Bioactive viv question - disinfection?

[Nellasaur]

I recently had a friend of mine put together a bioactive viv in an Exo Terra Mini-Tall (18"x12"x12") for a pair of pygmy chameleon hatchlings that she was giving to me. Unfortunately, things didn't work out with the pygs (one died almost immediately and other wasn't a great fit for my collection, so I returned her to the friend who produced her), but I still have the viv.

I'm considering moving one of my juvenile crested geckos into it; she's been having really bad sheds in her current setup and I think the extra humidity would be a benefit. I'm going to rearrange a few things to give her some hides and such before I move her in, of course.

So my question right now is, I guess, is this feasible? Are there any hygenic or zoonotic concerns in moving a crested gecko into a viv recently inhabited by a pygmy chameleon? Is there anything I can or should do to disinfect or clean the viv before Red alert moves in? I've never had a bioactive viv before so I'm kind of lost here. Help!

[jclaiborne]

That is hard to answer, when you say its a bioactive viv, do you mean it has dirt, plants, drainage layer, with isopods/springtails, and other little cleaner bugs? If it is truly bioactive then trying to disinfect it may kill off the "bio-active" aspect of it. Were the chameleons in it previously healthy or did the done die from an illness?

[Nellasaur]

That is hard to answer, when you say its a bioactive viv, do you mean it has dirt, plants, drainage layer, with isopods/springtails, and other little cleaner bugs? If it is truly bioactive then trying to disinfect it may kill off the "bio-active" aspect of it. Were the chameleons in it previously healthy or did the done die from an illness?

Yup, it's got all of that. It's truly bioactive. We believe the chameleon that died passed away because of a failure to thrive-- according to the source, she was noticeably smaller than her sister and hadn't been growing as well. Pygmy chams are pretty delicate as a rule and these guys were less than two months old. Between the stress of the move to my house, the shock of the new, larger viv (they'd been kept in a smaller enclosure with other hatchlings prior to moving in with me), and her overall smallness, we think it was just stress/shock that killed her.

That said, I don't know for sure.

[distaff]

You are running some risk. There isn't any you can "sterilize" it without killing everything. You could, I suppose, pull everything apart, bake the substrate, and soak the plants in IIRC, potassium permanganate (?? - aquarists use it), and bleach the glass. Then, add new isopods and spring tails.

Easier to just start over anyway.
Or, just accept the risk. Not recommending that, just sayin'.

[jclaiborne]

I agree with Distaff, there is the potential risk, not sure how high it is though, that is a call you have to make, or as stated you just start over, with that size enclosure it won't be a huge undertaking.

[Nellasaur]

Thanks for the advice, folks. Appreciate it! Looks like I'll have some work to be doing over the next few weekends