Are you looking to get some more life out of your bearded dragon substrate?
Do you want to make sure you’re doing the best to keep your beardy’s habitat clean and safe?
It’s always important to know the proper ways to care for and clean all parts of your bearded dragon’s tank.
One of the best bearded dragon substrates is reptile carpet.
This may cost a little more, but it’s worth it.
But, you will need to know how to clean and bearded dragon carpet.
If you don’t keep the tank clean, you could end up with a sick bearded dragon.
Then, you’ll have to pay more for medical care.
Read on for what you’ll need and step by step instructions.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need
In this section, we’ll tell you what you’ll need to clean a bearded dragon carpet.
Read carefully to find out the purpose of each item.
Bucket
A bucket is the first thing you’ll need, the water has to go somewhere.
Make sure the bucket is clean and big enough to fit the entire carpet into it.
Antibacterial soap
Antibacterial soap is needed to clean out any growing bacteria and fungus in the carpet from the moisture and droppings of the bearded dragon.
Any good antibacterial soap will do.
I use all-natural, safe for animals, dish soap.
Water
You’ll need access to warm/hot water.
You need enough to fill the bucket for washing and rinsing.
Gloves
You may also want to use rubber gloves (disposal is fine) while you clean.
Bearded dragons do carry salmonella, which can cause stomach problems in humans.
While it’s possible to get away with your bare hands and washing your hands well afterward, it’s safer and recommended to use gloves of some kind.
Paper Towel
You’ll also need a paper towel for scrubbing the carpet itself.
We recommend using a paper towel instead of a cloth one.
This way, you just throw it away when you’re done, and you avoid the potential germs in your towels.
Reptile Disinfectant
The disinfectant is the last thing you’ll spray on the carpet as a final pass to kill any potential health-damaging germs which may have survived the wash.
We recommend this one by Zoo Med.
- Terrarium and small animal cage disinfectant, cleaner and deodorizer
- Ideal for cleaning, disinfecting and deodorizing terrariums and other animal enclosures
- Wipe out 1 can reduce the spread of bacterial infections in your animals.
Step By Step Instructions
In this section, we’ll break down how to clean a bearded dragon carpet.
These directions should be followed for any reptile carpet and liner substrate.
Be sure to read and do all the steps carefully, or you may miss some potential germs.
#1 Prepare Your Area
When you need to clean your beardy’s carpet, either carefully remove the carpet or move the bearded dragon to another location.
Gather your materials and fill your bucket with hot water and soap.
Make sure there’s a trash can nearby to throw away your paper towels.
If you’re using gloves (recommended), put those on now.
#2 Wipe With Paper Towels
Use paper towels to wipe off any urine and feces spots and put them directly in the trash.
Don’t forget this step or you’ll end up with floaties in the bucket (gross!)
Note:
After the whole process is done, take the trash directly out to the garbage can or dumpster.
Don’t leave it in your house’s trash can.
#3 Scrub With Soap
Take the carpet and put it in your bucket with soapy, hot water, and scrub at it with your fingers or another paper towel.
Then, let the carpet sit in the bucket for about 15 minutes.
After this time is up, remove the carpet and squeeze it to remove the excess water.
Put the carpet down and move to the next step.
Note:
Take off and throw away your gloves at this point.
#4 Rinse Bucket
Carefully dump out the dirty water from the bucket either in a sink, bathtub, toilet, or outside.
Turn on your faucet with hot water running.
Fill the bucket a little and then spin it around to rinse the sides up to the top.
Dump this water out too and then refill with more warm water.
Don’t put any soap in this water.
#5 Rinse With Water
Next, you need to rinse the carpet with water to remove any soap left on the carpet.
There are two main ways of going about this:
- Drop a little water from the bucket onto the carpet and massage with your hands. Repeat until no suds are seen.
- Put the carpet in the bucket and massage with your fingers. Repeat until no suds are seen on the carpet.
#6 Spray With Disinfectant
Using a specific reptile disinfectant, spray both sides of the carpet as recommended by the packaging instruction.
If the directions specify leaving it on for a time, follow those directions.
Otherwise, leave it for 5 minutes then rinse again with water.
Leave the carpet to air dry until it’s completely dry to the touch.
#7 Repeat At Least Once Per Week
Now, put the carpet back in the tank.
But your job isn’t ever done.
Leaving a dirty carpet for too long in a tank can allow germs and parasites to infect your bearded dragon and make it sick.
We recommend cleaning the carpet at least once per week.
Or, maybe once every three days if possible.
The best thing to do for the upkeep of a reptile carpet is always to remove any urine or feces droppings as soon as you see them.
Congrats on cleaning your bearded dragon carpet!
For another visual way to look at it, check out this video.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed learning how to clean a bearded dragon carpet.
Make sure to do this regularly, at least once per week.
It’s a simple procedure which can increase the life of the substrate and keep your bearded dragon healthy.
