Lizard safe rug freshener

[donprec]

I don't know how I hadn't noticed it before but the rug in the room where the lizards are reeks of the dog terribly! I use either a foam spray that I'll spray on the carpets overnight to dry or an arm & hammer sprinkle deodorizer for the other rugs but I've never done anything to the rug in that room because of the lizards and the fish tank.
I steamed this rug yesterday and that seemed to bring the smell out even more!
Would just regular baking soda be safe? If I sprinkle that on the rug and let it sit for a while before vacuuming? But if some particles didn't get vacuumed and the lizards walked over it, would it harm them? Or I was thinking about just taking a vinegar/water solution and rubbing that into the carpet, letting it dry overnight. Would that be safer?
A last resort could be just spraying febreeze on the rug but I tell my son all the time to not spray anything in that room (like his Axe spray)...I'm scared something's going to wind up in the fish tank or trapped inside the lizard cages.
Any suggestions?

 

[PatsyB]

That's a good question, I never really thought about it. We use arm and hammer like once a month on our rugs except for the ones in the rooms where the reptiles tanks are. I'm afraid of it getting into the air and into their tanks. When I use it in the rest of the house, I sprinkle just a real small amount and make sure I vacuum it good. I would avoid spraying anything in the room. When you steam cleaned the rug did you use a product for pets? I know when we did our rugs we got a Rug Doctor product made for pet stains and odors.

 

[donprec]

I had just used a hand/upholstery steamer with water that one time. I wound up using vinegar/water and just rubbing it all over the rug with a sponge. It was more work and the rug was damp for about a day and a half but it worked well! There's no pretty, fresh scent but it took away the odor.