Keeping a Clean Habitat

If you use a wood chip, moss and other mulch type substrate, you must change it every once in a while to make sure all waste is removed. If you are using a reptile carpet or newspaper substrate it makes it easier to clean. With newspaper, change it everyday. If using reptile carpet, we recommend you have several pieces so you can take one out to wash, and replace it immediately. For desert lizards, play sand makes cleaning easy, as you just need to 'scoop' the waste out.

The actual time in between cleanings is completely dependant on the type of lizard, the size of your lizard, and how many lizards occupy the habitat. Keep an eye on the waste for several days, and you should get a good idea of how often cleanings are needed.

Make sure the decorations in the habitat are easily removable as well. It makes cleaning the habitat easier and quicker, and the decorations will need cleaning as well.

You must also clean the habitat itself. This means everything must be removed from time to time to scrub the walls and floor down. A thorough cleaning every two weeks is sufficient. Scrub the walls down with a 3% bleach solution. Make sure there is no bleach smell leftover before you return the lizard into its home. All cleaning equipment must be thoroughly washed as well in between use.