Shelf Liner or Tile??

[Quelaag]

So I'm in desperate need of changing substrates. I've tried pretty much everything aside from loose substrates which I do not plan on using. I hated using paper towels and newspaper and Haru's nails always seem to catch on the carpet.

So which of the two do you guys suggest? I personally can't decide. I know tile is good for shortening their nails a bit, but I'm paranoid that she might fall and hurt herself. On the other hand, is shelf liner easy to clean? I imagine it might be difficult to scrub down so that's the only issue I have with that one.

Which do you think is better for Beardies as substrate? Tile or Shelf Liner? Sorry if this is a spam or repeat thread, I just want to get a substrate where she's able to move around without being at risk of hurting her nails or something. :C

Thank you all in advance!

 

[CooperDragon]

They are both good substrates. The tile is easy to clean, durable, and holds heat well. As long as you don't put furniture too high the risk of injury is minimal based on my experience. The shelf liner is pretty easy to clean and can be replaced easily too. You can get a lot of different patterns with it as well. Neither is very expensive so you could try one and then switch to the other if it doesn't fit your needs.

 

[jenn4turtles]

Hi!

I use both shelf liner and tile in Smaug's home.

I have a large (16 x 16, I think) tile on one side of his tank. It was a leftover from my kitchen floor and isn't too smooth. I was told that tile can help file his nails when he walks on it.

I also purchased a roll of non-adhesive shelf liner from Walmart for about $6.00, in a taupe color (I figured it would look like sand). The roll was thick, 18" inches in width. From that I cut TWO pieces that fit the entire tank (the tank is 36" long by 18" wide, but I trimmed each piece a little smaller to fit inside neatly). When I clean the tank, I put the clean one in and wash the other one; I always have a clean one that way. I wash it in hot water and Dawn (usually in the bathtub) and then hang it to dry. Very easy!

 

[Wolfeden]

Hi!

I use both shelf liner and tile in Smaug's home.
...

+1 on both.

I decided to use a beige non-adhesive shelf liner, got mine at Home Depot and instead of tile I went with red shale/sandstone collected locally.

 

[jenn4turtles]

I like the shale, Wolfeden!

 

[Wolfeden]

Thank you.
I just added a few more to fill some of the bigger gaps.

 

[Quelaag]

Sorry for the late response! It's been a busy couple of days for me. But yeah, I think I'll try the shelf liner first and maybe play around with using tile in the future or something. Thank you guys for your replies. And of course I forgot to pick up shelf liner yesterday after work. I work in a place that sells that stuff so I have no clue how I forgot. :lol: I just hope Haru likes it, she doesn't move around much in her enclosure and I think it's due to her nails getting caught all the time. I really want to clip them, but I'm terrified of hurting her and even more scared that she won't trust me anymore if that happened.

Also I love your set up, Wolfeden!

 

[Wolfeden]

Thank you.

You might consider placing some loose tiles on top of the liner, in various places, like I have done with the natural rock. The tile will give your BD a nice rough texture for her nails and will also absorb and hold some heat.

Regarding the staying in one place...
I'm starting to think, based on the research of Francis Baines and now my own experience, that not moving around could be due to the limited/inadequate UVB light we've been providing these lizards. They have no choice but to stay in the area of the most concentrated UVB because we generally are only able to provide them with shade-like levels of UVB. So they need it all day long.

Once I switched my beardie to higher UVB levels, provided by T5 lighting, I noticed that my BD started to move in and out of the concentrated UVB area. Sometimes he chose higher heat and weaker UVB and sometimes the opposite. I'm about to try another change that will up the UVB intensity even more...
I theorize that I will see added movement, into more shaded areas and into caves/hides, that I have not seen previously.

Francis Baines has stated that as we can increase the levels of artificial UVB, closer to that of natural sunlight, we will start to see more natural behavior and movement in and out of sunlit areas as the BD's would do in the wild. That's my interpretation of her writings, not a direct quote.

TMI?

 

[mudskipper]

Shelf liners for sure. They are cheap and easy to clean. Beardies can be messy and poop can get between the tiles.

You could get a big white shelf liner from Bed Bath and Beyond. I have had to changed it once in 2 years

 

[Quelaag]

Sorry for the super late replies, I've been rather busy still. So I got some shelf liner from my workplace and so far so good! She's moving around a lot more now and is actually hunting rather than standing and waiting for crickets to get in front of her so my theories about her not wanting to move around due to the carpet catching her nails must be true. Though I'm paranoid I may have gotten the wrong kind? I got the flat kind with a slightly smooth surface on the top? Is that okay? Haru doesn't seem to be having issues with it, but I didn't consider the fact that maybe the plushier/foamy liner might be the recommended kind.

 

[jenn4turtles]

As long as it's nonadhesive, it's fine, I think. Mine came from Walmart in a long roll, was around $6-$7, and it's pretty thin. The main thing is to provide a layer between them and the glass bottom, I figure, and to help with clean up. I cut two from that one roll, and I swap them out every week when I clean. I also have a tile in there, too, b/c I'm hoping it will file his nails, but it hasn't worked so far. Guess I need a rougher tile.