Some households keep more than one kind of animal that needs bedding, and buying a substrate that only works for one of them means a separate bag for each — the actual case for one that copes with both dry and humid conditions.

Pettex's Beech Chip is sustainable, pure kiln-dried beech wood, heat-treated to reduce bacterial contamination and improve absorbency. It's described as usable equally in dry and humid environments, and it's suitable as bedding for snakes, lizards, birds, insects and small mammals alike.

• 10-litre pack
• Sustainable, pure kiln-dried beech wood
• Heat-treated to reduce bacterial contamination and improve absorbency
• Usable in both dry and humid environments
• Suitable as bedding for snakes, lizards, birds, insects and small mammals

One thing worth knowing. Pettex don't give a recommended change frequency for this substrate, and being a wood chip rather than a fine material, it may not suit a species that needs to burrow into something finer — worth checking against what your particular animal actually does with its bedding.

Who it's for: keepers with more than one type of animal — reptile, bird or small mammal — who want a single substrate that copes with both dry and humid enclosures.