What do you all clean tank up with?

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BeardieLover232

Hatchling Member
i have the tile floor, i vacuum it up at least once every week to a couple days, my two doesn't like to poop in there tank, and rather on the bath. the tank walls which is glass gets dirty, i take out my dragons and windex the glass, wait till it air drys and put them back! if its deep cleaning, i use clorox to disinfect their tank ( of course when not in the tank), these guys love to make messes on daily bases! :lol:
right now their tank is a little messy, gotta clean up after they eat their greens. :)
 

Jsw

Hatchling Member
I have tile, so I wipe up all spills immediately and he only poops every 9-10 days, so I pick it up with a poop bag and pull out the tile he pooped on to wash with soap and hot water. I haven't done a whole tank clean yet and don't see a lot of need to.

Perhaps a more experienced owner will point out the error of my ways, but it just doesn't seem like it gets dirty with a mostly poop free, clean dragon who eats his insects out of a bowl.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I spot clean with vinegar and water. It's good at getting solid bits up. I use F10SC to disinfect the tank and furniture and sometimes I'll use a steam cleaner. I pull the tile and wood pieces out, wash them with vinegar/water and rinse them and then bake them in the oven on low (around 250) for 45 min or so to disinfect. This only works for wood and tile though so the rest of the items get sprayed with F10SC after cleaning most of the time.
 

Rankins

Gray-bearded Member
I mainly use steam for cage cleaning now when I dump the rankins sand and replace it. I also have used diluted 33% hydrogen peroxide. Please note that strength of hydrogen peroxide is dangerous to use. Eye and skin protection is required.
 

fuchsiaSkies

Hatchling Member
I live with a Filipino, so we use vinegar for everything! :lol:

Antimicrobial properties without chemicals! What do you think people used before there was Lysol?? :D Yeah, the smell.... But that goes away completely in a few minutes. Thomas Patrick Phillips is on paper towels at the moment (because he's a messy little bugger), so we just take 'em out and toss 'em, and wipe down with vinegar and we're good to go. Pooped-on rocks get washed thoroughly with hot soapy water, then rinsed with vinegar, and rinsed again. (Good for greasy dishes, too, and even shines up stainless steel appliances or prep tables!)
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
I use tap water for initial cleanup, followed up with F10 in 200:1 dilution (I simply spray the area and let it airdry for at least 20 minutes), and use disposable paper towels to wipe up remaining residue to ensure no bacteria, viruses, or fungi spore are left alive.

My adult beardie tanks have ceramic tiles for bedding with areas covered with a couple layers of paper towels (if the paper is soiled - it's removed), the tiles are simply sprayed with water , then wiped, then sprayed with F10 , airdried , and finished off by wiping up any residue (of F10).

On the lino floor ,see above.

Tank furniture , see above.

On the carpet , I remove the poo, then spray with the dituted F10 and let airdry.

I recommend against the use of sand for any kind of bearded dragon , it's impossible to keep the tank clean without changing out the sand completely and the giving the tank a good clean with HOT water at first (> 80oC) followed by F10 (200:1 dilution). Spot cleaning sand simply doesn't cut it. Yes I know many Australian beardie breeders and keepers sware by PlaySand for their beardie tanks' bedding even for the youngest hatchlings.
 

Taterbug

BD.org Addict
I have bugs that do the heavy cleaning of poop and sheds
Especially dirty things get a hot water scrub
Water bowls get hot water and dish soap
Glass gets cleaned with windex and dried before put back on
New items get steamed and/or F10 depending on the size and material.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I also use vinegar almost exclusively other than hot water and sometimes a little soapy water[ usually Dawn dish soap.] But while white vinegar has good cleaning properties, it's the red wine vinegar that blasts all the others when it comes to killing germs. It's 100X stronger than bleach, there is almost no comparison [ and yet we can put it on our salad] so there's no nasty chemicals to add to the plethora of poison that is saturating our environment.

Tater I like your clean up crew idea [ I have them for my fireskink tank ] and the steamer which I may one day invest in. But I would switch from Windex to white vinegar for the glass.....Google windex toxicity, I would not use it on anything near my animals.
 

Taterbug

BD.org Addict
I'll have to check on the windex when I get home, I don't have time to fact check the sites right now. Might have to go to microfiber cloths and water, I can't stand the smell of vinegar.

For a bunch of things what you are trying to do will dictate how you clean. If it's just average clean up, vinegar is just fine. If your trying to disinfect coccida oocysts to prevent reinfection most things including bleach won't work. (I don't think vinegar has been evaluated)

Do you have some documentation that vinegar is 100x stronger than bleach?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
This is one of them, go down to the 4th point.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjVoPHzn73RAhVKchQKHXrBA8UQFgghMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.softpedia.com%2Fnews%2FSeven-Facts-About-Food-and-Water-Originated-Infections-72973.shtml&usg=AFQjCNHN7bmkuL--w2_4WC-1zZcGalv0hw&sig2=ZxpVsqGPp_cQsIG-7pJ-Nw

That's not the first place I read it. The back of an article in an Awake magazine also mentioned the same thing and that it's used for disinfecting for cholera in 3rd world countries.
 

Taterbug

BD.org Addict
I think that article is taking about alchohol as the active agent in killing the bacteria.

For vinegar acetic acid is the antimicrobial agent. Vinegar is made by encouraging further fermentation by different bacteria that digest the alcohol and convert it to acetic acid.

Bleach is a strong base so the mechanism for all three (and potentially what they are effective against) is going to be different. It's a pretty interesting topic.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Yes, it is very interesting. There are natural products or things that occur in nature that are superior to man made products. Barnacle glue is stronger than any that humans make, spider silk compared to steel or kevlar, and honey being a powerful natural antimicrobial.
 
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