You can use ceramic tile for bearded dragon enclosures. In fact, ceramic tiles have become one of the most popular choices for bearded dragon enclosures as they provide a lot of benefits for these reptiles.
They’re also incredibly easy for owners to keep clean which is another huge advantage they have over other substrate options. Ceramic tiles might also be the healthiest choice you can make for your bearded dragon.
One of the biggest disadvantages to sand and other loose substrates is a medical condition known as impaction. All reptiles might swallow a little bit of their substrate when they go after their prey.
Over time, sand and other particulate matter can get clogged in the reptile’s digestive system which can cause serious medical problems. Ceramic tiles are a great way to get around this problem and have a healthier and happier lizard.
Ceramic tiles are also very easy for owners to keep clean. You can remove individual tiles and give them a spot cleaning as well as take out all of the tiles and bake them at 250 degrees to neutralize any potentially harmful bacteria.
This certainly beats scooping out sand every few months! Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of picking ceramic tiles for bearded dragon enclosures.
Can You Use Ceramic Tile For Bearded Dragons?
When you think of the natural habitat of a bearded dragon, you’re probably not thinking about ceramic tiling. However, ceramic tiling is actually one of the best options for choosing the substrate for your bearded dragons.
Ceramic tiling is easy to clean, safe for bearded dragons, and can even feel like the rocks bearded dragons will be hanging out on and their natural environments. If properly managed, ceramic tiling is a perfectly safe and acceptable substrate for bearded dragons.
One of the biggest advantages of ceramic tile for bearded dragons is that it’s so easy to keep clean. The toughest part about other substrates is finding ways to keep them clean on a regular basis that doesn’t bother your bearded dragon too much.
Ceramic tiles can be removed individually, washed and dried, and then reinserted into the enclosure without ever upsetting your bearded dragon. Because they’re made out of ceramic, you can even bake them once a month to give them a truly deep clean.
Ceramic tiling can also have a few other advantages for your pet bearded dragon. Ceramic tiling can help keep your bearded dragon’s claws trimmed by giving them an abrasive surface to walk across.
Ceramic tiling doesn’t come with any of the potential problems that can happen if you choose sand or other loose substrates for your bearded dragon. All in all, ceramic tile for bearded dragons is a great choice for a substrate.
How Do You Install Ceramic Tile In A Bearded Dragon Cage?
Installing ceramic tiles for bearded dragon enclosures is the easiest part about choosing this particular substrate. In fact, this is one of the reasons why ceramic tiles have risen to become one of the most popular choices for bearded dragons.
We’re going to go over how you can install ceramic tiles in your bearded dragon enclosure and what you need to do to make sure that they’re safe for your pet.
The first thing that you need to know about installing ceramic tiles is that you just lay them down on the floor of your bearded dragon’s enclosure.
Really, all you need to do is lay the tiles down. You should not use adhesive tiles or grout your tiles to make sure that they stay in place. Laying the tiles down individually allows you to remove them individually for cleaning later on.
The one thing you need to keep in mind is that ceramic tiles tend to get very hot inside of your bearded dragon’s cage. You need to make sure that your bearded dragon has adequate shaded areas that you make sure stay cool enough for your bearded dragon to maintain its temperature.
Ceramic tiles can overheat very quickly and you’re going to need to spend more time and effort making sure the temperature in your bearded dragon’s enclosure is safe for your pet.
Ceramic Tile Alternatives For Bearded Dragons
If you can think about using ceramic tile for bearded dragon enclosures, you should also consider a few other options that work very similar to ceramic tiling. These are slate tiles and porcelain tiles which you can use as an alternative to ceramics.
These tiles have their own pros and cons that you should weigh before picking the option that you choose for your bearded dragon. Let’s take a closer look at slate tiles and porcelain tiles for your bearded dragon enclosure.
Slate tiles are incredibly similar to ceramic tiles in terms of their pros and cons. The biggest con for slate tiles is that they are very difficult to cut to shape and it might be tricky to make sure the right size and shape for your bearded dragon’s enclosure. You might even need to get a professional stonemason to cut these slate tiles to shape for you.
Just like ceramic tiles, they are porous and easily absorb heat which means you’ll need to claim them individually and make sure that your bearded dragon some closure has adequate shade.
Porcelain tiles have one big advantage over stone tiles in that they are non-porous which makes them the easiest to clean. However, porcelain tiles are incredibly slippery for bearded dragons which might make it difficult for your pet to get around its enclosure.
Porcelain tiles get even more slippery when they’re wet and this can even make textured porcelain tiles too slick for your bearded dragon to come to walk on.
Conclusion
You can use ceramic tiles for bearded dragon enclosures. They’re a great option as they mimic the natural stone surfaces a bearded dragon would hang out on and are very easy for bearded dragon owners to keep clean. You just need to make sure that your ceramic tiles are placed in such a way that your bearded dragon has some places where it can cool down.
