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Cleaning

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  • 06-09-2018, 12:15 PM
    AnnieHeart
    Cleaning
    Hi All!

    What are some of your homade cleaning solutions you use to clean and disinfect terrarium?
  • 06-09-2018, 01:39 PM
    Zincubus
    Re: Cleaning
    I only use diluted F10 after our vet told us they all swear by it ...


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  • 06-09-2018, 01:50 PM
    AnnieHeart
    Re: Cleaning
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Zincubus View Post
    I only use diluted F10 after our vet told us they all swear by it ...


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

    Can I make this or do I have to buy it?
  • 06-09-2018, 02:01 PM
    Slicercrush
    Re: Cleaning
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AnnieHeart View Post
    Can I make this or do I have to buy it?

    You have to buy it, you can find many different sizes on amazon (here's probably one of the smaller ones). The stuff gets diluted either 1/250 or 1/500, so one bottle lasts FOREVER, totally worth the investment imo.
  • 06-09-2018, 02:26 PM
    AnnieHeart
    Re: Cleaning
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slicercrush View Post
    You have to buy it, you can find many different sizes on amazon (here's probably one of the smaller ones). The stuff gets diluted either 1/250 or 1/500, so one bottle lasts FOREVER, totally worth the investment imo.

    Wow, that's a great investment. I no one has a homemade solution I will look at buying it.
  • 06-09-2018, 03:04 PM
    Zincubus
    Re: Cleaning
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slicercrush View Post
    You have to buy it, you can find many different sizes on amazon (here's probably one of the smaller ones). The stuff gets diluted either 1/250 or 1/500, so one bottle lasts FOREVER, totally worth the investment imo.

    That's so true .. 1:250 water I think it is for cleaning / disinfectant.
    I think I diluted it to 1:500 when I used it with a nebuliser to treat a Royal with an RI years ago ..


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  • 06-09-2018, 05:46 PM
    Bogertophis
    I've used Nolvasan for many years originally, then I used F10 for a while...now I'm just using generic Chlorhexidine. Nothing wrong with Nolvasan, but it's
    way more expensive now. All of these products are excellent, all are diluted for wiping cages & none need to be rinsed, just dried- all very convenient. It
    depends on how many snakes you keep, how many new ones you keep getting, & whether or not it's a business, as to whether or not you need the top of
    the line disinfectant for home use. I haven't added any snakes in years now (since 2009), nor taken in any rescues, so my collection is stable & my snakes
    are healthy & likely to stay that way...thus, I don't feel the need to use anything beyond generic Chlorhexidine these days. I use it on my rodent cages too.

    No disinfectant is much use against organic material if the cage is filthy, & to be really effective the spray needs to sit for a while, so keep that in mind too.

    I use white vinegar on water bowls (dump the water out, it needs to be full-strength); it's mildly disinfectant & also removes hard water deposits.

    I use isopropyl ("rubbing") alcohol on my feeding tongs. I rarely use bleach as it's so toxic, nasty to work with & any retained vapors are highly irritating to
    a snake's lungs so there's a lot of rinsing that has to be done. It's most appropriately used for when you have sick snakes or suspect that you do, and use
    only on NON-porous surfaces (not things like wood & branches) as the smell will never leave & if they were used for a sick animal, they should be discarded.

    If you only have a few healthy pets, just using a bit of dish soap & water to wipe (then rinse) cages would fine, or some use vinegar to wipe, then rinse...it's
    totally your call about using disinfectants. They can be "overkill" for some.

    BTW, you can often buy generic Chlorhexidine from feed stores...it's way less expensive than things like F10. It's an ingredient in mouth washes too. ;)
  • 06-09-2018, 06:58 PM
    Bogertophis
    On another forum there was a member who said he cleaned his cages using mouthwash, for the chlorhexidine it contains...but I wouldn't do that, first because
    I don't want "minty-fresh" snakes, but also because it's unknown what effects all the other ingredients might have. (things like mint are probably irritating, if not
    actually harmful to herps?)

    Many household cleaners DO have ingredients that are harmful to snakes: never use Lysol or pine cleaners, for example.
  • 06-11-2018, 05:03 PM
    Valyrian
    Re: Cleaning
    I use F10: Spray with water, scrub with a plastic brush, paper towel off, spray with F10 diluted to the max level, let sit for 10 mins, paper towel off. F10 is fool proof and non toxic.

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