Chlorhexadine Soaking Question

[chimpkin]

I finally got a 5 gallon bucket to soak water bowls in. I have a couple questions. I have about 12 bowls to soak weekly. How often will I need to replace the Chlorhexadine in the bucket? My other question is how good is Chlorhexadine at killing germs? Are there any concerns with passing anything around?

[Laooda]

GREAT questions! I'll be watching this thread... I was just contemplating getting some to wipe tubs between bedding switches...

Can the snakes come in contact with it? Or does it need to be completely dry before replacing bedding and the snake? (sorry for the hijack) !

[Kara]

You need to mix new Chlorhex every time you use it. Also keep in mind that you'll want to scrub water bowls before soaking them to make sure there's no organic matter on them before they go into the Chlorhex, as prolonged exposure to organic material weakens its effectiveness.

I personally prefer Virkon S & Trifectant. Expensive, but it's the disinfectant version of "nuke 'em till they glow, then shoot 'em in the dark" when it comes to many, many viruses & bacteria. It's also good for 7 days once mixed, and if you're thorough & efficient in your cleaning techniques, a little can go a long way.

Regardless of what you use to disinfect, you must thoroughly clean beforehand. Disinfectants don't cancel out the need for cleansing & scrubbing & removing funk from whatever it is you're trying to clean/disinfect.

HTH!

K~

[lillyorchid]

I use Airkem A-33 By Ecolab. It's expensive, but you only need a little bit and add water to it. It's a GREAT cleaner and it kills just about anything and everything germ wise and it smells great.

You can buy it in another name at Home Depot. It's called Simple Greend Pro 3. It's like $16 per gallon but last forever.

[PythonWallace]

Regardless of what you use to disinfect, you must thoroughly clean beforehand. Disinfectants don't cancel out the need for cleansing & scrubbing & removing funk from whatever it is you're trying to clean/disinfect.

HTH!

K~

Good point. Like scrubbing and using an ultrasonic cleaner before putting tattoo equipment in an autoclave. Cleaning and disinfecting are complementary with this stuff, not one in the same.

[chimpkin]

Change it every time? That would be too expensive for a collection as small as mine. I will just continue with my current practice of scrubbing with soap and water and then spraying with chlorhexadine. Thanks anyway guys.

[PythonWallace]

Change it every time? That would be too expensive for a collection as small as mine. I will just continue with my current practice of scrubbing with soap and water and then spraying with chlorhexadine. Thanks anyway guys.

You can also get a 2-3 gallon bucket to use.

[lord jackel]

If you have 12 bowls to clean ever week...why not just throw them in the dishwasher? It would save you a lot of time and money. The heat and soap will kill any bacteria on the bowls.

[elevatethis]

Deli cups in water bowls ROCK!

Use them for a week, then throw them away. I only end up scrubbing the water bowls once ever couple of weeks, as opposed to every time I changed the water.

[elevatethis]

Here's a picture...5" Ceramic bowl with 16 oz deli cup...