u/Cautious_Promise5529

How do I prevent the clay cracking? Should I fill them or leave it alone?😬

This is my first time working with clay for an enclosure and I was really proud of how smooth it was when I finished yesterday but its full of cracks this morning and Im not sure if its affecting the structural integrity of the build? Also I’m not sure if it matters but the build is not really dry or anything today while Im noticing the cracks, like its still moldable and kinda comes off on your finger if you touch it yet!

(I know this is a reptile group but this tank will be for my blue death feigning beetle colony once its complete for an idea of how much weight it needs to support but I don’t want to risk a collapse hurting my bugs either and figured you guys would know more about this kinda stuff! Thank you for any help in advance:))

I picked up this little one today to add to my colony. (Idk the gender but im going to say her) I will be quarantining her just because she is new, however I didnt realize I’m out of substrate. For some reason stone desert is SO hard to come by for me, it’s not been in stock in any stores even for shipping and the only 2 options I’ve found have been 50$+ for a 5lb bag when I have a 10 gal as my regular and now a 5 gal for a quarantine so Id really prefer to make my own mix at this rate but Im not sure what ratios I should be using. Right now Im thinking Ill do a bit of 1/16in natural aquarium gravel, excavator clay, and a bit of reptisand- am I missing anything? Any suggestions or pre-existing tutorials I missed? Thanks for any help! (Also this is my first time doing a quarantine on a beetle, if you have any advice on that Ill take it as well!<3)