Floor for my beardie's new home

[DeenosMama]

My seven month old beardie is quick outgrowing his 30 gallon tank so today, I'm going to pick up his new 55 gallon (hopefully) forever tank. Below, I've pasted a link for the the stand I'm buying for it.... my question is about the floor for it. Of course, I've read no sand so although I have calcium sand I'm not planning on using it. In his current home, he has a brown carpet I purchased from PetSmart that fits it perfectly but when I clean it, sometimes it doesn't go back down perfectly so his food crawls under there. I often find dead little crickets under his carpet when cleaning. Also below, I've pasted a picture of carpet that I'm considering however I see lots of posts of homes with what looks like some kind of tile on the bottom so I'm thinking of doing that. Any ideas/suggestions? Thanks!


http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?sku=1505742
http://www.petco.com/product/104018/Zilla-Green-Reptile-Terrarium-Liner.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

 

[krusty46]

Slate tiles appear to be popular. Easy to clean and they say they help keep the nails filed down a bit.

 

[jducky18]

I have 6" porcelain tiles, and Hermes slips a little when he tries to walk across them, but he does well. I also keep paper towels underneath my tiles in case his water spills or something, and if I need to clean the tiles, all I need to do is pull them out, scrub it, and put it back. One of the problems with loose tiles is the fact that crickets can, and probably will, get underneath them. Some people grout their tiles into the viv, but then you can't take them out and clean them. It's up to whatever you want to do. Another alternative is non-adhesive shelf liner.

 

[beardie parents]

If I remember correctly, the 55 gallon tank is only about 12 inches wide and it's not wide enough for adult beardies to turn around in. They need tanks that are wider length and width wise than taller. About the tank bottom, you can use carpet, as long as it doesn't have loops because beardie's claws can get caught in the loops and torn out, or so I've been told. We now have a combination of tile and paper towel and non-adhesive shelf liner. We've also used some left over carpet from our home purchase almost 14 years ago.

 

[david0501]

Hey personally, I use linoleum tile. It's cheap, can be cut with scissors, and in general looks good. My tiles look like wood, which I think adds to the coolnes a bit haha.

 

[jovamabob]

I use linoleum. I went to my local flooring shop and bought a cheap offcut of lino from them for next to nothing. Its easily cut to size, especially since i have a round edged platform, and so cheap that if you ever decide to have a 'design change' you can easily change it out. It doesn't look too bad either since there are so many designs. I bought a 'rough textured' one to aid with him gripping it and intend to get one of those flat slate roofing tiles to put in the area he uses the most to file his nails down a bit since they're so cheap.

 

[david0501]

Yea, my "wood" lino has good grooves etc so he wont be slipping around everywhere haha

 

[Boss12]

When I build mine I'll use slate. You can lightly sand it to rough up the texture for better grip. Keep the crickets out of your Vic and they won't get stuck underneath them

 

[david0501]

With my tile theirs no spacing so he'll be fine lol