For instance, you don’t have to worry about putting food and water or clean substrate in this holding container, since your reptile will only be there for a short while.
If you don’t have a sand sifter, you can also use a colander with tiny holes to strain the sand. You can buy a sand sifter at most mass retailers.
When you stir the sand, feces, debris, molted skin, and food waste will all float to the top of the bucket, leaving much cleaner sand on the bottom. For best results, allow the sand to “soak” in the bleach water for 3 minutes before you stir it.
Overall, you should go through this stirring process at least 3 times.
Alternatively, you can also spread the wet sand out on a clean tarp to allow it to air dry if you don’t have a pillowcase or flour sack towel.
You can also use parchment paper if you don’t have aluminum foil.
If the sand still isn’t dry, give it another 15 minutes. Although you can’t really “overcook” your sand, you shouldn’t have to bake it for more than an hour at most.
Make sure the sand has completely cooled before putting it back in your terrarium. You don’t want to accidentally burn your pet reptile!
This cleaning method works with any type of absorbent, non-abrasive reptile carpet. To be safe, be sure to wear a mask and rubber gloves when handling your pet’s waste.
Since most reptile carpets are pretty flexible, use a bucket that is as tall as your liner is wide. That way, you can wrap the liner and soak it on its side.
Be sure to clean both sides of the terrarium liner with the brush and not just the top surface!
For maximum safety, wear rubber cleaning gloves and safety goggles when working with disinfectant. You can buy reptile-safe disinfectant from any pet store that sells reptile supplies.
Don’t rely on air drying the terrarium liner, since that will just make your reptile have to wait longer before being returned to its habitat.
Be on the lookout for signs of illness in your reptile, such as lethargy, loss of appetite, or a darkening of the skin. These may all indicate that your reptile is having a negative reaction to the newly cleaned liner.
