When caring for your pet leopard gecko, cleaning their habitat and getting rid of their poop is part of maintaining your leopard gecko’s lifestyle and health. In this guide, you will learn how to clean leopard gecko poop. In addition, this guide also contains valuable information that will help you in the long run as well.
Step-by-step Guide to Remove Your Leopard Gecko’s Poop
If you just need to do the usual spot cleaning where your leopard gecko poops, here are the simple steps you can follow so you can learn how to clean leopard gecko poop.
- Step 1: Inspect your terrarium for poop. Usually, the leopard gecko poops on the same spots, such as in the corners of their habitat.
- Step 2: You can pick up the poop bit by bit as you’re wearing gloves, or you can scoop out the poop (along with the loose substrates around it if you use any) with a scooper or anything that can scoop out the fecal matter.
- Step 3: Place your leopard gecko poop in a plastic bag for disposal. You can use any plastic bag available, such as dog poop bags. Make sure to tie it up as you throw it in the trash can.
There’s also a so-called lazy method that you can utilize to clean poop by placing tissue paper on your leopard gecko’s usual spot then replacing it every now and then once it gets soiled. But if you want it done the natural way, you can follow the steps above to do your usual spot cleaning for poop.
Conducting Deep Cleaning
Now and then, a usual spot cleaning for your leopard gecko’s poop won’t be enough. You will also have to conduct deep cleaning on your pet’s cage or terrarium and maintain its cleanliness frequently. This process involves removing and sanitizing its accessories, cleaning the tank’s insides and outside, washing the carpet clean, and replacing the substrates often as well.
After all, you may happen to have missed some of your leopard gecko’s poop hidden among the substrate or anywhere around your pet’s habitat. You might also want to look for bugs that escaped and are hiding in the corners of your pet’s habitat, such as the decorations.
But before we go through all of these steps in detail, here are some things you might want to consider before you get a deep cleaning done.
Consider Your Leopard Gecko’s Setup First
Before you start cleaning your gecko’s habitat, determine what kind of habit they have first. After all, the setup determines how often you should be cleaning your pet’s habitat. Depending on the type of setup you have, you might either be deep cleaning your tank as often as every week or do deep cleaning just every month.
For instance, you’re also required to change your substrate after a certain period depending on the kind of substrate you’re using. The carpet in your tank also requires weekly washing. If you happen to also be using paper towels for your leopard gecko to poop on, you also have to replace these paper towels one to two times a week. You will also have to wash your pet’s water and food bowls frequently. Again, you can do this every week.
Now, when it comes to deep cleaning, it’s recommended that you set a monthly schedule to clean your pet’s terrarium thoroughly. Also, make sure to do this during your free time since the process can take a while.
Step-by-Step Guide To Deep Clean Your Leopard Gecko’s Habitat
Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about your leopard gecko’s habitat, here are the simple steps you can follow to do a deep cleaning on your pet’s terrarium down below.
- Step 1: Remove your leopard gecko from the habitat and transfer them to a temporary tank. You can also place them on any safe plastic container that has enough holes on top.
- Step 2: Remove all of the accessories and equipment in your tank, checking if there are any stray bugs such as mealworms or crickets that may have escaped your pet’s bowl upon feeding them.
- Step 3: Once you’ve removed all accessories, remove the tank’s substrate and carpet next. Check underneath again if stray bugs or unseen poop are hiding underneath substrate and carpet.
- Step 4: Start disinfecting your leopard gecko’s terrarium both from the inside and outside. Sanitize and replace any tank accessories if needed.
- Step 5: As for cleaning the carpet, you can simply wash it with soap and water.
- Step 6: Once you’ve thoroughly disinfected everything, start assembling your leopard gecko’s tank equipment and accessories again and place your leopard gecko back inside.
Other Important Tips
Another thing you should consider when cleaning your leopard gecko’s habitat is to keep yourself clean and protected as you do this process. Doing this ensures that you won’t catch any bacteria or germs from your leopard gecko’s poop. If you aren’t careful enough, then you may end up contracting salmonella.
While this may seem to be an obvious tip, some tend to skip the extra precautions or just really plain forget. So, make sure that all the equipment and places you’re handling are free of fecal matter by frequently washing your hands.
Even if contracting salmonella doesn’t always result in severe conditions, it’s still better to take extra care of yourself when cleaning your leopard gecko’s poop. So, whether you’re picking up your leopard gecko’s poop or thoroughly cleaning their tank, it’s recommended that you wear disposable gloves to do all of this.
Lastly, even after using disposable gloves, always make sure to wash your hands frequently as well for extra protection.
Wrapping Up
This is the end of the washing guide on how to clean leopard gecko poop. Cleaning your leopard gecko’s poop and doing maintenance cleaning is not so much of a tedious process. After all, leopard geckos are generally low-maintenance pets since they can keep themselves naturally clean. Therefore, all you need is the usual spot cleaning and a consistent terrarium cleaning schedule.
In addition, as long as you take the necessary measures of keeping yourself clean and protected while you clean your leopard gecko’s environment, then you won’t likely encounter any problems at all, and everything will turn out just fine.
