Choosing a suitable flooring method for your bearded dragon is highly crucial for its well-being. It determines how safe and hygienic its home will be, including its comfort under your care. While the aesthetics may be fun to explore, ensure you prioritize your pet’s health by selecting the safest substrate or flooring for its enclosure.
There are different flooring types to choose from, and we’ll be discussing them extensively in this article. But first, let’s understand the major flooring categories for beardie enclosures.
3 Major Substrate or Flooring Categories
Bearded dragon tank flooring can be organized into three major sections. Under these categories, we have a select number of substrates that we’ll explore later in the article.
Organic Substrates
Organic substrates are plant-based materials usually sourced from items like wood shavings, coconut husk, and nut shells. They are the most affordable method of flooring, but not the healthiest as they produce a lot of dust. Bearded dragons need a specific type of flooring to stay healthy, one that does not pollute their environment with harmful dust particles.
Artificial Substrates
This type of flooring is made up of man-made materials such as plastic or ceramics and is well known for its diversity. Depending on the quality of the material, it could be expensive or affordable, but easy to clean and maintain. They come in different forms and can be used to creatively mimic the natural habitat of bearded dragons. Examples are slates, tiles, carpets, and paper towels. The only drawback is that they don’t exactly provide the natural homeliness of a true beardie habitat, which may stress your pet and make it lethargic.
Loose Substrate
Loose substrate is the most suitable type of flooring for pet bearded dragons as it best mimics their natural habitat compared to the others. It involves using soils to create a flooring that allows your pet to live as naturally as possible. However, it can be difficult to maintain and pricier than other options depending on the soils you choose, and whether or not you want a bio-organic enclosure. Bio-organic enclosures allow you to plant live plants alongside housing your beardie with the appropriate care.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Beardie Tank Substrate
There are a few things you must consider before selecting a suitable flooring type for both you who will be maintaining the tank and your pet living in it.
Safety of Your Pet
Choose substrate or flooring types that will not endanger your bearded dragon. For instance, some plastics release fumes when the temperature rises, which are dangerous to breathe in, some carpets can injure your pet, and some loose substrates can cause impaction. It’s crucial to consider how the flooring will affect your bearded dragon before making your choice.
The Humidity and Temperature of the Tank
Your bearded dragon needs a certain level of humidity and temperature to thrive in its enclosure, and some flooring types can affect these parameters negatively. Organic materials such as wood shavings and ground nut shells can increase humidity or raise the temperature, leading to discomfort or respiratory problems for your pet.
Ease of Cleaning and Maintenance
The easier the flooring is to clean and maintain, the better it is for you and your pet. Do not install flooring with several crevices that are difficult or impossible to clean, as this could allow dirt and bacteria to thrive in the tank. If there’s an uncontrollable colony of bacteria, the space becomes dangerous for your pet to live in.
10 Flooring Types For Bearded Dragons With Their Pros And Cons
There are several flooring materials to use for a bearded dragon’s enclosure. The table below gives you a quick view of the most common types with their pros and cons.
| Flooring Type | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Sand + Soil + Clay mix | Great for adult beardies Allows for natural beardie behavior like digging Improves overall experience | Can be a bit pricey to get good options Can be harmful to baby beardies |
| Paper | Great for baby beardies Easy to maintain Affordable | Not ideal for adult beardies Unnatural; can lead to stress |
| Wood | Affordable Easy to clean | Unnatural Can encourage the growth of bacteria Wears easily due to cleaning |
| Wood shavings | Affordable | Dust particles can lead to respiratory and digestive problems |
| Bio shell substrate | Affordable | Dust particles can lead to respiratory and digestive problems Elevates humidity in the tank |
| Ceramic tiles | Easy to use and maintain Customizable | Needs extra cleaning to prevent bacteria buildup |
| Slates | Easy to clean and utilize Customizable | Unnatural Can be too slippery |
| Artificial grass carpet | Fairly affordable | Difficult to sanitize or keep clean Can injure your pets by tangling their nails in the threads Unnatural |
| Plastic carpets | Fairly affordable Easy to clean | Unnatural Releases hazardous fumes when the tank heats up |
| Plastic tiles | Fairly affordable Easy to clean | Unnatural Releases dangerous fumes when the tank is hot |
1. Loose Sand/Sand + Soil + Clay Substrate
Using only loose sand, like the sandy soil on playgrounds, is hazardous for beardies because it’s impossible to prevent them from accidentally ingesting it. When it’s feeding time, they will dive for the bugs and end up getting grains of sand in their mouths as well. Before you know it, your bearded dragon is impacted, which can be fatal in the worst-case scenarios.
