zoomed Zoo Med XR-10 Excavator Clay Substrate, 4.5 Kg

Product Information

The clay can be formed into hills, mounds, flat areas, tunnels, or any other terrain you can think of. It holds its shape extremely well. Once it’s in place, it will dry to a hard, clay surface. We also like that Repti Chips are affordable, have little to no dust (making them unique among other loose substrate options), are easy to change out (a shop vac makes short work of them), and don’t otherwise make a mess. We are happy with our choice of substrate for sure! A substrate is what you choose to fill the bottom of your beardie’s home with. It’s what they will walk on, dig in, borrow through, and otherwise spend up to half of their lives in.

This is why, when we were deciding on what type of substrate to use, we first looked to bearded dragons in the wild for clues. Who should you trust when it comes to the kind of substrate to use? We think that looking at Mother Nature and thousands of years of evolution is a great place to start! It’s also highly unlikely that your dragon will eat the newspaper. This makes it a very low risk of impaction. The idea is that since your beardie may end up ingesting sand, why not make it out of calcium? That way, your bearded dragon is getting something it needs. This also performs the very important task of odor control. Poop on tile (another of our preferred substrate options) fills the entire enclosure with odor for a long period of time. Not so with Repti Chips.They also won’t allow your Dragon to dig and as this is a natural behaviour it’s always recommended whenever possible especially in gravid females. If you go this route, get two or more pieces and change them out whenever soiled so you can fully clean the dirty one. On the other hand, paper towels look completely unnatural; they will prevent leos from expressing their natural digging behavior, and they do not provide a good grip for adult individuals. Old newspapers are an even cheaper option than paper towels with many upsides. The paper is usually very absorbent. Also, you are recycling/repurposing, so if you are worried about your environmental impact, newspaper is better than paper towels. Ceramic tiles are lighter and more affordable “cousins” of stone slabs. They are easier to obtain and easier to cut and install.

Our vision is to have a varied landscape that provides our bearded dragon with harder clay to scratch around and build in and softer Repti Chips to dig and burrow in. Our enclosure will have several levels and plenty of places for Bacardi to move around, climb and explore.

Many leo owners go for just one layer of paper towel. Personally, I would settle for two. Do not put too much because too many layers will turn into a paper pulp mush if it gets substantially wet. 2. Newspapers Are you worry about your excavator clay collapsing after finishing the build? There’s no need to worry! The first purpose of the substrate is to give your bearded dragon an environment to live in that somewhat closely simulates their home in the wild. As mentioned above, beardies like to bask, climb, dig, burrow, and sometimes lay eggs.