Zoo Med Excavator Clay Burrowing Substrate?

[Bowsileo]

Has anyone heard about this or had any experience with this clay bedding? I'm sure many of you have strong opinions on loose substrates and I'd really love to hear what you have to say about this.

Here is the company's listing for it.

 

[Bowsileo]

Darn it, shoulda put it in the Housing category one forum down. If someone could shift it for me I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[RampantReptiles]

I personally think its ok because when you wet it and let it dry it becomes solid, but I havent actually used it.

 

[Wreptile]

It's alright for Leo's, but it is near impossible to get out of the tank/tub you put it in.
I regret buying it, but it's up to you.

 

[AloneAsAlways]

I think its great, i use it. A bit messy though but if your a messy kinda person its fantastic stuff.

 

[Wandering Paddle]

i personally love it. and all of my 7 geckos seem to enjoy digging in.

 

[Hopefull Monster Geckos]

ive used it before its ok but if you what to make a nice cage you need quite a bite and it takes a while to get it to stay where you want it. other then that its pretty good.

 

[Wreptile]

i personally love it. and all of my 7 geckos seem to enjoy digging in.

Mine turned out Rock hard, and was impossible to dig in.

 

[larry26]

Arent you not supposed to use it with uth's??

 

[Ehatcher]

i used the excavator clay when i first set my tank up. It looked good, but was a pain to keep. It dried ROCK solid. But it likes to gradually chip away. You cant heat it up from unerneath, but a heat lamp will heat it up and it will act like a rock to absorb heat. It molded easy and dried quickly... but was a PAIN to take it out. I got fed up with it and eventually took a pressure washer to clean the tank out.

Would I be against using it? im not sure...probably not

Would I use it again? No, not for a leo. Maybe for a Uromastyx or a Moniter of sort.

 

[your gecko guy]

I like it I have used it 10 to 15 differnt times on differnt tanks you can see some of them on my site under gallery or care sheet www.yourgeckoguy.com good luck thx

 

[T2theG]

Good results with Excavator Clay

I have had a good experience so far with using the Excavator clay for my leo. I bought the 25lb bag and it was plenty to build a nice cover over the bottom and then enough to sculpt and mold two hides on each side of the tank. As far as the UTH, I bought the Repti-therm RH-4, which is rated for 10-20 gallon tanks. I know it says not to use a UTH, but I thought I would give it a try and use a low watt UTH. I think it works pretty good and the temp on the hot side stays right at 90 to 91 degrees on the surface measured with a infrared heat gun. The other side is in the mid to low 70's at all times. I don't feed my leo directly on the clay substrate, I feel safer having him eat out of a feeding dish. Once the clay dried it was rock hard and does flake away a little, but this was expected. Also, I made sure to really pack it down and use a good amount around the hides so that it was nice and sturdy after it dried. You can always mist the clay a little a pack any loose particles down. I personally think that using paper towels or carpet is too unnatural and I want to give my leo a more natural habitat to live in. Cleaning is not that bad either and as most leo owners know they pick a spot and use it over and over. Luckily mine picked a spot that is easily reachable and I can pick it up easy and the clay actually keeps it clumped for easy pick-up as well. So far he is extremely happy and we will see how he does in the long run. I'll probably experiment with some other stuff in the future, but for now I am very pleased with the Excavator clay. :main_thumbsup:

It's hard to tell from the pics, but the hides are a good size and there are many levels and areas for my leo to explore and hide.

Click the links for the pics, sorry it wont let me insert the image.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6JiJ8rk_0RGi8R-wAE71g8FkDn-GRxe67DbqQ-G8Gwk?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/C2QX9Op-qpcL14vTBdQqxsFkDn-GRxe67DbqQ-G8Gwk?feat=directlink

 

[mudskipper]

Looks very cool, but I imagine it's really hard to clean. When my leos eat, insects often explode.

 

[GodzillaGecko]

as Natural as that might look. I have to agree with the comments about it being hell to clean. I guess if you used only a little bit and set them on slate pieces and built on them. Then at least you can take the entire hide out with the slate and clean instead of having to get a jackhammer to get the stuff out.

 

[mudskipper]

After it's hardened, can you wash it without it turning into mud?

 

[Astrael]

It does become super rocky. What I did is make a mostly flat layer to absorb and distribute heat, and covered most of it with paper towels for easy cleaning. The geckos seem to prefer being on paper towels to the straight clay. But it distributes heat rather well. My 2 are in a big 40 gal breeder, so good heating is important, and a little tricky. Our room stays a bit cool, so it's got a big heater on one side and a small one on the other, which gives a perfect temp gradient. It might distribute too much heat in a 20 gal to keep the temps on the sides different enough. The smallest tank with the clay is a 30 gal breeder. One medium UTC on the one side keeps almost the whole bottom the same temp (which is the cool end for beardies), but the lights on one side allow the change in temps.

Also, for my geckos, the most digging I've ever seen them do was burrowing into blankets, or into my hair. They had sand at one point, but seemed to really dislike it. Even tried a "sand box" of sorts, which was utterly ignored. They like climbing, however. A little too much, considering how clumsy they are. -_-

And yeah, it's nearly impossible to get out. It's almost cement-like. Just so you know what you're getting into.

 

[GodzillaGecko]

Its a clay. I have tons of natural clay in my driveway and its hell. Its worse then cement. Only thing I can think of that may help is to lay a mat under the area or entire area your mashing clay down. Form everything from there. Make it slightly smaller then the tank so that way you can slip it right in. Then just use a bit to cover the edges but not enough to stop you from pulling it free. And boom...you have crap in a tank. And you can pull it out cause its not stuck to the glass Just a mat.