Cleaning Query.

Hi all, I am still to purchase disinfectant for the tank. Should I buy it from the reptile shop or can you use normal ordinary disinfectant.......sorry if that's a stupid question. Also, how often do you disinfect your tank and the contents in it? Regards.

I clean my tank once a week. I change paper towels(the potty area lol) and wipe down the tiling.
I'm not sure how often you should disinfect the tank. I hear using a bleach water mixture can work, as long as everything is rinsed off VERY well (thats how I do it for my fish anyway).
Don't use ordinary disinfectant, as it could harm your leo (it says enough about humans being careful around it, never mind animals!).

when i asked that question on here i was told told to use vinegar to clean the tank. i make sure to wipe it out with a wet towel after i wash it tho cause vinegar stinks and i worry about my little charm breathing in any smells.

A one part bleach to nine parts water is a diluted enough solution to not hurt a leopard gecko, but I personally use lysol wipes and wipe everything down when I pull it all out. The furniture that can be ran in the dishwasher, I do so, and then give it a good rinse and air dry after that.

i use F10 ready to use disinfectant

I use vinegar solution to clean my tank. I dilute it further with bottled water and spray down the entire tank, let it sit a few minutes, wipe it down, and then rinse the inside with water and dry off to make sure there isn't any residue.

Thanks evryone, when I finish University later today I think I will take a strool down to the reptile shop and by some 'ready to use'. If it's cheap enough to carry on with i'll keep using that. If it works out a bit expensive i'll try the bleach water combination. What should I do with little Leo whilst I'm cleaning because he still wont let me or anyone else hold him yet? Thanks again

Do you have a container he came in? I have one of those little "kritter keepers" that you can get at petshops. I use that to carry my leos around if they need to go somewhere. Usually Miracle will let me clean her tank with her in it though. I do the side she isn't on first, and then I move her over to the other side so I can clean that side. :P

I, too, use a little critter keeper. It's a bit of money now, but helps out so much later on. Like, for cleaning, vet visits, etc.

I clean my tank completely every month.. and I clean the litter tray everyweek. I use an animal enclosure disinfectent thats made for reptile and amphibian housing.... called deep clean .. it's by a brand called Beaphar.

Hey Gothicgurrrl, what is a "litter tray"? What is it made of and what do you have in it?
Thanks,, lisa

hey

a litter tray is like the ones you use for cats and rabbits.. your pet's 'toilet'. Because leopard geckos and most reptiles choose a certain area in their tank to go to the toilet, it is very easy to litter train them

for my litter tray, I use a plastic Tupperware lid filled with a thin layer of desert sand. You put it in the area where your leo poops and put some of the poops in it and they will be using it in no time

Some people use plastic tubs and make the sand more deep.. but I just prefer a little one so I can empty it every 2 weeks

You can see my litter tray in this pic *my housing has been changed around now so the litter tray is at the back*

A couple of suggestions. For daily rinse & sanitizing, warm water + anti bacterial soap will be fine.

For general disinfecting, Chlorhexidine is a nice soft disinfectant that will kill a lot of bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.. It's non-toxic and will not leave bad odor.

If you have a parasite outbreak, have a sick gecko, or one that just died and you want to disinfect the tank properly, Ammonia is the only way to kill crypto, coccidia, and giardia oocysts. Bleach will not kill oocysts, it's important to know this.

Check here and here for more disinfectant info. Also read up on a great article from Geckotime regarding sanitation and quarantine.