Habitat - Indoor :: using sand in tank

[bob_rod7]

I was wondering if I could use sand in the turtle tank
here it is.. http://www.reptiledirect.com/index.asp? ... ProdID=266

the place says it safe and can be used for turtles

[cprcheetah]

Any kind of substance you put in the tank can/may/will be eaten by your turtle. I would worry about the sand causing impaction if the turtle eats it, it says it clumps when wet, so I wouldn't think it would be very good in a RES tank. Maybe they are meaning it for a land turtle tank.

[bob_rod7]

yea but it says its not harmful when eaten
and is there anything else besides large river rock to put on the bottom of the tank since gravel isnt a good idea

[missibsu]

There are a couple of people around here who do use sand...although I'm not sure the results that they have had with it. I can't even think right now who it is. You might try doing a search of the site to see what other posts you can come up with.

[bob_rod7]

ok i will try that thanks

[SpotsMama]

Hi Bpb Rod7,

You might think about what it will be like to clean the sand in the bottom of the tank for the next 20 years!

[Billy Black]

Besides the difficulty in cleaning, I don't see what the problem would be with sand. I mean, the turtles aren't stupid enough to eat them in the wild, so what's the difference with these?

[Kallistos]

Turtles indoors, get really really bored and they'll do anything to pass time, even experiment different ways of suicide (even though they don't know that it'll kill them)

[Shavannah]

Turtles indoors, get really really bored and they'll do anything to pass time, even experiment different ways of suicide (even though they don't know that it'll kill them)

I know it's not funny...but lol anyway
As for the sand, I tried it when my res was a hatchling. I used it in his basking area. I learned my lesson... It clumps horribly, sticks all over the turtle, floats on the water, clogs the filter, and is just a mess to clean up. Really weigh out the pros and cons of sand vs. river rock. If you put it directly into the tank in the water, you'll end up with clumpy blobs and floating sand, getting into everything, including your res.
The sand is for land turtles and lizards. I know it looks good, but...it's not good for aquatic animals.

[Shavannah]

Forgot to suggest this in my previous post: most dollar stores sell bags of smooth tumbled river rock, that are very attractive in the turtle tank. The stones are about 2"-3". Just make sure they are bigger than your turtle's head, so he can't eat them. You can put as many as you'd like on the bottom of the tank. The more you put in, the more cleaning, though.

[CountryGirl68]

I've only got a handful of river stones in the turtle tank, a couple of large rocks and 2 fake plants. The tank look a bit bare but Tanner seems to like it just fine. With all the pooping Tanner does, having such few things in the tank does make scooping out the poop with a net easier than if there were a lot of river stones in it.