Immaculate hygiene and cleanliness is very important for keeping your leopard gecko fit and healthy. You must create a cleaning schedule, and regularly spend some time cleaning out leopard gecko habitat. In this post, we will discuss how to clean a leopard gecko’s terrarium, cover leopard gecko cleaning schedule, how often you need to clean a leopard gecko’s tank, cleaning solutions and how to clean the hides, carpet and other substrates.
Cleaning your leopard gecko’s cage regularly is very important to prevent any bacterial or viral infections. What is more, cleaning will ensure that there are no unpleasant smells and stains.
How often do you need to clean a leopard gecko’s tank?
You need to perform a cage maintenance daily, weekly, and monthly. Perform a spot cleaning in a leopard gecko’s tank every day and remove any poop that you might find. You will also need to change or clean the substrate as often as every week, depending on the type.
You need to replace paper towels 1-2 times a week, and wash the carpet with soap once a week. Once a month, you will need to deep clean leopard gecko’s tank. This includes removing all accessories, washing inside of the tank as well as all accessories.
Leopard gecko cage maintenance
- Change the water in a water dish every day.
- Remove and feces/poop as soon as you see them, daily.
- Change the paper towel substrate 1-2 times a week (if applicable). Wash the carpet with soap once a week (if applicable). Scoop the waste from loose substrate (apart from bioactive setup), daily. Wash the tiles weekly.
- Wash food and water bowls with soap once a week.
- Search for any unseen poop and bugs under the substrate and around the tank, once a week.
- Clean the glass doors once a week.
- Once a month, remove all the accessories and wash the cage from the inside. Disinfect the inside of the cage, wipe the inside and the outside and wash the accessories.
- Change the loose substrate once in 2-4 months.
Types of cleaning agents for a leopard gecko’s tank
There are different types of cleaning agents/solutions that you might use to clean leopard gecko’s tank, and all of them have a different purpose. Let’s cover cleaning solutions and their purpose.
Disinfectants are mainly antimicrobial agents, that you can use to clean leopard gecko’s cage and accessories. Some disinfectants can kill protozoa, viruses and bacterial spores.
If a disinfectant can kill viruses, then it can be toxic, so be careful when using these chemicals. Bleach is one of the powerful disinfectants, that you need to mix with water to use.
Next group of cleaning agents are sanitizers. Sanitizers are similar to disinfectants and are used to kill microorganisms on various surfaces.
Sterilization is removal of any microorganisms from the items, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, spores (including heat-resistant spores). Sterilization can be achieved with some chemicals, autoclaving and even boiling water.
Cleaning solution for a leopard gecko tank
One of the cleaning solutions for a leopard gecko’s tank is a diluted bleach with water (16 parts water and 1 part bleach) for deep monthly cleaning. Vinegar with some water (90% vinegar and 10% water) or hydrogen peroxide is ideal for weekly glass spraying and wiping.
You can also use a commercial reptile-safe spray. Steam cleaner is the best cleaning accessory for both quick and deep cleaning of the cage, insides, and accessories.
When using bleach, vinegar or hydrogen peroxide solutions, you will need to rinse the glass, wipe it with water and then dry. It should also off-gas before you return your leopard gecko back.
Please note that accessories made of porous materials can accumulate microorganisms and dirt between the voids and they are almost impossible to clean fully. Porous materials include wood, ropes, some ceramics, fiber. We will talk about cleaning them in a minute. They will need boiling and baking.
Leopard gecko cage cleaning supplies
- A scoop like this to remove feces and dirt if you have loose substrate.
- Rubber gloves for you to wear when cleaning.
- Sponge that you use only for cleaning your leopard gecko’s tank.
- Reptile safe spray to use inside the cage or for cleaning accessories, such as this reptile habitat spray by Fluker’s.
- An antibacterial dish soap, such as Dawn, to soak and wash accessories and a carpet.
- Bleach + water solution (1 parts bleach, 16 parts water, for example a cup of bleach in a gallon of water), if you don’t have a steam cleaner or other spray. Bleach solution is more toxic than other solutions.
