Cleaning Tanks?

[Godzilla]

Hey all,

I have a veiled chameleon residing in a tank located in my bedroom. Its great being able to watch him from the comfort of my room but there is one drawback...His tank stinks..I mean this is gagging eye watering stuff. I clean his tank weekly by washing the mat, his perches plants etc(everything but the tank itself. What can I do to get rid of the smell..Is there some chemical or cleaning solvent that will rid me of the smell while at the same time keep my chameleon healthy?

Cheers,

Adam

 

[Jam]

My vet recommends that for people who use tanks they do a weekly disinfecting of the tank, and hten a monthly cleaning with dilute bleach ... but this means that you need to be VERY careful about getting all of the bleech out of the tank before you put your cham back.

THis is a big advantage to having a fully screened cage for the cham ... the increased air ventilation doesn't create very many problems for this. A tank like that puts a cham at a big risk for disease.

Good luck and happy cleaning!

 

[Godzilla]

I forgot to mention the tank is very well ventilated, its designed for aborreal creatures and the sides and top are merely flyscreen.

 

[MWheelock]

Probably the best thing is a dilute bleach solution. 10% bleach / 90% water. You really should scrub it in and let it sit for 10 minutes before rinsing. It is necessary to sit since contact time will allow the disinfecting. After the first rinse, it you can smell bleach you will need to rinse again.

After this I towel dry the cage and let totally dry before reassembling cage furniture and returning the cham back to the cage.

You might check to see if your cage furnishings are also holding an odor. I do this process 1x a week to my artifical vines and wood. This will also control mildew.