put in storm doors or windows.
RE: Using Play Sand Yer, one of those garden siftes works but finer the better. Just wondering... if you know the risks why use it?
RE: Using Play Sand i'm with ryan on that....if you want something that looks like sand....go a sandy looking tile. Leos weren't meant for sand.
RE: Using Play Sand to to insult you or anything, but the leo forum is really a bad place to ask about sand preparation. Even if you try to avoid it, a heated discussion will always insue! You are better off in the enclosure section where people who have reptiles that actually should be on sand would be able to answer your question. I think that there is a post about this in the enclosure forum somewhere. I personally use sand for my uro's sand box (but even for him, I use tile and a sand box for digging. I buy the prewashed stuff, but I sift it with a mesh strainer I got at a grocery store. Strainers are way cheaper at the grocery store than the reptile specific ones you get at pet stores, and they work just as well. Spot's suggestion of baking it is a good idea, but I don't. I just spread it on a cookie sheet and let it dry for a few hours, and then I put it in. One suggestion, if you really want to use sand, why not use tile and a sand box like I do for my uro? Again, not trying to start a fight, this is just an idea.
RE: Using Play Sand Jay i understand... So the playsand at Home Depot, i dont have to wash it at all? I have a sifter... the reptile ones, i use it for daily cleanup of "droppings" in stormys cage. And ryan... because ive heard that prong collars are bad, but they work for my dog, and I heard that not spanking is bad for kids, but it works for my kid. My leos were both borna nd raised on sand, and storm wont come out. I told you guys I was going to try tile, and I did, and when i put her on it, she ran to her hide. I put the sand back in and shes running around everywhere now.
I am using the calci-sand, but i was told that if im GOING to use sand, play sand is safer AND cheaper... can anyone tell me EXACTLY how im supposed to wash and sift this? everything im supposed to do before i put it in the cage? Thanks so much
Merged the topic here with the one in the leo forum. I figure here is a better place, as the impaction risks to leos will cause this to just break into more arguing. But for the record...using a deadly substrate is different from spanking a child. Spanking a child never caused physical harm (if it did it's not spanking, it's abuse).
well i have washed playsand befor but it was for a fish tank. you just put it in like a 5 or ten gallon bucket and just put a hose in it and stir it around till the water coming out is clear for the most part. this will take quite some time. to wash a whole bag of play sand took me prolly about 45min to 1hr. and about getting it dry i have no idea you could prolly just get like a 50gallon rubbermaid container and put it in there and let it sin in the sun for a day and stir it to make sure the sand at the bottem is dry too. thats about all i can think of, good luck
the stuff from my home depot says pre-washed. It is really wet when you open the bag, but like I said, I let it dry and then I strain it. As for the leo running and hiding, my Herman did that when I first changed to tile. In fact, he flipped right out and I freaked out and I almost put the loose substrate back in. But in all honestly, this is better for him. After a few days he camed down, and all was well. Same thing happened for my uro, but he didn't calm down. That is why i use a sand box now. Like I mentioned above, the sand box is a really good way of allowing the leo to have his sand while lowering the risk. The sand box is also a good way of weaning them off the sand. Again, I am not trying to insult you or tell you what tot do, but this is an issue that we all feel very strongly about, mostly becuase we all love leos, and want what is best for our own and for others! But if you are going to use sand, make sure it is the prewahed stuff, and do dry and strain it first.
OK... so... if i get a bucket type deal, and put a bag or two of sand in it.. how much water? and how do i get the water out without dumping the sand???? lol im slow
like I said earlier, buy PREWASHED and just sterlize it by baking it. If you're just rinsing in water, it's pointless and if you start messing with disinfectants and soap with sand, you're looking for trouble because you won't know if it's been rinsed out well enough.
just put the hose in the bucket and keep it running and just stir the sand a bit and put the bucket on a bit of an angle let the water spill over
Re: Using Play Sand sands dangerous but you could do what i do to peatmoss put it in a microwave proof container and microweave it for 30sec if its full of pooo just run it though a screen first
