Best sand for Kenyan Sand Boa, dangers of Calcium, eating sand

[jayjay5531]

Hey folks,

I like using sand for the Kenyan Sand Boa because I feel like it's easier to remove feces from sand than it is from aspen shavings (although I've never tried aspen shavings so I don't know this for a fact). I have two main questions.

1.) What kind of sand should I use? I heard the calcium carbonate sand is dangerous because it can lead to calcium carbonate deposition in the snake's digestive tract which can cause an impaction and potentially death. Is there a safe sand to use? Preferably one that doesn't abrade the snake's face/skin?

2.) Although people suggest feeding snakes in a separate container than their regular home (I think the reasoning is that they're less likely to bite you when you handle them in their regular home, if they don't associate it with food?), my snake refuses to eat elsewhere (I think she just gets over-excited by the change in environment). So I feed her in her regular tank (she never bites me when I handle her anyway). The issue is that I have to wiggle the frozen-thawed mouse around to get her to strike at it, and there's always some sand inadvertently coating the outside of the mouse. I'm worried about her ingesting sand. Is there a way around this problem, other than moving her to a bare-bottomed tank for feeding every time?

Thanks!