brighteyez
New Member
When you are cleaning out your enclosure, what's your favorite cleaning solution? Did you buy it? Is it home made? Tell me all about it!!
What's your favorite cleaning solution?
- Thread starter brighteyez
- Start date
Malicious
New Member
I have tried quite a few cleaners, and it really depends on what I'm cleaning.
For cages and cage bottoms I use The anti-bacterial version on 409.
For vines and decor I use a 1/10 ratio of bleach and water, followed by a heavy rinse.
As for feeder cups and various other chameleon related item (cricket bins, silkworm bins...etc) I use antibacterial dish soap, and hot water. If you use a sponge to clean anything it's a good idea to wet it, and squeese out the excess water leaving it damp, followed by 30 secs in the microwave to kill off any germs and bacteria. Sponges hold germs and bacteria in a big way, and all to often I see people wiping down thier food utensils and counters with them, just spreading the germs all over everything! You might aswell be wiping everything down with a chicken leg!!
For cages and cage bottoms I use The anti-bacterial version on 409.
For vines and decor I use a 1/10 ratio of bleach and water, followed by a heavy rinse.
As for feeder cups and various other chameleon related item (cricket bins, silkworm bins...etc) I use antibacterial dish soap, and hot water. If you use a sponge to clean anything it's a good idea to wet it, and squeese out the excess water leaving it damp, followed by 30 secs in the microwave to kill off any germs and bacteria. Sponges hold germs and bacteria in a big way, and all to often I see people wiping down thier food utensils and counters with them, just spreading the germs all over everything! You might aswell be wiping everything down with a chicken leg!!
kenya
Avid Member
It all depends on what I am cleaning. I keep poo picked up day to day as soon as I notice it and scrape water forward from the bottom of the cages with a clean squegee.
I scrub my cage bottoms, branches, and any leaves that got poo'ed on with a dedicated scrubber brush from the dollar store about once a week. I use a foaming soap pump filled with warm water and a few tablespoons of Dr. Bronner's liquid soap (it is super concentrated, so this produces a very nice, rich foam and costs very, very little money). I rinse the cage down with super hot water afterward and all the soap and residue goes out the front of the cage and down the gutter into the bucket (I love my drainage system). If any soap is left or gets on or in your plants, it doesn't matter. It isn't harsh at all and is only made from super rich saponified oils. I like the Eucalyptus scent the best and I feel like it foams better than the others. You can find Dr. Bronner's in bulk at healthfood stores. This method is quite easy and I am efficient at it- it doesn't take long at all and I am able to leave the chams in the cage while I do it with little to no reaction from them (I would even say they enjoy getting watered at the same time)
Every once in a while I will take the chams out into the sun and work on their cages while they are out basking. I will spray the cage down liberally with regular white distilled vinegar (5%) and let it sit until it dries. I then spray the whole cages down with hot water. Vinegar is a fantastic disinfectant, believe it or not, and is a very cheap and earth friendly cleaning solution.
If I have a sick cham in quarantine or a new cage to clean (or just really want to go through and sanitize everything as well as I can), I will scrub down the cage, soak stuff in a 10% ammonia solution (be careful to NEVER mix with bleach or you will die from the gas produced), rinse as well as I possibly can, rinse again, and steam clean it.
I clean feeding cups as needed...usually every two weeks or so. I just untie them from the cage and scrub them down with the Dr Bronner's foam and really hot water. I have a specific brush for cleaning the feeding cups with to minimize the chance of cross contamination.
By the way, your plants will look amazing if you take a small rag, put a teaspoon or so of mayonnaise on it, and shine up the leaves with it. Make sure you wipe it all off with a dry cloth, though, or it will go rancid, suffocate the leaves, and accumulate grime. There shouldn't be any residue afterward. I do this every few months or so to all the plants in the house.
If you have silk plants, put a cup of salt into a big ziplock bag and shake the plants in it for several minutes. It cleans them surprisingly well (don't wet them- do this totally dry)
I scrub my cage bottoms, branches, and any leaves that got poo'ed on with a dedicated scrubber brush from the dollar store about once a week. I use a foaming soap pump filled with warm water and a few tablespoons of Dr. Bronner's liquid soap (it is super concentrated, so this produces a very nice, rich foam and costs very, very little money). I rinse the cage down with super hot water afterward and all the soap and residue goes out the front of the cage and down the gutter into the bucket (I love my drainage system). If any soap is left or gets on or in your plants, it doesn't matter. It isn't harsh at all and is only made from super rich saponified oils. I like the Eucalyptus scent the best and I feel like it foams better than the others. You can find Dr. Bronner's in bulk at healthfood stores. This method is quite easy and I am efficient at it- it doesn't take long at all and I am able to leave the chams in the cage while I do it with little to no reaction from them (I would even say they enjoy getting watered at the same time)
Every once in a while I will take the chams out into the sun and work on their cages while they are out basking. I will spray the cage down liberally with regular white distilled vinegar (5%) and let it sit until it dries. I then spray the whole cages down with hot water. Vinegar is a fantastic disinfectant, believe it or not, and is a very cheap and earth friendly cleaning solution.
If I have a sick cham in quarantine or a new cage to clean (or just really want to go through and sanitize everything as well as I can), I will scrub down the cage, soak stuff in a 10% ammonia solution (be careful to NEVER mix with bleach or you will die from the gas produced), rinse as well as I possibly can, rinse again, and steam clean it.
I clean feeding cups as needed...usually every two weeks or so. I just untie them from the cage and scrub them down with the Dr Bronner's foam and really hot water. I have a specific brush for cleaning the feeding cups with to minimize the chance of cross contamination.
By the way, your plants will look amazing if you take a small rag, put a teaspoon or so of mayonnaise on it, and shine up the leaves with it. Make sure you wipe it all off with a dry cloth, though, or it will go rancid, suffocate the leaves, and accumulate grime. There shouldn't be any residue afterward. I do this every few months or so to all the plants in the house.
If you have silk plants, put a cup of salt into a big ziplock bag and shake the plants in it for several minutes. It cleans them surprisingly well (don't wet them- do this totally dry)
sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
white vinegar
steam
steam
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy,
Here's a good article about cleaning and disinfecting: http://www.anapsid.org/cleaning.html
What you use depends on what you think you might be trying to kill.
Ammonia and bleach (following the precautions of never letting them ever come in contact with each other) do a pretty good job of killing most microorganisms and many parasites. If you followed the whole Coccidia story months ago, you may remember the use of 6%-12% strength hydrogen peroxide (pharmacy store is only 3%) as a potential "solution")). The beauty supply warehouses sell it pretty cheap. The neat thing about H2O2 is that the byproduct is water and oxygen . The 12% stuff is pretty reactive so don't get it on things that don't need it.
Here's a good article about cleaning and disinfecting: http://www.anapsid.org/cleaning.html
What you use depends on what you think you might be trying to kill.
Ammonia and bleach (following the precautions of never letting them ever come in contact with each other) do a pretty good job of killing most microorganisms and many parasites. If you followed the whole Coccidia story months ago, you may remember the use of 6%-12% strength hydrogen peroxide (pharmacy store is only 3%) as a potential "solution"
)). The beauty supply warehouses sell it pretty cheap. The neat thing about H2O2 is that the byproduct is water and oxygen . The 12% stuff is pretty reactive so don't get it on things that don't need it.
brighteyez
New Member
Wow, you really know a thing or two about cleaning! If you ever get board, and want stop by and clean my house, you are more than welcome!
kenya
Avid Member
brighteyez
New Member
Can I leave my cham in his cage when I'm using the vinegar??
