Can I use white sand as a substrate

[dinosia]

Hello, I am currently in the process of aquiring my first red tail boa. I have some experiences with ball pythons and smallers reptiles. One question I have is, can I use white sand as substrate for my boa. I like the way it looks in the tank and I have bags abd bags of it from my buddies old Euromastyx set up. It looks really cool in the tank and I wouldnt mind the painstaking part to keep it clean, but can white sand harm the snake? I will be placing other woods, and logs in the tank to give it something abrasive for shedding. But, has anyone else used white sand and had any problems?

[scalerustler]

Re: Can I use white sand as a substrate

I have seen it done but as your snake grows the amount of sand and the amount of cleaning will increase dramatically. There is always the danger or ingestion and causing a blockage or I suppose even problems from burrowing. I am going to post pics of my new enclosure in the next day or 2. I bought a 6x6 piece of indoor outdoor carpet at home depot and was able to make mats for 3 tanks out of it(2 mats for each tank for ease of cleaning. I find the carpet most convenient and there is a variety of colors.

[Doug]

Re: Can I use white sand as a substrate

HI,
 And welcome, the reptiles you were using white sand for are desert loving animals that require high  heat and  little or no humidty, Boa's on the other hand must have adequate humidity to thrive. SAnd will grow bacteria and mold, that can be dangerous if not harmful to your snake. The only substrate I use is plain old newspaper.



If you must have substrate put down a lalyer of newspaper and then a layer of aspen.

Add a small amount of water to the paper before you cover it with aspen. Change all the aspen once in a while to prevent carry over contamination from urine stones and POO"S..  
Please read the care sheets , be sure you review the ambient
temps and humidty requirements,[ftp]http://www.redtailboas.com/carelinks/carelinks.html[/ftp]
I keep my snakes a little warmer and more humid they seem to like it.  The BP's you had can get by with less humidity but young boa's will not thrive without it.
Clay has some exceptional Boa for sale, the likes you'll not see every day. [ftp]http://www.redtailboas.com/[/ftp] I have one Hog and a pastel thats  going to be a jewel   ..
    doug