Ten Steps for Cage Cleaning
1. Remove branches and other large objects.
Careful! If you have several branches stacked on top of eachother, remove the branches careful so that they don't topple over and possibly injure your lizard.
2. Remove the Anole and place it in a temporary enclosure.
Check out the Handling section for tips on the best ways to do this. Your temporary enclosure can be any small container with air holes. They sell plastic containers specifically made for animals at any petstore, but you can use any clean "tupperware" container with lots of small holes in the lid. Keep it out of direct sunlight and out of reach of other pets.
3. Take the enclosure outside.
The cleaning process will be much easier outside--where you won't have to worry about making a mess. Plus the water hose will come in handy.
4. Dump all the old bedding in a trash can.
Just turn it upside down and dump it out. Pretty self-explanatory. Be careful with glass aquariums. Don't bang them around too much or you'll be shopping for a new cage instead of cleaning the one you have.
5. Rinse everything.
This includes, branches, rocks, plant leaves, etc. You can use a mild soap solution for this, but plain water should be okay. Scrape dried poop off everything with an old toothbrush or whatever does the trick.
6. Wash the ensloure.
Inside and out. Use a mild antibacterial soap and rinse thoroughly. Although you can clean the outside with glass cleaner if you're careful, a better alternative is vinegar. It works! Just use straight up, undiluted vinegar. Lemon juice will work too.
7. Rinse, Rinse, and Rinse.
When you think you've rinsed enough, rinse a little more.
8. Let everything dry.
Just let it all sit in the sun. You may use a hair dryer and a towel to speed up this process.
9. Reconstruct everything.
10. Place the Anole back into the enclosure.
