Smell & Dirty Terrarium

[BrdedDrgon]

The substrate in my beardie’s tank is reptile carpet, with about a third of the area in the left side of the tank being Excavator clay. When he poops on the clay, I clean it up easily because it doesn’t soak in. But when he does it on the carpet, it immediately soaks in and the smell lingers, no matter how much I scrub it clean. Is there a good method to get rid of the lingering scent when it’s soaked into the carpet?

 

[ChileanTaco]

For exactly this reason, I'm not using reptile carpet. I have only sand (no loose, dusty sand but a natural desert sand I get straight from the desert, similar to the excavator clay) in the enclosure and this makes it easy to clean. So, using such as play sand mixed with organic soil would be an option.

Some people who prefer to have a part of the enclosure with a "not natural" surface use e.g. tiles, or shelf liner. Would that be an option for you if you'd like to keep some part of the enclosure with such an artificial surface?

 

[BrdedDrgon]

For exactly this reason, I'm not using reptile carpet. I have only sand (no loose, dusty sand but a natural desert sand I get straight from the desert, similar to the excavator clay) in the enclosure and this makes it easy to clean. So, using such as play sand mixed with organic soil would be an option.

Some people who prefer to have a part of the enclosure with a "not natural" surface use e.g. tiles, or shelf liner. Would that be an option for you if you'd like to keep some part of the enclosure with such an artificial surface?

I stick with carpet and clay currently because sand can cause impaction. But tiles sound like an idea that would be worth looking into. I will do some research to consider getting tiles or maybe filling the whole terrarium with clay. Thank you!

 

[ChileanTaco]

I've read about the impaction problems.
Loose sand can cause impaction - but something like the clay (I also have it for a burrow) and what I use (it forms a hard surface, similar to on a trail in desert regions, not something that's grainy and dusty like in an hourglass) can be used. It is also used by (other) experienced reptile owners like

https://www.beardeddragon.org/threads/the-dragons-lair.268657/page-6

and I have a rather similar setup.

As you'd prefer using something different than the above (that's fine!): Tiles that are recommended are such as for bathrooms, so they are not too slippery.