Decor hygiene & poop?

[Marmoset]

Prince Moonpani is an excellent eater and pooper. He is eliminating 2-3x a day. They are "perfect poops" with a good consistency/ no straining etc. The issue is with me. Since I've always owned snakes I'm used to cleaning poop immediately and thoroughly. With snakes I only have to deal with poop once a week at most so this regimen is no problem. But Moonpani goes multiple times a day and in different areas of the enclosure. He uses the second and third level of his rock basking "mountain," his mopani wood and the vegetable dish. Once he went on his blanket that he sleeps in. Basically he goes anywhere except the paper towel that I'm using for his substrate. So at least once a day I take out his mountain and log and soak them in a chlorahexadine solution and while they dry I give him a second alternate sandstone basking mountain because it takes the stone and wood a long time to dry. So basically he gets an alternating enclosure arrangement every single day. I've read that some beardies don't like enclosure changes but he seems fine with it. Still I can't be positive that it won't start to bother him once his adult hormones kick in and he becomes more territorial.

So I'm wondering what the standard is for cleaning decor. How does everyone deal with poop on decor? Do you do a full clean it right away (soaking/ disinfecting) or just pick up the solids and do a periodic full cage cleaning? Do you put sandstone or wood into the enclosure before it is completely dry? Is it ok for me to be such a neatnik or would it be better for him to have his cage a little more dirty but undisturbed?

 

[diegothediggy]

My vivs r mainly.tile with a 1/4 sand with basking rocks in. Diego poops in the.same spot every time well thats if i dnt get him out to do it. He glass dances loadsa wen he needs a.poop he dnt like pooping in his viv i dnt thino he likes the.smell. But Boris on the other hand poops where eva he is. He has no toilet manners hehe. Wen he poops on his log i just taje it out clean it with vinigar rinse rinse rinse peave to dry n put bak in the day afyer. Boris is 1 in a couple of weeks and he.often goes days with out his log coz he poops on it but it dnt seem to bother him 1 bit. So i wudnt worry. If u had the time u cud try a nice warm bath each mornin. Then maybe he wudnt poop as much in the day

 

[PatsyB]

Luci goes in his tank and luckily he goes in the same general area. Most of the time he's good at hanging over his mopani and going on the paper towel. There are times when he does get some poop on his wood and I will just pick it up right away and spot clean it with some water and a towel. Once a week I'll take it out and scrub with vinegar and water. I also learned to have a little toothbrush to scrub his nails with. Last week he ran through his poop and then glass danced! I had poop all over the glass and caked on his nails. He's such a boy!

 

[diegothediggy]

Luck goes in his tank and luckily he goes in the same general area. Most of the time he's good at hanging over his mopani and going on the paper towel. There are times when he does get some poop on his wood and I will just pick it up right away and spot clean it with some water and a towel. Once a week I'll take it out and scrub with vinegar and water. I also learned to have a little toothbrush to scrub his nails with. Last week he ran through his poop and then glass danced! I had poop all over the glass and caked on his nails. He's such a boy!

hehe lively bet that was fun to clean

 

[PatsyB]

Real fun since I had just completely cleaned his tank an hour before!

 

[diegothediggy]

Haha bet u was thrilled

 

[jarich]

I have tiny cleaners that do it for me With bioactive substrate, the only thing left after a day or so is a bit of the urates.

 

[Honchess]

I have tiny cleaners that do it for me With bioactive substrate, the only thing left after a day or so is a bit of the urates.

What's a 'bio-active substrate' and how can I get some! I use brown bags. They are flat and absorbent and easily replaced.. But the substrate sounds great.

 

[Honchess]

I guess I'm lucky. The General goes in about the same place every time and his poops are nice and well formed. It is easy just to pick up the paper he dumped on. He doesn't get it on him or his rocks or wood! He sometimes smears his fruit on his basking rock. I take that and his dish out and scrub them. He had two general areas in his tank. One end has his basking rock and food dish. the other with about 10 or 12 inches in between.

My biggest headache is that he sorts through his salad and eats the things he likes best. Then he leaves the rest scattered everywhere form 'Mama' to clean up! But ya kno, Better that than poop.

I'm so happy you all talked about 'glass dancing.' I was beginning to worry that there was something wrong, the General does it so often. I didn't see HOW his tank could be too small; it's probably four times longer than he is, but I was beginning to worry that was the problem. So do dragons glass dance ordinarily?

 

[diegothediggy]

I guess I'm lucky. The General goes in about the same place every time and his poops are nice and well formed. It is easy just to pick up the paper he dumped on. He doesn't get it on him or his rocks or wood! He sometimes smears his fruit on his basking rock. I take that and his dish out and scrub them. He had two general areas in his tank. One end has his basking rock and food dish. the other with about 10 or 12 inches in between.

My biggest headache is that he sorts through his salad and eats the things he likes best. Then he leaves the rest scattered everywhere form 'Mama' to clean up! But ya kno, Better that than poop.

I'm so happy you all talked about 'glass dancing.' I was beginning to worry that there was something wrong, the General does it so often. I didn't see HOW his tank could be too small; it's probably four times longer than he is, but I was beginning to worry that was the problem. So do dragons glass dance ordinarily?

Nice to hear he happy n healthy yeh they glass dance a bit well mine do. Diego does it wen he.needs to poop coz he dnt like goin ib the viv. N they both do it to let me no if they hungry or just wantbout or aum attentiob

 

[jarich]

What's a 'bio-active substrate' and how can I get some! I use brown bags. They are flat and absorbent and easily replaced.. But the substrate sounds great.

It's a soil mixture that allows for the cultivation of good bacteria and invertebrate life that break down the wastes naturally. It takes some work to set up and keep healthy, but is beneficial and looks great too. If you'd like information on setting it up please feel free to send me a PM.

 

[Marmoset]

I guess I should be happy that he is not pooping on me or on my window sill. As long as no one thinks I'm stressing him out I'll keep up removing things daily for cleaning. I'm glad that I was indecisive before getting him and got so many basking rocks because they all get used every day!

 

[Noella]

We're talking poop. Our favorite subject here, yes? Some can be trained to go in one spot. Allie did. Then she climbed up at the highest point in her tank and then made a lot of noise.

 

[Marmoset]

I figured it out! He likes to poop over the side of something. Everytime I see him go he has got his back end on a lower level than his top end. When he's done he climbs up and away from it. At least this gives me something to work with.

 

[diegothediggy]

Diego curls the base of his tail up so it dnt go on him

 

[Marmoset]

lol good to know mine isn't the only strange one. Prince Moonpani does a semi-arm wave before he goes