Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what do you'll think about zoo med's new excavtor clay? have any1 tried it out yet?

I haven't tried it out yet but I do have many concerns about it. Eventually i will probably buy some so I can test a few things.

The pictures of the clay look like its very large grained, which if ingested I am sure can cause impaction issues. As clay tends to absorb moisture then become very hard when dry, it really seems to be impaction risk heavy.

Another concern is what type of clay is it? Is it like typical sculpture clay that, when dry will be quite hard especially if packed, or become very dusty. Though probably closer to a bearded dragon's natural habitat than loose sand, they don't really live on clay beds either. Unless they happen to be around streams and rivers that do dry out for part of the year.

But...clay is porous, which means any moisture will be soaked up like a sponge. Thus, bacteria and odor will be trapped in the clay and it will really smell if it stays damp for awhile. (area around a water dish especially). Also, how easy is it to remove once you lay it into a tank? Even wet clay is a real pain to clean up, not to mention it can block drains as well.

The bag indicates its all natural clay, so I don't think its anything like the non bake clays available for sculptures, such as Das. It however could be made from previously fired clay that has been broken down then mixed with a binder of some sort, so it is malleable like clay. If this is the case, the pieces of fired clay can be very sharp edged, which will create even greater risks if ingested. Not to mention hard to walk on.

Hence you see why I have concerns. But most of these concerns are based on the picture on the bag of this stuff and pictures are not always accurate. So, if I see a bag of this locally or at a reptile show and its not really pricey I may buy a bag to experiment with (not that I am going to feed it to any lizard, that would be cruel) but mostly to see how it dries, reacts to heat from typical basking spots, etc.
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PHLdyPayne

i went a bought a bag of it to test it out. it seemed to work fine as far as setting up, but i had to do it fast or else it dried up. i have one of my beardies in the set up and there arent really any problems yet(knock on wood). just get a bag and see how u like it.