Is calcium sand safe for button quails to eat/bathe in?

[Smelly]

Me and my mom bought some calcium sand for the button quails to bathe in, thinking it'd be a good idea because it could provide extra calcium for the hens if they decided to eat it, just wanted to make sure this'll be safe for them to bathe in as well as eat. when I put it in one pair's cage the hen decided she'd try and eat it, because quails are just silly like that. Reading other places online I can hardly find info on if this is safe for birds let alone button quail so I figured I'd ask just to make sure before I leave it in their cage overnight when I won't be able to supervise them

 

[Nabiki]

Calcium sand is actually calcium carbonate. This is an antacid, so I would not recommend using it for sand or a calcium supplement. I would use plain old garden dirt or construction sand for their bath and provide crushed egg shell or oyster shell (crushed into button quail sized pieces) for extra calcium in their diet.

 

[Tigershadow]

I know this is a little late, but I just joined and felt the need to comment. Oyster shell and egg shells are predominately calcium carbonate. So is limestone. I've seen oyster shell, limestone and aragonite flour listed on feed tags as the source of calcium. Aragonite flour is finely ground aragonite sand, which is formed by calcium carbonate precipitating out of seawater. Calcium sand for reptiles sometimes includes other ingredients, including vitamins. Yes, it's the same ingredient found in some antacids. Birds eat oyster shell when they need the calcium, the same way people only use antacids when needed. As long as you're not adding it to the feed I wouldn't think it would be a problem. Feel free to correct me if I've made an error somewhere. I don't have quail yet, still in the research and construction phase, but I'm considering trying aragonite sand instead of oyster shell. I've seen a lot of comments about people having to crush oyster shell for their quail. I actually found this thread while trying to find out if anyone else had tried it.