Cleaning Caps

[Leopardbreeder]

How do you all clean your bottle caps for water and calcium? I am cleaning like 60+ per week and its becoming really time consuming.

 

[Kimjorg]

We've always either soaked them in the sink with some mild cleanser or chlorohexidine and then just rinse them...Or if we have a a ton we just throw them on the top rack of the dishwasher.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

I soak them now, but it still takes a while to rinse each one.

 

[supperl]

You could do this:
IF you have 30 in use, collect another 30 and than you just enter the clean ones and do the dirty ones in a bucket. Than clean all together.

 

[lytlesnake]

I spray each one with a little zoo med wipe out or nolvasan, run hot water on it, then run some cold water. If there's calcium or slime on there I just wipe it off with my finger. It's time consuming, but I mostly prefer to keep my geckos separate, so that means a lot of individual water caps. I've had a raptor almost lose a foot to another raptor at feeding time, so that's why I prefer to keep them in their own tubs.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

I do the same.

 

[TWC]

i am sorry for the noob question, but i dont have any bottle caps, what do you use them for?

 

[Leopardbreeder]

Water bowls and calcium dishes. They are great. You only use them if you have alot of geckos though. It saves you money.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

.... just wait until you have 300+ geckos!

 

[lytlesnake]

Water bowls and calcium dishes. They are great. You only use them if you have alot of geckos though. It saves you money.

Yep, it does save money. However, you have to fill them more often, and I really need to cut down on my work load. So it's worth it for me to spend $2-$3 /each on those little round ceramic dishes from petco. I need about 20 more of those and I'll be good for a while.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

How do you do it Marcia? I am really asking that too! You dont do it by hand do you?

 

[paulnj]

I have over 200 of those ceramic dishes found at petco(and elsewhere) and only use snapple caps and gatorade caps for calcium and younger hatchlings. Being as the guys at work save caps for me, I toss any that look time consuming to wash I have atleast 100 waiting to use them

 

[Stitch]

Why are you cleaning 60+ a week when you only have:

2.3 Leopard Geckos l 0.0.1 Snow Corn Snake l 1.1 Guinea Pig l Coming soon: 1.1 velvet geckos l 1.0 crested geckos

I have 19 geckos and I am only cleaning 38 bottle caps a week, that's one calcium dish and one water bowel per gecko. I usually just fill a sink with some hot soapy water and let them site for about 30 minutes. Then I rinse and dry each one individually. Takes me no more then hour, usually less because I will clean them as needed during the week.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

Because they get worms and dirt and moss in their bowls so I need to replace them. Thats actually more than 1 week. Thats about 2 weeks of bowls. And my crestie used 1 bowl per day. I am switching to other types of bowls for him now.

 

[Stitch]

So you swap out the dirty ones for clean ones and once the dirty ones pile up then you clean them?

To help clean them faster you could take an old tooth brush to clean the dirty ones better and then just rinse.

Like I said earlier I clean them as needed and then once or twice a month I will do those soaks.

When the water/calcium bowls get dirty I don't see why you just don't clean them right then and there. I only have one gecko thank God that makes a mess out of his calcium dish, so other wise I'm just dealing with the water bowls. Other wise they don't actually get dirty. I add calcium as needed and then do the soakings 1-2x a month.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

So you only change your bowls 1-2 per month? I have been doing it every week.

 

[Stitch]

So you only change your bowls 1-2 per month? I have been doing it every week.

I put fresh water in my water bowls (caps) every day. When I literally feel that they are slimy, I clean them right then and there. Like I said, 1-2 times a month I will do the hot soapy water soaks regardless of how dirty they are. I don't feel a need to put a new cap in the cage every time I change the water.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

I change the bowls once per week. On the cleaning days.

 

[MichaelJ]

We've always either soaked them in the sink with some mild cleanser or chlorohexidine and then just rinse them...Or if we have a a ton we just throw them on the top rack of the dishwasher.

exactly what we do!!:main_thumbsup: