Gorilla Fur (redwood mulch)

[Badger]

I know that sand can cause impaction in herptiles, toads may be an exception, but there are some nasty horror stories of beardie impactions due to sand, but beardies are at a higher risk for it due to their poorly designed digestive tract. I don't see how it would be impossible to cause impaction in amphibians though, just because they are so small. I have never personally encountered any instances of amphiban impaction, but I would rather be safe than sorry. There is a reason lifespans are shorter in the wild. Just because it comes from that environment does not mean the conditions are optimum for survival. Bearded dragons come from a sandy (Though, there are a bunch of other types of substrate that they encounter, ex: rocks/soil) environment, and sand is terrible to use for them. As for the fungal/bacterium: I'm not sure if you would be able to see either, but I am not very educated in either of them

I like a healthy debate once in a while =D

[Poly]

I know that sand can cause impaction in herptiles, toads may be an exception, but there are some nasty horror stories of beardie impactions due to sand, but beardies are at a higher risk for it due to their poorly designed digestive tract. I don't see how it would be impossible to cause impaction in amphibians though, just because they are so small. I have never personally encountered any instances of amphiban impaction, but I would rather be safe than sorry. As for the fungal/bacterium: I'm not sure if you would be able to see either, but I am not very educated in either of them.

As I said, I am talking about WC American Toads that come from a sandy enviroment, I do not know if sand would be a problem with other amphibians. But as far as I am concerned, sand is a safe substrate for toads.

[Badger]

There is a reason lifespans are shorter in the wild. Just because it comes from that environment does not mean the conditions are optimum for survival. Bearded dragons come from a sandy (Though, there are a bunch of other types of substrate that they encounter, ex: rocks/soil) environment, and sand is terrible to use for them.

Sorry, I edited the post.

[Squirp]

Poly, I'd just like to chime in here, since when I first started you and I had this discussion about sand.
Since then I'm not too apposed to it, and I've actually used some sand in my setup for two reasons,
one, it kept a culture of fly's from continuing to take over.
and two, I felt it's best to give the toad as many options as possible to hide under and traverse across.

Assuming people research the net in a similar pathway that I do. When I first researched toads as pets, I came across the pacman toad, and it just so happened there are a number of video's online showing you how to set up a tank. I took the advice of a gentlemen who claimed to be a herpetologist, who proceeded to break down that the pacman frog is more toad like, and adopted his own toad psychology into the setup of a tank well suited to their needs. This is where I got the impression to avoid sand, Anyway, Poly, in your case I don't believe this is a problem, because you are collecting mineral samples from the toads indigenous area. Your sand looks a lot "chunkier" than the refined proceed materials you'd find in playground sand. Never the less, since my research I felt best to start my knot of toads from species I've rescued in my travels and save the exotic species for a time when I feel I've become well sorted to nurture toads.

that being said, I'm glad to see this discussion is being tackled in other directions. I personally consider myself new to the study of toads, but their health is an up most concern of mine. I have also added some rather large bark chunks I scraped off from a red pine, and I included some pine needle branches to stand upright around their pool to provide some privacy, and I was considering the possibility that rough surfaces like the bark, or even some of the sap might create a problem for the toads

[Poly]

Sorry, I edited the post.

Naah no need for the apology, I'M sorry Dalton, as I read back, my posts sound really rude, so yeah, I'm Sorry! Just having a reaaaaaaaaly bad day.... -.-

~Royce

[Badger]

Haha, no worries, I by no means meant to sound condescending or aggravated, I was enjoying the argument lol.

[Poly]

Haha, no worries, I by no means meant to sound condescending or aggravated, I was enjoying the argument lol.

Hehe... me too...