Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, I am hoping to get some advice from some people with experience. I've just started following this forum, and I've searched around, but I can't find the specific info I'm looking for.

I'm thinking of getting a couple of crested geckos, sometime in the next couple of months. My question is this: what is the consistency of a crestie's fecal material? Is it generally sort of solid? Or more liquid-y, like bird crap? I've seen lots of recommendations for different substrates, and it seems that a lot of people opt for paper towels for ease of cleaning, which leads me to think that it must be kind of an issue. Do they usually drop their feces onto the floor of the enclosure, or do they leave it on the plants, or is that all just up to chance? If you use plastic plants, which it seems a lot of people do, how do you keep them clean? I'm used to chuckwallas, and I used to have a leopard gecko for several years, and the desert animals tend to conserve water, which means that they leave very solid turds that can easily be scooped out, but I'm thinking that a species from a rain forest might be more prone to having less-than-solid excretions. Any advice or guidance will be appreciated!

Angus

Their poop is less solid than a leopard gecko's, but not particularly hard to clean up - as long as you let the humidity drop and then mist them later in the day, it won't stay wet, and then becomes hard and dry like a leo's. The only issue is that they do let it fly whenever and wherever they feel the need. *Most* of it usually seems to end up on the floor of the enclosure, but you will need to clean the plants periodically.

I usually just wipe the whole enclosure down with water & paper towels and spot clean the plants. That seems to work out pretty well. Of course every now and then you need to do a more thorough cleaning involving some sort of disinfectant. I usually use bleach for that. If you do that, however, you need to be sure you're rinsing everything very thoroughly afterward, and then letting it all dry out in order to be sure you're not exposing your geckos to bleach fumes when you reinstall them in their home.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

i tend to use white vinegar to clean my cages because it's non toxic. i've never had any problem getting the cages clean. i use a vinegar/water mix to wipe down the cage then a water only reinse and then dry.

Vinegar will make the glass portions sparkle for sure, but know that it doesn't disinfect the enclosure, just and FYI.

It is bleaching time in this household and the weather changed so quickly I'm afraid it will be a bathtub cleaning instead of a nice sunny garden hose out. This always makes me worry about the UTHs...

Has anyone tried the commercial cleaning sprays on the market? I'm blanking on the name, but I know it is ammonia based instead of bleach (Don't MIX!)... but I think I remember you didn't have to rinse afterward? Thanks in advance for any opinions.

there is a commercial spray out there called doo-begone, that i use on my birds but can be used for reptiles.

Thanks, but I'm looking for something to replace the bleaching this year, looks like the doo stuff is just like a soap cloth... the product I was thinking of was WipeOut by Zoo Med. I'll check the other forums.

vinegar has antibacterial properties as well as killing mold spores. Plus it is totally non toxic.

angusblack,
You touched on a great practice when purchasing new geckos- keep them over paper towel, at least for the first month or so.
This will allow you to keep track of their 'In Take' and 'Output' so to speak. Monitoring their food and poop is important to insure they are healthy. The poop should be in a clump and sort of the texture of a day old marshmallow but will dry out in a day or so.
Once you establish that the animal(s) are healthy, then you can put them over their long-term substrate choice. Stay away from larger particle substrates however as the animals can ingest this and it could cause impaction. This is especially true if feeding crickets or other insects.
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Wally
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