Zoo Med Sand Strainer

I don't know if that is what is really called. To give you an idea it is a metal strainer, made out of screen mesh, for cleaning the sand in lizard tanks. It works great, is made sturdily (or it looks like it is) all metal construction except for the handle which is some soirt of black plastic like material. The forward edges of the screen cup are squared to get into tank corners and there is a reinforcing rim around the edge of the strainer cup.

Its about time someone marketed something like this. It makes cleaning the poop out of lizard cages a quick and easy job.

I have one of the all-plastic sand strainers.
Here's a use you might not have thought of:
If you raise your mealworms on something with fine particles, like fortified baby cereal, you can use these strainers to quickly and easily seperate the worms from the substrate!

Pretty good idea, I like it. I have to try that when cleaning out the superworm tank. Thanks

Best regards,
Glenn B

I wouldn't use a strainer for cleaning cages because it leaves stuff behind. Most reptile waste has a solid and a liquid component to it. When the lizards takes a dump the liquid portion runs through the substrate and dries to the sand particles. When you sift through, you remove the solid portion but all the dried liquid falls through still adhereing to the sand. Some of it might clump together but you will never get it all, espescially if you shake the strainer and knock the clumps apart. The tank looks cleaner because all of the solid waste is gone but a portion of the waste remains. You can't see it but after a while you can smell it. I just use a large spoon and scoop out everything that looks wet, or if I don't catch it right away and it has dried I just scoop out a good portion around the solid droppings.

Steve Schindler

Since I have used the strainer, I have no smell in my BD or Desert Iguana tanks, except before I strain the sand after a big dump has been left. As for the detritus building up and causing a smell, that only happens with lack of sufficient cleaning. I clean out the sand as needed when pooped on, and I replace the sand and clean the tanks thoroughly on a weekly basis. Any stuff left behind by the strainer during the week seems minimal and no smell builds up and I have a pretty sensitive nose, and when it comes to my herps my wife's nose is super sensitive (LOL but true). I have used a spoon in the past but never found a good one to clean a tank of lizard poop. I think a spoon leaves almost as much as a strainer though. I did find that a spatula works much better than a spoon because it is flat and squared at the edges. It can really get under all the waste to scoop it out. Yet I like the strainer best of all. As for not getting all the wet stuff it seems to get the great majority of it, and you certainly don't need to shake it that much to get the sand to run through it. Albeit it may leave a bit more than a spoon or spatula but it does pretty good.

Another nice thing about the strainer is that after using it, it makes it easier to clean the sand for recycling. Yes I have sometimes recycled my lizard tank sand by cleaning it with running water as you would clean fish tank gravel. I then use it for various applications and have on rare occasion - when I could not get any fresh sand, used it back in the lizard tank.

I can see your preference for a spoon if you don't like a strainer, but I would recommend a flat and solid (not slotted) spatula over a spoon. The reason I don't use the spatula anymore is because of the mess I usually made transferring the poopy sand to the trash. If you have a steadier hand than mine, it may be the way to go.
All the best,
GB

Oh, sorry I left out the most important reason I use a strainer in the lizard tank to clean the sand. It gets the poop that you do not see on the surface. Nope not the tiny pieces that may slip through, but the stuff buried under the sand that the lizard stepped on and pushed under. MY BDs do this every day. You don't need to see the stuff to get it, like you pretty much need to with a spoon or a spatula. Of course that is if you decide to scoop all the sand, but the strainers makes this a pretty quick job.

Glenn,

When used in a manner that you are describing the sifter would work fine. The problem I have is that they are not really marketed for that kind of use. They seem to imply to the general public that if they use this product they won't have to change their sand for months at a time. This would lead to the problems I mentioned. You are right about the spoon thing, actually I use a squared off little dust pan that came with a little bench brush so when I said spoon I was being a little misleading.

Steve

(I know this is an old thread, but...)

I use a huge tea strainer for my lizard tanks. Works well, but it doesn't have the squared corners.