- Homemade reptile cage cleaner – vinegar or hydrogen peroxide for a quick clean (with weekly cleaning). You can use it in conjunction with a steam cleaner or else for a deep clean.
- A temporary cage for a leopard gecko, such as this extra large Kritter Keeper. When cleaning, your will need to keep your leopard gecko outside of its cage.
- A bucket for placing accessories.
- Steam cleaner, preferably a handheld one to clean with the tank pressurized water steam. A steam cleaner like this kills microorganisms without any use of chemicals by spraying hot pressurized water (heating to around 110 degrees Celsius, or 230 Fahrenheit).
- A spare reptile carpet that you will use when cleaning one in a cage (if applicable).
How to clean leopard gecko habitat
- First of all, prepare all your cleaning supplies, which will depend on if it’s a quick or deep cleaning.
- Then, you will need to remove your leopard gecko from the tank and place it in a Kritter Keeper or other plastic container for the time being. Place paper towels on the bottom. If you are going to clean with any chemicals, take your leopard gecko to another room because it is sensitive to chemical fumes. Make sure there is good ventilation.
- After this, unplug any heating or other electrical devices.
- Remove all the accessories (bowls, hides etc.) and put them in a bucket. If you are using a reptile carpet or tiles, take them out as well.
- Use a steam cleaner and spray everywhere inside a cage – glass, flooring etc. Then, rinse with some water and wipe with paper towels. Steam cleaning is good for both quick and deep cleaning. For a quick weekly cleaning, use it for cleaning glass doors from inside and outside. Instead of a steam cleaner or other solutions, you can also use a commercially available reptile safe spray for the habitat.
- If you have loose substrate, use a scoop to remove any feces or dead crickets – search for feces and dead bugs around the corners as well. Add more substrate if needed. Replace the loose substrate fully every 3-4 months.
- Use q-tips or something small to reach to corners and clean there.
- If using tiles, removes them from the tank and wash with hot soapy water. You can also use a steam cleaner.
- If you are using a carpet, take it out and wash it with soap such as Dawn antibacterial soap liquid, rinse well, then hang it to dry. While it’s drying use a spare one in the tank.
- If you don’t have a steam cleaner, you can make a bleach solution/commercial spray to wipe the glass and flooring in the habitat. You can also use hydrogen peroxide/vinegar. But you will need to rinse it after and wipe it clean. Wear a mask and make sure there is no smell before returning your gecko to the tank. Leave the bleach for 20-30 minutes before wiping.
- Steam clean all the accessories and hides. You can also soak them in a bucket filled an antibacterial soap liquid, then rinse well and dry.
- If you have any accessories made from porous materials, such as pebbles, wood branches, ropes – bake them in the oven for 30 minutes at 250 F (121 Celsius). Boil rocks, ropes in hot water for 20-30 minutes.
- As you are cleaning, wash your hands after handling accessories to avoid transferring germs back to them after cleaning.
- For the daily cleaning, wash the food bowls with hot soapy water, dry and change the water. Remove uneaten crickets and clean the poop.
- For a weekly cleaning, you can use hydrogen peroxide or vinegar to clean the glass doors. Spray, leave for 5-10 minutes, then wipe with a cloth soaked in water. Wipe dry with paper towels.
- Before returning any accessories to the tank, make sure they don’t smell and are fully dry.
More tips on cleaning a leopard gecko’s terrarium
If you are using diluted bleach or other disinfectant, make sure to clean any poop and food first, before applying it. This is because bleach is not effective when there is organic material.
Don’t wash your leopard gecko’s cage accessories in the main kitchen sink. It is better to put all the accessories in one dedicated bucket, and wash them in a tub with a dedicated sponge. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling the accessories and wear gloves.
Don’t use sand in the tank as a substrate. Sand is not only hard to clean (needs sieving & baking in the oven to disinfect and dry), but also poses a high risk of impaction. Read more on ideal substrates for leopard gecko’s tank here.