We constantly see people asking questions about the various accessories that you are able to add to your bearded dragon’s vivarium or terrarium that can help enrich the habitat for your pet bearded dragon.
Although there are an absolute ton of possible accessories that you are able to add to your bearded dragon’s tank, the most common one that we see time and time again is the use of bearded dragon driftwood.
In fact, we see so many different questions each month about using driftwood for your pet bearded dragon that we have decided to publish our own dedicated article on the topic.
Our hope is that we will be able to cover all of the commonly asked questions about using driftwood in your bearded dragon’s tank in a single article to help as many of our readers as possible.
Although there are some excellent pre-cleaned driftwood options for bearded dragons, we understand why so many people like to go out to find their own driftwood.
Provided that you clean the self-found driftwood correctly, you are usually able to use it for your bearded dragon without risking any potential problems but it is usually recommended that you try to ensure that the wood is oak, maple, driftwood, lilac, Mopani wood, fruit trees or willow if possible.
Is Driftwood Safe For Bearded Dragons?
Driftwood is considered safe for bearded dragons and can be an excellent option with a large number of bearded dragon keepers using driftwood in their tanks.
The driftwood does have to be cleaned correctly prior to adding it to the tank to reduce the risk of introducing parasites of contaminants though.
There are a large number of potential parasites that you may be able to accidentally add into your bearded dragon’s vivarium depending on the state of any driftwood that you find yourself.
In addition to the potential parasites, there are actually a surprising number of chemicals in our local seas and rivers with much of the driftwood you are able to find yourself having contaminants soaked into it presenting an additional risk to your bearded dragon.
Thankfully though, both parasites and contaminants are generally easy to clean off the driftwood to make it safe to use with your bearded dragon.
The majority of the commercially available driftwood for bearded dragons has usually been treat for parasites and cleaned to remove contaminants to make it as safe as possible for use though.
Can You Use Driftwood For A Bearded Dragon Enclosure?
You are able to use driftwood from oak, maple, driftwood, lilac, Mopani wood, fruit trees and willow as an accessory for your bearded dragon.
There are a number of possible use cases for the driftwood but it is commonly used for a basking or climbing areas with some people often using smaller driftwood for decoration in the tank.
We usually recommend that our readers use pre-cleaned driftwood for bearded dragons if possible as it tends to workout to be a much easier option than going out and finding your own driftwood and then cleaning it to the required standard.
You are usually able to purchase suitable lengths of pre-cleaned driftwood for bearded dragons for $20 to $30 with the wood being ready to use as soon as you get it.
Depending on the exact state of any driftwood you find yourself, it may take weeks to clean correctly and if you choose to sandblast it then you may have to rent a sandblaster too or at least purchase a cheap sandblaster to help you clean it.
This quickly causes your costs to sky rocket when you can just purchase driftwood that is ready to use right out of the box for around $20 to $30.
What Do You Use Driftwood For In A Bearded Dragon Vivarium?
The most common use of driftwood in a bearded dragons vivarium is as a place for your bearded dragon to bask in its heat lamps.
It can also serve as a source of enrichment in the vivarium for your bearded dragon to climb around and play on with some people often using smaller driftwood sections as decoration too.
We have seen some larger bearded dragon vivariums make great use of different sections of driftwood by using a reptile safe adhesive to connect the driftwood into a large, intricate design.
Some people then add in various reptile safe plants or reptile safe fake plants to the driftwood to complete the look too.
Although it is rare, we have also seen some people make hides and shelters out of driftwood while still ensuring that their bearded dragon has the heat required from its lamps while using the hides.
This is not usually as important for a bearded dragon as other common reptiles, amphibians, and fish though but it is another use case for driftwood with bearded dragons that you are able to take advantage of.
How Do You Sterilize Driftwood For Bearded Dragon?
The easiest way to sterilize driftwood for a bearded dragon is to wash it down by hand with soapy water to get any excess debris off first.
Then soak the driftwood in a 10% bleach solution for a day followed by soaking the driftwood in fresh water for at least a week replacing the water each day.
Although not essential, some people will also choose to sandblast the driftwood prior to adding it to their bearded dragon’s tank too.
That is the easiest and most popular method of cleaning driftwood for a bearded dragon but there really is a wide range of different things that you are able to do to the wood too depending on where you found it and its condition.
Depending on where you live, your local driftwood may also be at a higher risk of having particular parasites or contaminants on it too so keep that in mind when going out and looking for your driftwood.
This is why we always recommend that you just use a pre-cleaned driftwood for bearded dragons as it really is much easier to use in most cases. It allows you to save so much time, effort, and potentially money while also often delivering a better result for your bearded dragon too.
How Do I Make Driftwood Safe For My Bearded Dragon?
The most important part of making driftwood safe for your bearded dragon is cleaning it correctly. Second to that, you also have to ensure that it is securely fitted into your bearded dragon’s tank and will not fall or move if your bearded dragon climbs on it.
Thankfully, there are a number of reptile safe adhesive products on the market that you are able to use to glue the driftwood in place.
We know that this may found like overkill but it’s just not worth the risk of your driftwood moving when your bearded dragon climbs on it causing your bearded dragon to fall with the driftwood potentially falling on top of it causing injury.
Some people do choose to use string or even the plants that they are using in their bearded dragon’s tank to secure the driftwood in place.
Depending on your exact setup, you may be able to wedge the driftwood in place or use any substrate or basking tiles as a way to secure your driftwood instead of having to use glue though.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over using bearded dragon driftwood in your vivarium to an end. Driftwood really is an excellent material to work with in most bearded dragon tanks as there are just so many different ways that you are able to use it to maximum effect. It is a very popular option too with countless bearded dragon owners all over the world using driftwood in their vivariums and terrariums without running into problems.
