Are crested geckos hard to clean up after?

[Floppygoose]

I was thinking of getting a crested gecko sometime soon and i was wondering if they tend to got to the bathroom in One spot like leopard geckos. I was also wondering if their poo was runny or mostly solid. Thanks

-Colton

 

[TheRed]

Mine go all over the place. It's just like leo poop but smaller.

 

[Floppygoose]

How often do you have to clean the whole tank?

 

[darkridder]

Are they hare to clean up compaired to a leopard gecko? Yes. THeir poop is slightly different then leo poop, being that they eat a liquid diet, they do have a hard part, but I find the urates are a bit runnier. They poop on the floor, the glass, their plants, sometimes in their food. You should be doing a bedding change at least once a week, and clean the glass when needed, they dont always poop on it, I have just a few that do it regularly and some that dont do it at all. But they are also known for finger painting, walking in their food then climbing the glass to leave CGD foot prints all over. I find what works best is natures miracale spray it on let it sit a few seconds then wipe it off, it is non toxic so it can be used all over the aquarium.

 

[Floppygoose]

Cool thanks for the info.

 

[MischiefManaged]

Your best bet is to spot clean whenever possible. They tend to go a lot if you keep them on CGD and it can be tough to clean once it hardens up.
Some suggestions to make clean-up easier:
Keep your gecko in a glass or plastic (Sterilite/Rubbermaid) enclosure, as it makes wiping surfaces down a lot quicker and easier - as darkridder said, use a non-toxic cleaner for your enclosure. I use to keep my crested in a screen cage, but switched him to an ExoTerra cage when I discovered just how tricky it was to clean the aluminum screen. I just removed the "rock" background on the ExoTerra cage which left me with a mostly glass enclosure that was a breeze to wipe down.
Although they're not the most attractive substrate, paper towels are clean, quick, and easy.
Remove all cage decorations once a week and soak them in water with a mild cleanser to soften any existing waste and make it easy to remove. I have silk plants in my enclosure and my gecko craps all over them. This process helps keep the entire enclosure clean and odor free for the most part.
If you can, offer your gecko crickets once per week. This provides variety and "roughage" that will help make their poop less runny.
Hope this helps - cresteds are a joy to own and super low maintenance...enjoy!

 

[swinginuttersgrrl]

as an additional aside, if you're having issues with finding a suitable soak, what I do is keep two sets of similar decorations and plants so I can strip everything out, and toss it in a bucket with warm water and white vinegar (its cheap, it disinfects and it works WONDERS for getting any kind of wastes off of pretty much any surface) and then immediately re-fill the tank with the previous weeks clean stuff so each week the plants and branches get time to air out before going back into the wiped out tank. I also use reptile carpets instead of paper towels, but thats personal preference as far as visuals are concerned (same deal, I keep 2 for every tank I use them in so they get a week to dry out completely between cleanings) And really, although they do poo indiscriminately around the tank, they really are worth the minor extra effort to clean up after them!
~K

 

[WindyCityReptiles]

as an additional aside, if you're having issues with finding a suitable soak, what I do is keep two sets of similar decorations and plants so I can strip everything out, and toss it in a bucket with warm water and white vinegar (its cheap, it disinfects and it works WONDERS for getting any kind of wastes off of pretty much any surface) and then immediately re-fill the tank with the previous weeks clean stuff so each week the plants and branches get time to air out before going back into the wiped out tank. I also use reptile carpets instead of paper towels, but thats personal preference as far as visuals are concerned (same deal, I keep 2 for every tank I use them in so they get a week to dry out completely between cleanings) And really, although they do poo indiscriminately around the tank, they really are worth the minor extra effort to clean up after them!
~K

I didnt know anyone else used vinegar as a cleaner.....swing is right it cheap , disinfects and it works. For a substrate , I use paper towels....its not the prettiest , but , it does its job

 

[acpart]

Here's a different approach: I have a single crestie in a planted tank with pillbugs from the back yard in the soil to help with cleanup. When I get CGD footprints or poop on the cage furniture or the walls I clean it up. Otherwise I don't clean. The poop either gets eaten by the pill bugs or composts and helps the plants. I've had the crestie for 5 years in this tank, the tank smells fine and the crestie is over 50 grams.

Aliza