Newbie substrate question

[Izzy333]

Hi everyone, so I have a juvenile bearded dragon I acquired from my sisters friend who couldn't keep it. I am still learning a lot but i have questions about the substrate. I will fess up, he is on sand which i know is a big no no, but i am hearing people using tile and i am interested in this. Right now he is in a 20 gallon but soon going to a 40 gallon breeder, how do you cut the slate to fit in the tank? I think the slate would look very nice but i am worried I won't be able to cut it. I know i can also use shelf liner that is not adhesive, do. You have problems with the ends curling up at all? I know some stupid questions but i am new to all this and kinda got thrown into it but i didn't want him to go to bad home and I always do the best for my animals. I am leaning more towards slate tile i think. Any help would be great. Just explain in detail what i have to do, thanks

 

[beardcore]

i personally use no adhesive shelf liner comes in different colors and cleans real easy and looks nice i got in like a sandy brown.

 

[catUK]

I used a nice natural coloured tile and tried to cut it myself with a tile cutter...lets just say, don't do it yourself lol. Most hardware stores will cut it for free to the desired size, just ask around. Failing that, you could always try a decent tile cutter and hope you have better luck than i did. The tiles look great, are easy to clean and help keep the beardies nails trim.

 

[Izzy333]

Do you just place the tiles in or do you have to grout them? Wouldnt they be stuck in the cage then?

 

[catUK]

You can grout them in permanently but its up to you. I haven't grouted them or stuck them in. I have just laid mine in and they fit close together without gaps and that way they're easier to lift out to give a good cleaning.

 

[Nasubi77]

Tile comes standard in 6", 12" and 18" squares. Two 18" squares should fit perfectly into the 40g breeder. If you need them cut, hardware stores will do it for free if you buy the tile there (and sometimes even if you don't, if you know how to sweet talk the employees, lol).

I wouldn't advise grouting them into a glass tank. First, it would make the tank heavier and I'd worry about the ability of the glass to hold the weight if you need to move the tank. I keep a layer of paper towels under the tile to absorb leakies. The bigger pieces of tile you use, the less cracks there are for seepage, but you'll still need to lift them out and clean under them. I made the mistake of using 6" tiles one time and I had to lift those jokers out every day to clean under them. With 18", that's not so much a problem especially if you're lucky and your dragon only "goes" in the middle of a tile, and not on the cracks in between.