As said in the title, I'm weighing the pros and cons as a first time digging lizard owner, my previous lizard (created gecko) was arboreal so I'm doing a lot of research about the differences. Smooth gravel mimics their natural environment best but doesn't hold moisture as well as the others, and as someone whose moisture technique will have to be "watering can every evening and testing humidity in the morning and night" I worry about it drying out. I was warned about impaction if I use sand substrate but have also read that sand doesn't necessarily cause a higher risk of impaction from other sources. I've been told against Cyprus mulch but I can't quite remember why and I didn't save the reasoning in my notes.
Thus, I turned to Reddit. Which would y'all recommend and why?