Smittiferous
Well-Known Member
Guys and girls,
Due to the nature of my job (we build basements), I'm always coming across enormous quantities of various sands and soils, pulled fresh from the ground by yours truly.
Two of our current jobs are yielding this magnificent red clayey sand from about a metre or two underground, that looks and feels incredibly similar to the natural top layers of soil from around South Hedland. It packs down quite nicely and would hold burrows exceptionally well. Initial granular coarseness is a little larger than the commercially available desert sand, but it seems to separate into quite fine particles. Any reason this wouldn't be suitable substrate for a monitor? I'm ripping it out of the ground a thousand cubic metres at a time and have permission to take as much as I can stuff in my proverbial pockets.
It is very similar in consistency to packing sand, used in slab construction, which is something else I'd also look at using for the same reasons.
While down below it's packed so densely it's rock-like but after being attacked with twenty-two tons of fury it ends up as the loose material you can see in the images. After adequate preparation I think a monitor would love digging through it, my only concern is the presence of the clay in the material, if it could cause any health issues.
Thoughts?
Due to the nature of my job (we build basements), I'm always coming across enormous quantities of various sands and soils, pulled fresh from the ground by yours truly.
Two of our current jobs are yielding this magnificent red clayey sand from about a metre or two underground, that looks and feels incredibly similar to the natural top layers of soil from around South Hedland. It packs down quite nicely and would hold burrows exceptionally well. Initial granular coarseness is a little larger than the commercially available desert sand, but it seems to separate into quite fine particles. Any reason this wouldn't be suitable substrate for a monitor? I'm ripping it out of the ground a thousand cubic metres at a time and have permission to take as much as I can stuff in my proverbial pockets.
It is very similar in consistency to packing sand, used in slab construction, which is something else I'd also look at using for the same reasons.
While down below it's packed so densely it's rock-like but after being attacked with twenty-two tons of fury it ends up as the loose material you can see in the images. After adequate preparation I think a monitor would love digging through it, my only concern is the presence of the clay in the material, if it could cause any health issues.
Thoughts?
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. I've been told the stuff they sell as "Red Desert Sand" for $20 for a few kilos is just plain builder's sand with red oxide through it, which stains the animals anyway. I drove 700K to Roxby for the genuine stuff, but you have it on your doorstep
