Alrighty, another new topic for learning how to take care of my baby, Atlas.
Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly help!
Okay, so I’ve done more and more reading and I have a few questions. Please don’t hesitate to explain it to me like I’m five, that’s probably the best way 
Substrate:
- How do I know if it’s soiled? (I use Forrest Floor Cyprus Mulch)
- Do I have to change the substrate every week?
Daily: Replace water and check temps/humidity.
Anything I need to add?
Weekly: Take all decor out and soak in bleach solution (3% bleach to 97% water) for 30 minutes.
***Do I need to take the substrate out? Do I have to soak the substrate in anything? If I take the substrate out to clean the glass of the tank, can I use the same substrate after it’s cleaned?
Monthly: ???
Quarterly: ???
Y’all are amazing, thank you for the help!!!
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Taking out the decorations every week to soak is a bit overkill imo. I would do spot cleaning, look for any urates or feces, and if you see it, grab the pile out along with the bedding in the immediate area. Changing out the entire bedding doesn’t need to be done any more frequently than once a month or so. Of course if a big mess is made that changes it.
My animals that are kept on coco husk get spot cleaned when I freshen up their water. I don’t replace the bedding any more than monthly, sometimes it can go 2+ months when they aren’t eating much. But when I do a bedding change I wipe the entire enclosure/tub down with Chlorhexidine.
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You don’t have to change the substrate weekly unless you want to. But spot cleaning should be sufficient. If atlas has gone to the bathroom you’ll most likely know it haha
I try not to use harsh chemicals too often reptile respiratory systems are very sensitive. I tend to lean more toward hot water with some dish soap for daily/weekly cleaning of the decor.
But my absolute favorite solution is chlorahexidine.
It’s made to be used for animals so it’s very safe.
It also works well for cleaning glass and is generally inexpensive.
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Forgot to cover some of your other questions. No you don’t want to reuse the bedding, if you need to do a full cleaning the bedding should be tossed. It is good for yard use.
You can clean the glass leaving the bedding in the enclosure by spraying the cleaning liquid on paper towels and wiping the glass down.
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This is great advice! Hot water and sap. Rinse thoroughly and let dry before putting back? Correct?
And looked at your fav thing to use and it looks like it’s an oral medicine thingy? Is that also correct?
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Thank you! Thank you!
I was a bit worried about changing it weekly! But knowing monthly is okay/standard makes much more sense to me!
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It can be used for that but if you look up chlorhexidine for reptiles you’ll get more relevant information.
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Chlorhexidine is an extremely effective antiseptic, used to treat wounds, clean hands before medical procedures, etc. It is also extremely helpful to use on mouthrot in reptiles, as it is non toxic.
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Yes exactly
This is the one I have, I’ve had the same bottle for about 1.5 yrs and have only used 1/4 of the bottle. It’s also very helpful for when your snake doesn’t need a full soak. I just spray some on a paper towel and wipe them down. It’s really so useful.
(Durvet B000HHSD8M n Chlorhexidine 2% Solution, 16 fl. oz Amazon.com)
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