May you be so kind as to tell me what type of disinfectant you use
@trickedoutbiker ?
Sorry about the delayed reply. I've had allergies that have been whooping my butt and haven't found the motivation to do much of anything really.
As for disinfectant, I use Zoo Med's Wipe Out 1. Follow this link
HERE to see it on their web page.
I don't purchase it from Zoo Med's website or anywhere online, I just go to the pet store and get some. I also don't get the one you see on Zoo Med's website, I actually get their 32 OZ bottle, seen
HERE, because it is the best value.
I clean the solid bottom floor panel in my cage with straight bleach and let it sit a few minutes, then I rinse it off really good, hand dry it, and let it air dry. I use bleach on that panel because it gets the dirtiest out of everything in my cage and it's also where all of the water drips through to my drainage tray, therefore it harbors the most bacteria in the whole cage. So I make sure it is cleaned really good with the bleach. While I am letting the solid bottom panel dry off, I use straight bleach to clean the inside of my drainage tray where all of my water drips to before draining out of the tray and into a bucket below. This area too, will harbor lots of bacteria if not cleaned periodically, so I make sure to get it looking nice and brand new. I also use straight bleach [on a rag] to wipe down all screening in the cage (top screen, door screen, and bottom access panel screen). I do this because it is pretty quick and easy to disinfect the screens this way as the only thing that really gets on the screens (in my experience) are bug guts during a tongue strike. I typically spot clean any bugs guts that I ever see mashed into the screen from my chameleon eating, but the deep clean each month giving the screens a quick scrub over ensures I kill any bacteria that may still be on the screens.
I use the Zoo Med Wipe Out 1 on everything else: the PVC walls, branches, rocks covering soil, and plant leaves because they don't get as dirty. That, and I don't want to use the straight bleach solution on the leaves or branches because that could cause my plants harm and make odd looking spots on the leaves or the branches. Sure, I could dilute it. But I just don't like the idea of using even a diluted bleach solution on my plant leaves because bleach really isn't good for plants at all. I could use distilled white vinegar or even organic Grape Seed Extract, but I choose to use the Zoo Med Wipe Out 1 because I think it works great and it's pretty cheap honestly. A little goes a long way with it. The Wipe Out 1 kills Salmonella, choleraesis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and can reduce the spread of bacterial infections among your animals. It also helps to prevent mold from growing and will kill any mold that may already be present. It's really easy to rinse off of your cage and your branches or your plants. I just spray it on all of the branches, all of the leaves, and on all of the PVC walls. As the instructions state, I let it sit for about 5 minutes before I take a rag and wipe everything off, giving it a bit of a scrub as I go. I wipe off all leaves, branches, and walls, getting rid of any dirt, and it disinfects everything as well. As for the plant rocks, I take them and scrub them individually with a rag which is a bit soaked in some Wipe Out and let them sit for a bit before I start to rinse everything. After doing all of this, I run my MistKing for about 5 minutes to rinse everything off and it completely soaks my cage, rinsing away the Wipe Out spray. Afterwards, I take my handheld pump-sprayer and coat every square inch of the inside of my cage (including the screens - inside AND outside for those) in water even more, making sure I don't miss a single spot. This helps to rinse away any of the remaining Wipe Out that may have not washed away by using the MistKing, and spraying down the screens inside and outside with water for a few minutes rinses away the small traces of bleach from wiping down the screens with the bleach rag.
After all of this, I let the cage dry and air out for an hour or two before placing my chameleon back into the enclosure so that way no fumes of any kind are left behind for him to inhale.
I've never seen any mold of any kind in my cage and everything always looks really nice and clean. I do this deep clean once a month. I spot clean all the time as needed when I see dead insects or feces on the ground or on plants.