Cleaning feeding related things?

[ladyparrott]

I'm kind of an intense germaphobe and the whole situation makes me want to douse everything in bleach or throw everything away but that's irrational and I can't afford new tongs on a weekly basis. So what is the best way to clean/sterilize everything involved in feeding the snake? Mainly the tongs since that's what I always keep and the means to defrost the rat varies.

Thought I'd ask because I got Noodle to take a rat pup today. It might be a smidge big but he's downing the last bits as we speak so hooray for that! He almost knocked the tongs out of my hands when he struck. It's kind of cute how once it's "dead" he gets confused on how to eat it. I put a plate in so I wouldn't get substrate all over the rat and while he coiled around it off the surface, he dragged it on top to eat it (and I think he might sleep on it, which makes me want to clean the snake. Good grief.)

[ladyparrott]

Also: my husband was not very happy I fed the snake in its cage, so that means I have to go get a proper bin to feed him in and add it to my list of things to clean.

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[GoingPostal]

You could just use the same disinfectant you use on the cage. Or just wash them like you do anything else. You can continue to feed in the cage though, it's generally safer and easier, you don't have to stress the snake out by moving it, risking a feeding bite or regurge.

[SmoothScales]

Seriously don't feed him in a separate bin. That's just asking for trouble by stressing out a snake. If I were on my computer, I could point you toward articles and write ups but the bottom line is there is absolutely no reason to move your snake to a tub to feed and multiple reasons not to. (Regurge, stress, time involved, extra things to clean) Granted there is the 1 in 10000 snake that is a picky s.o.b. that will only eat in a tub but those are a rare exception. Yours will obviously eat right where it's at. If substrate ingestion is a worry you can do as you have by putting a 'plate' in and luring him onto it with the prey.

As for disinfecting, I pretty much use f10 on everything

Edited: omg phone, no, I don't want to inject substrate.

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[SmoothScales]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=94197

Ah ha! Even my rediculous phone can find some things. 😜

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[Reinz]

I make clean up simple.

My hot water will hit 160 degrees. I just rinse the tongs, then wipe them down with a Clorox wipe. I wipe the rat serving tray the same.

[SmoothScales]

I make clean up simple.

My hot water will hit 160 degrees. I just rinse the tongs, then wipe them down with a Clorox wipe. I wipe the rat serving tray the same.

Is it weird that "rat serving tray" makes me giggle?

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[Reinz]

Is it weird that "rat serving tray" makes me giggle?

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It does sound strange I reckon.

The tray is very handy. When getting rats out of the freezer I use the tray as well as during certain stages of food prep and serving. I just don't like the thought of laying the rats down on any counters, especially when wet.

[SmoothScales]

This is true. I wear gloves when handling them. Just the serving tray thing got me picturing a fancy restaurant that caters to snakes. My mind is weird sometimes.

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[bcr229]

I run my feeding tongs, water bowls, smaller hides, smaller tubs, etc. through the dishwasher.