How to Clean a Beardie Enclosure (pics)

[Crazy4Herps]

I spot-clean Budo's viv daily, but I do a thorough disinfecting of everything, top-to-bottom scrub-down.

Anyways, it usually takes me about 4 hours, more or less. Today I decided to take some step-by-step pics, just to show how I do it.

I start out by putting Budo all snuggy in the guest bedroom with some blankets and a heat pad (the human kind) set on low.


Then, I take everything out of the viv, vaccum up any cricket legs or salad crumbs that got under the tiles and newspaper, scrub it out (there are usually babyfood splotches on the walls), and rinse it.


I put some of the tiles in a plastic bin with water and a 10% bleach solution. They should be left to soak for at least an hour; overnight is best, but I really don't have time.


I put the rest of the tiles and any cage decor in the tub, again, with 10% bleach and 90% water.


Next, I lay fresh newspaper on the floor of the viv.


After the tiles have soaked for at least an hour, I rinse them thoroughly. I lug everything outside and spray it all off with the hose, then bring it in again and let it dry.


Last step: I arrange the tiles in the viv, replace decor, and replace beardie.


Voila!





That's how I do it, at least.

It's all about what works for you.

[STORMS]

That's a lot of work

They are soooooooo worh it though

[Crazy4Herps]

Oh yes! Absolutely!

[nico]

wow never seen a step by step like that. Ive run across a lot of people who could have used this lol

I'm LOVING that first picture I so terribly adorable.

[Crazy4Herps]

Thanks!

Actually, that one was not taken during the cleaning. That was when he came home from a 4-day vacation to a rental house. There, he was in a small glass enclosure that he hated. We got back late at night and when I put him in his enclosure, he was grinning ear-to-ear. Home sweet home!

[shadraak]

i'm going to be getting a beardie in june at the show here tryign to get everythign now and set up so i'll not need to do it later, cage looks great, did you build it? if so, any plans or cost projection? 've got what i think is a 40g breeder i plan to use temp or a 75g aq. probably just the 40g breeder as it's wider, but i know that'll be too small for an adult so ill hve to work on building another one other than that.

[Crazy4Herps]

Yep, I built it (with some help). It took a while, but building saves so much money! It cost about $50 total for supplies and everything (getting plexiglass cut for the door was kind of expensive), when I'd pay at least $500 for something that nice online.
Here are the plans: http://www.freewebs.com/crossfireenclosures/

Good luck! Have fun! Beardies are awesome!

I really love this forum, but there's not a whole lot of action in the Beardie section. I highly reccommend the www.beardeddragon.org forums for all beardie owners (or soon-to-be beardie owners ).