Unnecessary evil

RayenaeTargaryen

New Member
Complete cage cleaning.

I'd say every few weeks ago, I do a complete cleaning of Pi's cage. Clean carpet (her 'mess' is picked up every day though), rearrange sticks, vines, even get new ones to replace the older sticks.

Although to do this, I feel it's safer to remove her as I do all this chaos in her home. Needless to say, she doesn't like this and changes colors almost immediately.

Is there anything to do to eliminate some stress on her when I do this?
 
It is hard to advise that you are cleaning too much, but that is an awful lot of change. I wouldn't rearrange the sticks at every cleaning, chameleons hate change.

To reduce the stress on your chameleon, the best thing to do is have a nice place for her to go while you clean the cage. I often put mine in the shower while I do a clean down (research the shower method before trying this). An enclosure outdoors or a nice free range tree would be other good options.
 
I generally do not change the main parts (vines and location of plant containers) but will have to do a thorough cleaning about every two weeks. I usually put Zaphod out on the lanai in his temporary FR fake tree. (I am growing a hibiscus for him out there, but its not ready yet ;)) He does enjoy the sunlight and doesn't get stressed out there. I usually will wipe down all the vines with a damp cloth to be sure to get all the "dirt" off. By the time he goes back into the enclosure he is not effected by the minor changes.
 
I don't fully clean the entire cage nearly that often. Spot clean daily, yes. But I don't pull everything out like that very often, unless there is a parasite issue
 
I spot clean but I don't tear down the cage either unless necessary. The last remodel I did was adding some horizontal branches and taking a happy plant out of the panther's cage because it took up too much of his space. Otherwise I leave their cages as is. They have their routines and favorite places so rearranging has ticked them off before. They love the addition of the horizontal branches though! Spot cleaning in enough though for regular maintenance.
 
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