cleaning the enclosure

[Rozie26]

Hi i am in the process of getting things together for a panther. I plant to not have any substrate, just leaving the bottom naked other than the branches and stuff. So i'm sure they poop and pee lol or all in one whatever they excreat (sp) anyway how do you guys clean the bottom? with what and do you just clean around your potted plants and stuff? thanks in advance

 

[jtesagain625]

I put down paper towel. It's the easiest thing I do. My wife picked up small wee wee pads for dogs. My next clean, I'm gonna throw one in there. Should work the same.

 

[Rozie26]

So do you just put them AROUND the plants not under. Just worried about having to move stuff around every time I clean. Thanks

 

[Juliaf3]

So do you just put them AROUND the plants not under. Just worried about having to move stuff around every time I clean. Thanks

I actually hang all my live plants. My cage bottoms have nothing on them making cleaning extremely easy. Let me Grab a picture for you real quick and show you

 

[Rozie26]

wonderful i'm interested to see how you "hang" your live plants thanks

 

[Juliaf3]

I'm in the process of adding more sticks- but let me kind of explain what's going on here. On the right side of the cage, half way down, I have a live schefflera hanging. Everything else is fake vines or sticks with leafy vines wrappy around them. With it this way, I can easily open the bottom door and clean out the cage. I slide the white plastic part out and clean it off with a paper towel, removing any fecal matter, and slide it back in. Then once a week I will take it out and wash it with dial soap and hot water. My Cham is barely effected this way, making the whole process stress free for them

 

[Juliaf3]

wonderful i'm interested to see how you "hang" your live plants thanks

It actually doesn't really show how it is hung. Let me sneak down and grab a picture of the actual hung plant and not the entire cage. There lights should be off now I think.

 

[Juliaf3]

Alright that's a little better. Don't mind my boy, he was already down for the count. I have one of those flexible bendy vine things to kinda hold it in place, but the real support is impossible to see at night, I put a small hole in the back of the plant, then ran a string through it to the top of the cage. Once it's through the top it's tied to a stick that goes across the corners of the cage, makes the letter A. The flexible vine keeps the plants from swinging around. Does that make sense?





Crud! My picture is side ways!!! Can you tell from the picture? Even with it being sideways?

 

[Rozie26]

ohhhh yeah i see i just turned my computer sideways lol THANKS so much that helps he's a pretty lil' guy

 

[fleetwoodchams]

I put down paper towel. It's the easiest thing I do. My wife picked up small wee wee pads for dogs. My next clean, I'm gonna throw one in there. Should work the same.

Have the bottom of all my cages lined with puppy pads. Soaks up moisture and easy to clean out. I have low catch/drip liners under all the plants so they don't soak the pads. I also clean up all dead crickets etc and poop everyday. Even if I am not doing the entire clean out. Swap out the fountain I have in with Jethro ( see thread : Jethro has his own spa) every other day just to make sure no crickets have gotten in his water. Works for me : )

 

[Juliaf3]

ohhhh yeah i see i just turned my computer sideways lol THANKS so much that helps he's a pretty lil' guy

Your welcome! Glad that helped. I have a pothos in my panthers cage, hung the exact same way, but it's higher up due to it's natural hanging down versus the schefflera which is a lot like a tree and stands straight up.


I don't lay down paper towels or anything, I push a lot of water through my cage and it's just a big sloppy mess if I put anything down there to "catch" the fecal/urine matter (which is all in one brown and white is healthy) I have a drainage system set up so generally all water just goes to my containers.