Daily maintenance and spot cleaning.

Hello everyone,

So my little beardie is a stinker. He has discovered that mama does not appreciate poop in his enclosure, and so, as soon as it is delivered, she will come and clean it up for him. Well... this has resulted in some rather amusing situations.

Lockdown (I pray he is a male and I was not wrong), will poop on the top of his perch, in his favorite spot, and then he will RUN to the other side, as far away as possible, and hide from it to where I can only see his head on the other branch. Obviously this is because it smells, and genius decided to poop under his basking light. So lets cook this bad boy at 110F and see what happens!

What happens is me, all of a sudden, noticing sir Spazz A lot in his viv, and going to clean up the deposit.

Here is my question:
What can I use to spot clean the spot on his perch? The perch is a wooden stump/branch mold (sadly plastic) that has lots of ridges. It does smell, even if I remove it right away, and try to wipe it down, but I would LOVE to be able to spot clean it with something safe, not some chemical perhaps?

Another side question: How often do you clean and dessinfect the Viv? How do you wash the carpet?

Thanks everyone,
Toni

Hi Toni....dragons seem to settle in to 1-2 fave pooing spots, which can be a plus or be an annoyance as you've learned. The best all natural cleaner which is actually more powerful than bleach is red wine vinegar. Just dilute it with about 10 parts water to clean, then rinse with hot water if need be.

AHBD":vivfj689 said:

Hi Toni....dragons seem to settle in to 1-2 fave pooing spots, which can be a plus or be an annoyance as you've learned. The best all natural cleaner which is actually more powerful than bleach is red wine vinegar. Just dilute it with about 10 parts water to clean, then rinse with hot water if need be.

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Yeah I am OCD enough that I NEED his Viv to be clean, and the dummy does not think enough ahead to realize that pooping in his fav spot, means he doesn't get to bask in his fav spot. Also, later, it will result in a loooooong bath, because he now stinks, and I'm not having any of that while he goes all Dora the Explorer on me during play time.

SMH, this baby is crazy!

I am going to pick up some red wine vinegar, and put it in one of the pray bottles with some water. Hopefully that will help. I wanted to make sure that I use as little chemicals as possible around him.

The vinegar/water mix is great for spot cleaning. It helps get all of the solid bits up easily. It gets easier when they are older. They tend to avoid the poop and you can train them via routine to poop outside of their tank in an easy to clean area. If he is stinky, put some Dr Bronner's Baby Mild soap in the bath with him for a little extra cleaning power. You can usually find it at an organic style grocery or sometimes Target has it in the cosmetics area.

Yeah, man oh man I am not thrilled with his "routine".

Granted, I am pleased he is pooping regularly, but he also eats like a pig. 18 phoenix worms in the morning, 30 crickets for lunch, and he will have about another 20 worms or so for dinner. (I hope that is normal...)
But like out of all the spots in this tank, I wish he would poop somewhere easier to clean, and not under his basking light.

I'm sorry but this really made me laugh. :lol: These crazy dragons! I too like to keep a clean viv. We are fortunate enough to have an extra bathroom so our beardie basically has his own tub :roll: where he bathes and I clean his "furniture." I rinse everything off really well under the tap in the tub with super hot water and I keep an old toothbrush in there for getting in the cracks, and then use Dr. Bronner's liquid soap, but very very diluted for the bad messes. White vinegar is good too, also diluted, you can soak the "fake wood" stuff in that and rinse really well. I am OCD enough that I only keep the "real" wood hides & things in my beardie's house when he's shedding so he can rub on it, because I don't trust that it gets clean enough if it gets pooped on!

mrspoodie":49oz96bp said:

I'm sorry but this really made me laugh. :lol: These crazy dragons! I too like to keep a clean viv. We are fortunate enough to have an extra bathroom so our beardie basically has his own tub :roll: where he bathes and I clean his "furniture." I rinse everything off really well under the tap in the tub with super hot water and I keep an old toothbrush in there for getting in the cracks, and then use Dr. Bronner's liquid soap, but very very diluted for the bad messes. White vinegar is good too, also diluted, you can soak the "fake wood" stuff in that and rinse really well. I am OCD enough that I only keep the "real" wood hides & things in my beardie's house when he's shedding so he can rub on it, because I don't trust that it gets clean enough if it gets pooped on!

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You know my pain!!!!

Yeah the upstairs guest bathroom is pretty much his. I soak everything in boiling hot water in the tub ( we have our water heater set ridiculously high). My main issue is with spot cleaning, because he RUNS from his poop, and then stares me (or my husband) down from the other side of his perch, absolutely disgusted that he now is broiling a turd in his basking spot. Genius!

I will try the vinegar stuff. I just want to be able to go in, wipe it out, without having to soak everything in water. If it removes the smell, I will be thrilled. Cause sometimes, he fusses and does not want his bath.

I feel like I just got another kid. Finally raised one into a teenager, and then got this little stinker.

I use vinegar and water to spot clean too. It's great. I do take my dude out just so he does not breath in the mist. Just in case.

BruceLarryOzzie":1expu6oj said:

I use vinegar and water to spot clean too. It's great. I do take my dude out just so he does not breath in the mist. Just in case.

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Mine demands he be taken out. He will rush to climb on me when there is poop around. I'm pretty sure he is upset I left it in there an extra second as is it.

So today, I came home to another baked turd on his basking spot. Clearly he was displeased with me, as that bad boy had cooked there for god knows how many hours.

I bought a petsmart spray bottle and omg it is a charm. Fits EXACTLY 9:1 ratio of red wine vinegar and water. 1/4 cup vinegar, then fill up to the tip with water. I used that to power spray the branch, and the single jet (not the mist) has enough umph to clean the dry bits without me touching it. Better cleanup and job than with store bought cleaners, and a lot tougher on odor.

THANK YOU everyone for teaching me this trick!

This is one of the better poop threads I've read.

SpacialCoogs":1khoknek said:

This is one of the better poop threads I've read.

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Well it is poop we are talking about. Got to make it entertaining. Also this stuff is so real. I can't make it up. My beardie is ridiculously expressive. Thankfully so. Because if there wasn't entertainment I don't think I'd be this amused by his routine.