Progress and a question

[stevens]

My trio of youngsters are FINALLY beginning to show themselves and explore their tank once in a while, generally in the evening, and usually about the time I've been taking them to out to play -- almost like they're waiting for me! I've still kept the tank fairly simple, and they've actually shredded some boxes and tubes, but still need a few lessons in nest-building. At least we're making some progress.

My question is, how long should I wait before cleaning their tank? With my two females, I usually do a quick cleaning (out with the old boxes and bedding, in with the new) about once a week, but I've put it off with the newcomers because I don't want to scare them into hiding constantly again. Am I likely to lose any of my progress with them by doing this too soon, or will it possibly give them more incentive to explore? (I intend to just refresh the bedding and boxes/tubes, but still keep it simple and open, since that's what they were used to.)

There is really no reason to clean them anytime soon, other than the fact that I prefer the "fresh" look. My concern is mostly that I DON'T want to interrupt the trust-building process, since it seems to have just started.

Thanks!

[themini]

Do you just use cardboard as the bedding?

[caz]

Hi Steven,

I would leave them for a couple of weeks tops - they'll be fine if the tank is 24" long or bigger.
Also a tip I found on the forum is to only remove 1/2 of their ACTUAL bedding material and put the old 1/2 back in as it will smell of them and make them feel secure. We've only had the girls 6 weeks (3 tank cleans) and I have always left 1/2 their ACTUAL bedding in and completely cleaned out everything else and the substrate. They seem fine with that I didn't want to disturb them either when they were newcomers, but I'm confindent I could completely clean them out now.

Glad you're making progress - keep at it LOL Have we seen any pics yet??
Caroline