Shinglebacks and brickies sand

[christo]

Hi all,

is dry brickie's sand any good as a substrate for shinglebacks? I like the look of the red sand, but no way am I going to pay mucho dollars for the desert sand. I feed the lizards on a large terra-cotta dish, so they shouldn't get too much sand on their food (but I would imagine some would still end up in their guts from time to time). My concerns are:
1. Impaction - would this be likely in shinglebacks?
2. I'm guessing the clay in the sand turning to dust shouldn't be too much of a problem for a terrestrial arid animal (at the moment they are on breeder's choice which gets pretty dusty anyway). Is that a fair assumption?
3. Humidity - the local climate is dry during summer and the enclosure has an open top. So long as I dry the sand out, it shouldn't effect humidity too much should it?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[christo]

Anyone?

 

[bigi]

i dont get why everyone asks about brickies sand, it must be because they can get it for free.
Go to bunnings and splurge $7.00 on a 20 kg bag of cleaned playpitt sand or if its a pit then splurge $70.00. Its not going to break the bank, and you shouldnt have any problems

 

[christo]

i dont get why everyone asks about brickies sand, it must be because they can get it for free.
Go to bunnings and splurge $7.00 on a 20 kg bag of cleaned playpitt sand or if its a pit then splurge $70.00. Its not going to break the bank, and you shouldnt have any problems

It's the red colour of the brickie's sand I like, not the cost. But thanks for the reply. I think I'll try brickie's sand and see how it goes.

 

[Lollypop]

The idea of brickies sand is not that it's free, but that it's usually a sandy loam which holds it's form (although some yards sell fine sand as brickies loam), allowing lizards to dig a great hole. Playpit sand is usually just a washed medium or fine sand which doesn't allow for burrowing without collapse. U do need to wet it down first for it then to be 'diggable' - it'll dry out, but your cage humidity will rise for a couple of days, & put a good layer in at least half the area to allow for digging.

 

[christo]

Thanks Lollypop, appreciate the info.