Cleaning!

Just curious as to what brands of cleaners and disinfectants are the most effective, least pricey, and more importantly, will cause zero harm to your cold-blooded friends. Per say, if SOME residue DID get left behind, your snake would be "as healthy as a horse". Har har... Thanks!

Bleach in a solution of 1 part bleach to 30 parts water is more than enough to kill any little nasties depending on how long you leave it on a surface...it's also the cheapest though you do have to be sure to rinse thoroughly (granted, your solution, if mixed properly, shound not have a strong bleach smell at all)! The safest and probably next best in antimicrobial activity would be chlorhexadine (Nolvesan)...you dilute it as well so a jug lasts for quite some time. We use chlorhex quite a bit in our clinic as it disinfects almost as well as bleach AND you can use it on the skin to flush wounds hence making it a safe alternative!

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Originally Posted by GoBoilers

Bleach in a solution of 1 part bleach to 30 parts water is more than enough to kill any little nasties depending on how long you leave it on a surface...it's also the cheapest though you do have to be sure to rinse thoroughly (granted, your solution, if mixed properly, shound not have a strong bleach smell at all)! The safest and probably next best in antimicrobial activity would be chlorhexadine (Nolvesan)...you dilute it as well so a jug lasts for quite some time. We use chlorhex quite a bit in our clinic as it disinfects almost as well as bleach AND you can use it on the skin to flush wounds hence making it a safe alternative!

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I understood that it worked better than bleach.

From a reptile standpoint, chlorhex is probably just as good as bleach with the added bonus of being less of an irritant (could be why it may be considered superior). Bleach has just a slightly wider spectrum of activity in that it kills non-enveloped viruses (much more virulent than enveloped viruses--think parvo virus in dogs...bleach is the only thing that will kill that virus in the environment)! Anyway, that's really the only differance between the two...it's also worth noting that both can be inactivated by organic debris, so it's important to wash out any fecal matter first and then apply your disinfectant! Hope this helps!