Cleaning

[majahawt]

Out of curiosity, how often do you do a full clean of your tank?

I've seen recommendations for everything from once a week to once a month and we do it once a week. That's carpet cleaning, disinfecting furnishing and wiping down walls. Personally I think reptile carpets in particular definitely need a good clean once a week

 

[hmarie186]

The first and last time I thoroughly cleaned Edgars tank he flipped out. I have an index card in his poop corner I change everyday and every few days I change the paper towels in his moist hide. Once a week I use some mild cleaner in the poop spot and wipe it down. Otherwise I don't clean cage furnishings and such.

ETA: He is on ceramic tile.

 

[WhereToBegin]

This is a very interesting question I was just thinking about myself! I've read that full cleanings can be very stressful and have heard yearly before as well and I kind of have stuck to that myself.
I do daily poop cleans(I leave a separate piece of paper towel in the poop corners to make it easier) and I replace all of the paper towel(all floor stuff should probably be removed and cleaned if it's reusable before placing it in again) and replaceable hides(cardboard/paper/plastic recyclable bowl) after a month.
I'm a little iffy with the idea of a full wipe down with more than water mostly because it removes all of the residents scent so I wouldn't recommend doing it often probably.


So I have a bit of a question as well, what do any of you use to clean your enclosures? I used a little dish soap on a sponge and mostly water.

 

[mecoat]

I steam clean (just water) about every 2 months, but it sometimes creeps longer apart than that if I know something is going to happen soon that will cause additional stress (e.g. going into boarding).

 

[majahawt]

Stress and scent both sound like good reasons to increase the time between cleanings, so I think we're definitely going to cut down on them!

When it comes to what we use, the carpet is only rinsed and soaked in water, while we've been using a disinfectant specifically for reptile enclosures on the rest.

 

[BoothEatsBugs]

I did one full cleaning of my geckos cage, and I've had her for about 3 months. I soaked all her hides in no rinse sanitizer (If you brew beer, you're familiar with this) and wiped her whole cage down. When I put her back in, she went all over the place licking and checking out her "new" environment.

Maybe she likes he own smell

Now I just clean her poop u every 4 days. Poops in the same corner, so I just doubled up the paper towel and Folded it up so it comes out cleanly. Also I change her moist hide towels once per week.

Easy!

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I do poop spot cleaning every other day and full enclosure clean-ups usually happen every month or two depending on the severity. I have a couple of misbehaved geckos that love sticking their poops high up the sides or above their hides -__-

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Stress and scent both sound like good reasons to increase the time between cleanings, so I think we're definitely going to cut down on them!

When it comes to what we use, the carpet is only rinsed and soaked in water, while we've been using a disinfectant specifically for reptile enclosures on the rest.

Might be a good idea to wash the carpet with a disinfectant too. Then rinse very well.