Tile flooring, dig box

Hello everyone, I am new to the site and this is my first post. I have owned my Beardie for about 6-7 months now, and he is about 10 months old. A couple months ago we changed over to a bigger enclosure and I am using ceramic tiles for flooring. The new issue I am running into is that he has started a habit of ALWAYS pooping along a seam in the tiles, forcing me to take several tiles out and clean beneath them after every poop, which is becoming a bit of a pain.

My idea that my vet gave me a few months back before the tank move was to cut a piece of plywood as a floor base for the tank, and then attach and grout the tiles on the plywood so there are no seams anywhere in the floor. I want to try this as I think it will be much easier to clean than my current setup, but I have a few questions.

Has anyone done this before? Does anyone have a tile floor with grout in their enclosure? Do you use adhesive beneath the tiles, and if so, what kind? I know they say not to use pre-adhesived linoleum tiles because the heat can evaporate the adhesive and cause respiratory infections, but is ceramic tile adhesive paste different?

The other issue I have is a dig box. I recently found out these were a thing and I think it sounds like a great idea for Frank (my little guy). So my questions are do you recommend a dig box? And what do you use for substrate? I was told organic potting soil and play sand 50/50 mix.


Thanks in advance for any and all help! When I get back to my home computer I will post some pictures of Frank so you guys can see him.

I have tile in my tank and have put paper towels under the tile to catch the urate / runny stools when they run underneath - my husband gave some shop paper towels which are a thicker paper towel and it works real well - I pull the tile pull the paper towel thats caught it replace the paper towel clean the tile w/vinegar/ water 50/50 in a spray bottle - gets rid of the odor as well --- as far as dig boxes I put strips of a cut up dish towel in his hide when he was digging also paper towels can be used or what ever you want to cut in to strips as far as something soft --- Hiccup has not been digging since the weather has gotten warmer --
Karrie