Vivariums & Cabinets
From vivariums and terrariums to tortoise tables and flexariums, OlliePets offers a great selection of products that will give your chosen reptile friend the best environment for them.
Vivarium care and maintenance
You’ve done all the research, spoken to one of our pet care advisors and bought the right vivarium for you and your reptile.You’ve picked lights, plants, substrates and accessories that fit perfectly and everything is up and running. What’s next?
In order for your reptile to live a happy and healthy life, there are a few care and maintenance tasks that you need to make sure are regularly undertaken. Ranging from waste disposals to deep cleans, we’ve put together a range of articles to take you through vivarium maintenance and give you the details on exactly what and how we recommend doing them.
Standard Small Faunarium
Exo Terra
£9.47
Medium Faunarium
Exo Terra
£9.79
Flat Faunarium Large
Exo Terra
£17.45
Slim Oak Vivarium 2ft
Terapod
£54.99
Paludarium 30 x 30 x 60cm
Exo Terra
£81.97
Terrainium 46 x 29 x 15cm
Monkfield
£45.92
Glass Terrarium 60 x 45 x 30cm
Exo Terra
£119.99
Terrapin Tartarium 60×29.6×19.5cm
Ciano
£47.74
Black Vivarium 86 x 49 x 50cm
Vivexotic
£130.88
How to clean a vivarium
No matter which type of reptile you keep, you’re sure to want their home to be perfect. The right environment is an important part of any animal’s health, happiness, and quality of life overall, and cleanliness plays a key role.
Once you’ve set up your reptile’s vivarium, and filled it with the appropriate accessories , it’s important that you take a little time to clean and maintain the space as required, this may be frequent ‘poop scoops’ or more involved cleaning.
Building your vivarium cleaning kit
While you’re choosing your reptile’s vivarium, lighting, and accessories, it’s a good idea to pick up some of the things you’ll need to keep their home clean. Building your vivarium cleaning kit early-on will help make your regular cleaning process easier.
Vivarium cleaning essentials:
Make sure you always have the following cleaning tools in your home, so you can clean your reptile’s vivarium easily whenever you need to:
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- A secure temporary home for your reptile
- Buckets
- Disposable gloves
- Brushes
- Sponges
- Paper towels
- Reptile-safe cleaning product
- Dish soap
- A sand sifter (for desert vivariums)
Daily vivarium maintenance
While your pet’s home will only need to be thoroughly cleaned once a week, it’s important that you check and clean the space a little each day.
- Wipe up any spills
- Remove uneaten food (including uneaten livefood and especially anything fresh that will decay)
- Clean water and food dishes in hot soapy water, and let them dry thoroughly. Do not clean with your own washing up or dishes
- Clear any shed skin
- Clean out any urates or feces (if you’re using a sand substrate, sift it through)
If you have all the equipment ready, you’ll find that this daily vivarium cleaning routine can be completed in little time.
While you’re performing your daily maintenance, you can take the opportunity to check your reptile for parasites, shedding, and to ensure they’re consuming the normal amount of food and water.
Weekly vivarium cleaning
For most vivariums that are not bio-active, Regular deep cleaning is essential – your reptile’s vivarium should be a healthy, comfortable environment for them to feel safe in, so cleanliness is important.
Follow these steps to maintain the best environment for your pet:
- Remove your reptile from their vivarium and place them in secure temporary housing
- Remove all vivarium accessories
- Clean, rinse and dry water and food bowls
- Scoop up disposable substrate, put it into a bag, and throw it away
- Clean the inside of the vivarium with reptile safe disinfectant, loosening any hardened mess with a vivarium cleaning product and, if necessary, a blade or toothbrush
- Rinse inside of the vivarium thoroughly
- Disinfect the inside of the vivarium
- Rinse away disinfectant
- Wash, rinse and dry all vivarium accessories
- When the vivarium and accessories are completely dry, reassemble your reptile’s home
When the steps have been completed, you can carefully place your pet back inside their home. Make sure you clean your equipment ready for next time, and wash your hands well.
