Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

I thought I would post a question that might spark some interest on this forum:

How/What are you solutions for keeping the chucks and their cages clean? We all know that chucks poop, then scrape their but and tail against the ground and often catch some poop on their butts and tail and proceed to drag it around the cage. What do you guys do to keep the cage clean and lower the frequency of them getting dirty?

Phil

Hi Phil. It is important not to overcrowd the cage. Almost all Chucks have a "bathroom" in their cages. Ususally it is a corner where there is an uneven rock pile that they can climb on, drop the poop between the rocks, and drag their tails over the tops of the rocks for cleanliness. However, if there are more than two lizards in the cage, the system breaks down, and poop anarchy reigns! Toothbrush and warm water comes next! LOL

Hi there, I keep my chucks individual after the reach 5 inches long, and none of them seek out a specific place to poop. They all go wherever the feel and have no regard at all for avoiding it. lol.

I started out putting them only on tile because I worry about impaction, especially with babies. I have treated lots of lizards with sand impaction. But you can imagine that outcome. I had to pull the tiles out at least daily or they got nasty. Now I use good ole newspaper. It absorbs the moisture better, and I have one tile in there under the Megaray with their basking cave on it. I still have to bathe them about twice a week, but it is better.

The good news is that their poops get much more solid and less runny as they get older. My adult male makes reasonable pellets and doesn't make a mess of himself like those babies do!