Cleaning White Poop

[Phatturk]

Well I feel a little strange asking cuz I don't really know the right terminology but does anyone have a good method of cleaning the white part of my chameleon's poops off his branches? It's like some biological cement or something. And a second question: is that white stuff dangerous to my chameleon in anyway? (bacteria or something?)

 

[rcagosto]

Tried soap and water?? Works well for me. Its harmful because of the bacteria growth that can occur. If an insect comes in contact with it and eats it, it can be harmful if your cham eats that insect.

 

[Jordan]

The white part of the feces is actually the reptiles equal to urine. Should not really be to harmful in terms of bacterial growth as it is mainly composed of potassium, sodium, chloride and ammonium salts. No living stuff really finds ammonium that appealing. When your veiled gets older you may notice that he has white build up around the insides of his nostrils. This is the same composition as what is coming out the other end. Veileds among a couple other reptiles have evolved nasal salt glands. This helps them to conserve water by excrete these toxic substances out of their nose rather then wasting water with urea.

As for cleaning. Well I let some of it go. A slightly moist rag and a little pressure should take it off. Most I let go until I clean the inside of the cage once a month. I do not mean leave all the feces around just some spots are to hard to get at and clean like that. Really chameleon poop seems to break down pretty fast and I personally would think there is minimual risk with it unless you just let it pile up.

 

[Phatturk]

Thanks for the info, I have only had these guys a couple of weeks and it seems the more I rub with soap and a cloth the more it screws up my fake branch. Little pieces flake off and gives it this worn out look plus he always craps in the same spot. But it is good to know that it is not super dangerous I will let it lay for a bit and see how well just the misting degrades it. I try to clean the solid part of the feces as soon as I see it so I guess I will leave the rest and clean it once a month unless I hear otherwise. Thanks!

 

[Marc10edora]

I know, that stuff stays on there good. You gotta really scrub it off. That's why I try to get it right when I see it. If it gets stuck to a leaf, I just cut it off.