Cleaning a tank, is this sufficient?

Yesterday was my first attempt at really cleaning my ball python's 10g tank and I wanted to see if I did a sufficient job.

I first moved Jade (the bp) into a plastic tub with a hide and some paper towels for substrate. I recently purchased some chlorhexadine solution and the directions say 2 tablespoons per gallon of water. I put half a tablespoon into a 32 oz spray bottle and filled it up with water. I took all of Jade's goodies out of the cage, left the empty cage there on the cabinet, and sprayed down each side with a generous amount of solution. I then wiped with a dry paper towel. Following this I soaked some paper towels with water and wiped down the sides of the tank again. Followed lastly by wiping down with dry paper towels.(That's solution towel, dry towel, water towel, then dry towel.)

As for the hides and water bowel I sprayed them with solution over a sink, ran hot water over them, scrubbed with dish soap, and ran back under hot water.

Will this all work for say a monthly clean? When I daily clean can I use the spray bottle with solution on the bottom? I use paper towels so its not really a spot clean, I just switch it all out.

And btw, I woke up this morning to the biggest pool of urine she has yet to grace her cage with :8:

Sounds good. :gj:

You should probably clean her hides the same way.

Awwww!!!! I'm so happy one of my babies has such an awesome snake poppa! :D
Sounds great! I actually flip the process... I use soap first, then chlorhexadine. I've let things dry with the solution on too- :) It's great stuff, and will not harm a snake if they come in contact with it.

Glad she's drinking well! :rofl:


PICS SOON!!! :taz: lol

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Originally Posted by Laooda

Awwww!!!! I'm so happy one of my babies has such an awesome snake poppa! :D
Sounds great! I actually flip the process... I use soap first, then chlorhexadine. I've let things dry with the solution on too- :) It's great stuff, and will not harm a snake if they come in contact with it.

Glad she's drinking well! :rofl:


PICS SOON!!! :taz: lol

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I dont know about awesome poppa but thank you! lol Yea I was a little unsure about how dangerous the stuff can be if left on. The chlorhexadine didn't smell too much, but what do I know, I'm a human lol. With all the fun bleach stories and crazy warnings about rinsing and rerinsing I just wanted to make sure I didn't leave it on.

Ill try my best on the pics, gotta get a camera first

You don't have to clean everyday, you can just spot clean and switch the substrate out once a week or so.
You'll find the substrate will get mighty expensive if you swap it every day. ;)

I'm a Chlorhexadine user too. What I use is a tub from Wal-Mart. It's about a 10-15 gallon tub, I think. I put in the solution and fill it about 3/4 full with water. Everything in the enclosure goes into the tub to soak while I clean the tank. Once the tank is done I scrub and rinse each piece then dry it with a blow dryer. For the wooden pieces I usually soak them in 97% alchol. It comes in a bottle, kills everything and evaporates quickly and doesn't leave a strong odor after it's gone...

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I'm a Chlorhexadine user too. What I use is a tub from Wal-Mart. It's about a 10-15 gallon tub, I think. I put in the solution and fill it about 3/4 full with water. Everything in the enclosure goes into the tub to soak while I clean the tank. Once the tank is done I scrub and rinse each piece then dry it with a blow dryer. For the wooden pieces I usually soak them in 97% alchol. It comes in a bottle, kills everything and evaporates quickly and doesn't leave a strong odor after it's gone...

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If I ever decide to switch to a tub this is gonna work great! I'll definitely keep it in mind.

A little cleaning trick--I use Chlorhex for sterilizing as well, though I do rinse it off after 5 minutes.

Put the 10% chlorhex solution into a spray bottle. Then you can get every nook and cranny with it, easily. :)

Btw, is chlorohexadine expensive? Do they sell it at Walmart/Target?

I've always used plain dish soap. I tried bleach once, but it reeks for a while afterwards.