Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently keep all my reptiles except my Leopard Gecko on newspaper. My uro digs a lot and I'm considering moving her onto something more natural.

Is anyone actually using that new Zoo Med burrowing clay? It's expensive stuff and before I make the switch I'd like to find out if someone has real experience with it (I don't want to hear why I shouldn't use it if you haven't tried it).

She eats her food out of bowls, so I'm not too worried about accidental ingestion.

Thanks!

I've never seen it myself, but I've heard that it's more like a substance that you get wet and mold into shape, and then it hardens like concrete. So it's not something that they can dig around in naturally.

Don't know if this helps or not, just what I've heard from other people.

Yep - that helps.

Maybe I could build a couple of burrows and then bury the whole thing in playground sand.....

I just feel so bad - she digs away and shreds the paper. She does have places to hide, which she utilizes.

Uros dig mostly because they're trying to make themselves a nice comfy burrow to hide in. I've designed an artificial burrow system about 2 years ago and my uros still use them regularly to this day, no coaxing required. I don't really see my uros digging pointless in their substrate anymore (except for when my female is gravid and looking for a spot to lay).

Here's a pic of my burrow system. Cover it all up with substrate except for the tubes' openings. Your uros will figure out the rest.

-----
1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Ra, Isis)
1.0 Satanic Leaf-tail Gecko (Diablo)
0.1 Satanic Leaf-tail Gecko (R.I.P. Samael)
2.0 Tabby cats (Cloud, Magus)