can i use

Question
can i use exo terras red dessert sand for a blue tongue skink becuase i bought some becuase the pet shop guy said hed been using it for 3 years and it was digestable but then i go on the enternet and see about impactions what do you think?

Answer
Hi Joshua, The pet shop employee seems a bit confused about this product. Some sands that are sold for reptiles are made from calcium and claim to be digestible. In fact, they are not digestible and were found to be the cause of a number of impaction deaths. They tend to clump in the stomach rather then dissolve. The Exo terra red desert sand is natural (real) sand. It is not made from calcium as the supposedly "digestible" sands are. Natural sand is not digestible either. If you are lucky it may just pass through the intestines but it can also cause impactions.
Those sands can look quite attractive in an enclosure but I tend to favour safety over looks. The truth is that any loose substrate can cause an impaction. Blue tongues do not naturally live on loose sand. He should be fine eating his veg/fruits etc out of a small bowl but you may want to move him to a small plastic bin to feed him his insects. That will greatly reduce the risk of him picking up sand. Using a reptile carpet in the tank is another option.