Pettex Reptile Herbivore

What decides whether a vivarium lives in the sitting room or gets quietly moved to the spare bedroom is rarely the animal. It is the smell — and the smell is a substrate question, settled by how fast the floor of the enclosure takes up liquid and how well it holds on to what it has absorbed.

Pettex's herbivore bedding is a pressed organic pellet chosen for exactly that: they describe it as highly absorbent and effective at suppressing odours, rather than as a naturalistic-looking floor. It is listed as 100% natural and biodegradable, and Pettex say their substrates are selected from sustainable, renewable sources and then heat treated and sanitised before packing. It comes as a 10 litre bag and is listed for tortoises, iguanas and most reptiles.

• 10 litre bag
• Pressed organic pellet
• Described as highly absorbent and effective at suppressing odours
• 100% natural and biodegradable
• Heat treated and sanitised before packing
• Listed for tortoises, iguanas and most reptiles

What has not been specified. There is no bag weight, no pellet size, and no guidance whatsoever on how deep to lay it or how far 10 litres goes across a vivarium of a given footprint — so how often you will be buying it is something you find out by doing it. Tortoises, iguanas and most reptiles is the entire species list. A pressed pellet is also, by its nature, a floor a burrowing animal cannot really dig into, and it is not the substrate for a species that needs humidity held in the ground; Pettex make different substrates for both of those. Check what your species actually needs before you change what is under it, and ask an exotics vet if you are not sure.

Who it's for: keepers of tortoises and other herbivorous reptiles who want a low-odour, fast-absorbing floor rather than a decorative one — and anyone whose vivarium shares a room with the sofa.