Lizards..

[-Exotic]

Alright well I changed the substrate in my aramadillo lizard cage with black sand (the old substarate was woodchips) it says to chemical or dyes added I washed the sand before placing it and drying it. When I placed it clean the cage and all and put the lizards back they were being really werid like if they were metally challege. There eyes got really big the kept trying running up the glass like mad attacking the water bowl. I pretty sure its jsut there behavior with the new substrate but what got me was that my male kept licking the sand. can anyone explain that?

 

[harveythefly]

Alright well I changed the substrate in my aramadillo lizard cage with black sand (the old substarate was woodchips) it says to chemical or dyes added I washed the sand before placing it and drying it. When I placed it clean the cage and all and put the lizards back they were being really werid like if they were metally challege. There eyes got really big the kept trying running up the glass like mad attacking the water bowl. I pretty sure its jsut there behavior with the new substrate but what got me was that my male kept licking the sand. can anyone explain that?

if it's calcium sand alot of lizards will eat it...technically the sand is supposed to act as a calcium supplement but i've heard it's actually really bad for them...there's no way to regulate how much they eat and apparently they'll eat it in quantity and it causes serious impaction problems

Harvey

 

[JohnEDove]

Most lizards also use their tongue to explore and test their environment.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

if it's calcium sand alot of lizards will eat it...technically the sand is supposed to act as a calcium supplement but i've heard it's actually really bad for them...there's no way to regulate how much they eat and apparently they'll eat it in quantity and it causes serious impaction problems

It's not just from overeating it. It also apparently clumps up in their insides and is NOT digestible, and other qualities like that - we had a thread in this very subforum a couple years back with tons of vets and vet techs sharing stories of just how many autopsies they'd done on animals with guts full of "safe" calci-sand.

The fact that it has calcium in it just makes the lizards want to eat it even more than regular sand.

 

[ShellsandScales]

I wouldn't use any sand for armadillo lizards. There are also a few different types of armadillo lizards. I would personally keep them on cypress mulch. Sand is a poor substrate for pretty much anything that doesn't live completely in the desert. And many desert animals seem to do better on a sandy mixture rather than just straight sand. I would avoid sand for all but the most diehard arid species. It's really nice for aquariums though.

 

[-Exotic]

thanks for the imput people i thinknig of putting them bag of woodchips. dang 20$ down the drain.