# “Red desert sand” for snakes?



## Licespray (Feb 3, 2021)

Some love it, some hate it. Some say it’s fine and others say your snake will die. Zoos seem to use it frequently. What’s the real go?

Anyone have any voice to this topic? I’ve got a Woma on it and she seems fine (not stuck in scales etc) but got a bredli recently and am wondering about it’s suitability for that.

Enclosure is wood too.


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## Pythonguy1 (Feb 3, 2021)

I don't use it for any of my snakes, mainly because its expensive and there are cheaper options for bedding. The only advantage of it that I can see is that it looks realistic. But then again, everyone has their own opinions.


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## reptilesforlife (Feb 5, 2021)

I’m not sure, but if people are saying it can kill your snake then they are probably referring to the fact that having sand substrate can risk impaction. Assuming you are feeding f/t, the mouse is most likely going to be damp or wet when you feed it to your snake and then sand will stick to the mouse and therefore your snake will be ingesting sand. Snakes can’t digest sand, and over time all that sand builds up in their system, and to put it simply, they die. Of course, if you use a seperate feeding tub, this is all completely irrelevant.
But yet again, snakes that live in the desert in the wild are constantly eating prey on sand.
So really, I’m not going to take sides, but just letting you know of both the potential risk and its counter argument.


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## Benno87 (Feb 5, 2021)

reptilesforlife said:


> I’m not sure, but if people are saying it can kill your snake then they are probably referring to the fact that having sand substrate can risk impaction. Assuming you are feeding f/t, the mouse is most likely going to be damp or wet when you feed it to your snake and then sand will stick to the mouse and therefore your snake will be ingesting sand. Snakes can’t digest sand, and over time all that sand builds up in their system, and to put it simply, they die. Of course, if you use a seperate feeding tub, this is all completely irrelevant.
> But yet again, snakes that live in the desert in the wild are constantly eating prey on sand.
> So really, I’m not going to take sides, but just letting you know of both the potential risk and its counter argument.


Very well explained mate


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