Flooring advice

[Gail]

I have a older male dragon who has been kept on sand his whole life. When I got him, I switched to tile/newspaper but he really has a hard time getting traction on the tile especially. The tile isn't slick, it has texture but Crimm hasn't aged well, he is a bit shaky and stiff which makes walking a bit difficult. He does pretty good on carpet or furniture but hard, flat surfaces really seem to bother him.

As much as I hate the idea, I'm thinking about putting him back on sand. I just don't know what else to do so its easier for him to move around. I don't want to use carpet, there is a lot of heavy objects in his tank and it would make it hard to clean. I though about shelf liner but he doesn't do well on that either.
Poor old guy needs dirt and grass, can't wait for spring.

 

[RedInkAus]

I have a older male dragon who has been kept on sand his whole life. When I got him, I switched to tile/newspaper but he really has a hard time getting traction on the tile especially. The tile isn't slick, it has texture but Crimm hasn't aged well, he is a bit shaky and stiff which makes walking a bit difficult. He does pretty good on carpet or furniture but hard, flat surfaces really seem to bother him.

As much as I hate the idea, I'm thinking about putting him back on sand. I just don't know what else to do so its easier for him to move around. I don't want to use carpet, there is a lot of heavy objects in his tank and it would make it hard to clean. I though about shelf liner but he doesn't do well on that either.
Poor old guy needs dirt and grass, can't wait for spring.

Get tiles... spread some aquarium grade silicon on them then get some aqurium gravel and sand and cover the tiles with it. It should stick to the silicon covered tiles..... let it air out for a couple of weeks and there's your traction.

 

[Gail]

Thats a fantastic idea, thank you.

 

[BadCon]

I've found that natural slate tiles give plenty of traction...much more then even the most textured ceramic tiles. If you need to go back to loose substrate, take a look at millet seed...pretty much harmless to an adult dragon, its it has very little if any dust (which makes it better then sand).

 

[Fishbone]

Hi Gail, I use the vinyl sheet type flooring. They get great traction on it. So far, with two dragons, they both were kind weirded out the first day, then fine after that. They sell it at home depot, lowes, etc. just make sure you get the type without the adhesive backing so you don't end up with any glue fumes. Its working great for me, easy to clean. Holds heat well. Just a little from my experience.

Dave