The Best Bearded Dragon Basking Rock and Platforms
A basking rock is essential for keeping your bearded dragon healthy. They are excellent places for your beardie to “chill” whilst absorbing some much-needed UVB light.
Why Does a Bearded Dragon Bask?
A bearded dragon, being cold-blooded, regulates its body temperature through the conditions within its tank. This is why it is important to have different temperature zones in the tank.
If your bearded dragon is too cold, it will move to the warmest part of the tank and absorb some much-needed warmth. If your beardie is too hot, it will simply move to a cooler area of the tank.
It is important that your bearded dragon is always warm enough. Amongst other reasons, without the correct temperatures, your beardie will be unable to digest its food properly.
This is a common reason why many owners notice their bearded dragon is not eating properly.
Note: You can find out more about creating an optimum heat and light setup in this guide here.
Selecting the Best Basking Rock
Now, the main thing you are looking for is to provide your bearded dragon with a distinct platform for basking on. This can come in the form of a basking rock or a branch or even a hammock.
There are a few things you need to consider when getting a basking rock though, the platform needs to be:
- Flat
- Stable
- Heat resistant
- Correct size
- Made from safe materials
All of the products in this list are made from safe materials, are heat resistant, and also easily kept clean, so the only thing you need to consider is your budget and the size of the platform.
Top 7 Bearded Dragon Basking Rocks
1. MagNaturals Bearded Dragon Basking Rock
The MagNaturals basking rock is a beautifully and expertly designed product. It provides excellent value for its price.
The design is incredibly realistic and hand-painted, using only the highest quality materials.
It looks like it was taken from an outcrop from the desert and retailed for domestic use. Yeah, it’s that realistic.
The rock ledge will support your bearded dragon effortlessly. It’s composed of really dense foam that is resistant to reptile claws; hence, durability is assured.
This product passes every test in the book. Beauty, durability, ease of use, and maintenance.
All the beardie owners love it, and it looks great wherever you put it.
2. Zilla Bearded Dragon Basking Platform
The Zilla basking platform is designed to recreate the natural rock appearance that a bearded dragon is familiar with. The product has a stepped side, making it easy for your beardie to climb on.
It is both sturdy and easy to clean, allowing you to maintain a hygienic environment.
This is an excellently made product that is sure to last a long time.
Beardie owners seem to love the size of this basking rock, they emphasized how much bigger it is physically than in the pictures, a definite plus for a larger bearded dragon.
3. Carolina Custom Cages Basking Platform
The Carolina Custom Cages basking rock is the perfect solution for a full-grown bearded dragon. With its reddish-brown appearance, this rock has a natural, arid desert feel.
There is ample surface area for your beardie to comfortably lay down and its unique design enables it to remain firm and steady.
The material is manufactured with hardened resin, which makes it quite easy to maintain and keep nice and shiny, as well as reducing the risk of bacterial infection.
In a nutshell, this is a fantastic basking platform. Skimming through customer reviews, you’ll find that there is nothing but praise for this basking rock.
4. Viper’s Basking Rock and Hide
The Viper Basking Rock is truly a dream-come-true for bearded dragon owners. It’s a versatile platform that is suitable for practically any kind of terrarium.
The basking platform also guarantees durability, as its natural, realistic-looking rock formation is hand-crafted with good quality non-toxic resin.
Its hand-crafted quality also makes it unique, in that no two pieces could ever possibly be the same.
It is, however, essential to note that this product is small-sized and, therefore, ideal for young/small to medium-sized lizards.
It is designed in such a way to enable your bearded dragon to easily shield itself and hide from view through any of its dual openings.
This drastically reduces your pet’s stress level and improves general health.
5. Penn-Plax Bearded Dragon Basking Platform
The Penn-Plax Basking Rock provides a climbing/hiding area as close to the real deal as can be.
It is seamless hand-painted design gives an aesthetic natural look and makes it a perfect addition to your bearded dragon’s habitat.
The stepped ledges on the sides also improve your pet’s mobility, enabling them to crawl up, over and around, while simultaneously serving as a hiding spot.
The resin coating takes after natural rock formations found in arid environments and helps it blend easily into any setting.
This particular basking rock is well worth considering if you have a young bearded dragon.
6. Carolina Custom Cages Uluru Red Basking Rock
These basking rocks are unique in one aspect. They are real rocks! Cool, right?
They fit perfectly in your bearded dragon habitat if you’re going for a more natural feel.
These rocks are hand-selected and have a flat side (the basking surface for your pet) and a rougher side underneath to dissipate excess heat.
So, while the basking rock gets warm, absorbing heat, it is never too hot for your bearded dragon.
Note: Since these basking rocks are real and handpicked, no two products are the same.
7. Carolina Custom Cages Painted Desert Basking Rock
This is the same product as above with one little difference – color. Where the one above comes in Uluru red, this one has been painted in a desert color.
It serves the same functions and is still a perfect choice if natural rocks are your preference.
The color blends perfectly with the golden sands and rocks typically found in deserts, and your bearded dragon is sure to experience love at first basking with this rock.
Are There Alternatives to a Basking Rock?
If a basking rock or a platform doesn’t fit in with the decor in your tank, then you can use a hammock or a branch instead.
The main thing is that your beardie has a place that it is able to access warmer temperatures.
So yes, in answer to the question you could use a hammock as an alternative basking platform.
A highly rated hammock amongst bearded dragon owners it the Niteangel Hammock made from a breathable mesh with strong suction caps so you can be assured your beardie is safe when basking.
Where Should I Position the Basking Area?
It is important that the basking rock is secure and not likely to topple over and hurt your beardie.
You will also want to position the platform so it sits directly below a basking lamp, how far away this is will depend on the power of the bulb.
The aim is to achieve the optimum temp (see the chart below to find out what that is for your beardie).
You can achieve the perfect temps by increasing or decreasing the distance that the bulb is from the basking rock.
Summary
With this, we have come to an end, and hopefully, this will have helped you to make the right choices in getting the perfect basking rock for your pet beardie.
There is a wide range of options in giving your pet its dream habitat. So feel free to explore and get creative with other tank décor and other fun and useful habitat accessories.
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I was just 15 years of age when I first met a bearded dragon. It was at my friend's house and I instantly grew an immediate attraction to, what has now become, my favourite animal on the planet! Making fantastic pets for both children and adults alike, they each have their own personality and are certainly full of character. There are, though, some important things that we should all know when it comes to caring for these amazing animals!