The best type of loose substrate for bearded dragons is a mix of topsoil, sand, and clay that replicates their natural environment. The substrate should be slightly compacted so that your pet can walk on it without its little legs sinking in.
To get this result, use a blend of 60% topsoil (view on Amazon), 30% sand (view on Amazon), and 10% clay (view on Amazon). I find the usual 50% sand, 30% soil, and 20% clay blend too loose for thorough cleaning; poop and other waste easily filter through, compromising the hygiene of the tank and encouraging bacteria to grow.
2. Paper Flooring
Paper towels or newspapers aren’t the best type of flooring overall, but they can be ranked as one of the safest options for baby bearded dragons. They are also the best bet for beginners or pet owners who have minimal free time to deal with heavy-duty cleanup using other substrate options. The only issue I have with paper substrates is that they do not replicate the natural habitat of bearded dragons, and some beardies have shown signs of stress in response to this type of flooring.
3. Wooden Flooring
Wood can be used as flooring, and similarly to paper substrates, it is fairly ideal for the long run. The main problem with this method is that it soaks in moisture easily and could get moldy, enhancing the growth of dangerous fungi and bacteria inside the enclosure. Otherwise, it’s easy to clean and maintain and is affordable if you’re on a budget. Ensure that you use a quality plank and coat it with a good waterproof finish (view on Amazon) to prevent moisture and mold from building up.
4. Wood Shavings
Wood shavings are an absolute no-no as a substrate for your beardie. Not only will bacteria successfully breed and thrive in it, but the dust also gets into your bearded dragon’s orifices and can lead to serious digestive and respiratory issues. Do not use this kind of substrate under any circumstances.
5. Bio Shell Substrate
Ground coconut, almond, and peanut shells are examples of organic substrate types, and they’re not the best choices to make for your pet. While they are fairly affordable, they’re simply too loose and dusty for beardies. The dust particles from the shavings or blended fiber can lead to impaction and respiratory problems.
6. Ceramic Tiles
Ceramic tiles are easy to install, affordable, safe, and effortless to maintain. They come in various colors, shapes, and textures allowing you to customize the enclosure to resemble the natural habitat of your bearded dragon. This generally improves its behavior.
The only problem with ceramic tiles is that some have grooves deep enough to house poop and bacteria. Therefore, when cleaning textured ceramic tiles, you may need to put in extra work to remove the dirt from the cracks, ideally using a toothbrush.
7. Slate Floorings
Slate flooring for bearded dragons is similar to ceramic tiles (view on Amazon). The only difference is that slate is not as textured as ceramics and offers a wider spectrum of colors and designs to choose from. If you’re experimental, you’d benefit from the available styles. Slate is much easier to clean compared to ceramics. Since they’re smooth, you can easily wipe and mop out the goo.
However, like ceramic tiles, they offer little to no grip to bearded dragons. This may not be a big deal, but it sure does take the naturalistic feel away from the enclosure.
8. Grass Carpets
Reptile grass carpets are known among beardie owners as more suitable than plain loose sand, but they’re not as hygienic as ceramics, slates, or paper. This is because carpets are porous and tend to breed bacteria. They are also much more complicated to clean or maintain since you need to remove, wash, and dry the entire carpet every week.
In a few cases, bearded dragons get their claws caught in the threads and then injure themselves while struggling to get free. This, of course, depends on the texture of the carpet; the coarser it is, the more dangerous. If you must use one, purchase a reptile carpet with soft and lower-cut threading (view on Amazon) to prevent your pet from getting tangled in it. Despite the drawbacks, they do look aesthetically pleasing in the enclosure.
9. Plastic Carpets
Another common substrate or flooring item is the plastic carpet (view on Amazon) available in various colors and designs and is effortless to use. They are easy to clean and maintain, however, not as durable as you’d need them to be. After several swipes, wipes, and scrapes, they’d begin to bruise and perforate. Additionally, they are reactive in heat releasing toxic fumes inside the enclosure when the temperature gets high. I’d recommend you use them as a temporary fix until you find a more durable and permanent solution.
10. Plastic Tiles
Plastic tile flooring is also quite popular, but just as hazardous as the carpets. Plastics and heat are not the best for housing a bearded dragon. Remember that beardies are constantly under heat lamps, and since plastic reacts readily with heat, they will emit dangerous fumes into the air, which will be detrimental to your beardie’s health in the long run. The pros of using plastic tiles are that they are easy to clean and maintain, affordable, and lightweight. Other than that, I recommend seeking safer options.
