Best way to clean enclosure ?

I do clean my snakes tank, but why disinfect? There holes are not disinfected in the wild. Just a questions, I do disinfect with hot soapy water and the. Washout to get all the soap out.

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Originally Posted by tsy72001

I do clean my snakes tank, but why disinfect? There holes are not disinfected in the wild. Just a questions, I do disinfect with hot soapy water and the. Washout to get all the soap out.

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you disinfect to reduce bacterial growth which reduces chances of infection. thats why their life expectancy is higher in captivity compared to natural habitat.

A bleach and water solution will disinfect very well just have to be sure to air it out after. Chlorohexidine is also good and no need to air dry afterward either. Me I do both actually. We do a bleach and water clean followed by a chlorohexidine treatment. Overkill I know but much cheaper and easier then dealing with infections and other nasty things.

This is an article I wrote for a newsletter last month.


Cleaning Reptile enclosures.

There is a maze of products and ideas methods and opinions. This article is a method to find a way through.

There is no magic cleaner. Marketing wants us to believe there is a spray it on and wash it off presto your are finished! The truth, if one did exist it would be too dangerous to use. You cannot escape some scrubbing so get used to the idea and get on with it.

The first step is to gather what you need to complete the task. There is no exact set of things but here are some of the things I use and hopefully you can get insight to what YOU might need.

Garbage can - Gotta put it somewhere!
Gloves - personally I am not bothered but some don't like poop under the finger nails
Paper towels or rags - general wiping things down
Soap - I use a anti bacterial hand soap but any soap will do.
Clean substrate - there are lots out there that is a discussion for another time ;-)
Scrub Brush - I have a dedicated enclosure cleaning toilet brush, I like the brush shape for getting in corners.
Good lighting - being able to see what you are cleaning is always nice
Scoop - I like using a plastic serving spoon, anything to remove old substrate and scrape uranates if needed.
Spray Bottle(s) - if you choose to use chemical cleaners/ disinfectants they are very useful. I'll get to that later...
Some where to put you animal - cleaning may take some time and trying with a snake over your shoulder can be a challenge. Escape proof container!

Appliances I use...
Shop Vac - ok you don't need a shop vac but it is an easy way to get old substrate out of the enclosure!
Steam Cleaner - I also use a steam cleaner this is an oddity, and it likely just an Alex move, certainly not necessary item!

Chemical Sanitizes

There are a lot of products designed to kill germs bacteria and virus. There are some that are very toxic for both you and your pet and some that are safer for both. Safe and chemical don't really belong together, use any and all chemicals according to the instructions read the warnings and do not mix them together! Misuse of chemicals can be an extreme hazard no matter how 'safe' it is supposed to be. I am going to mention some of the common ones used with herps. Lets start by breaking them down to two groups, ones that need to be rinsed off carefully and ones that do not.

The first group needs to be thoroughly washed off and is not safe for direct animal contact.

Bleach and Ammonia
Regular off the shelf chlorine bleach and ammonia has been used by many keepers over many years. It is easy to get and relatively inexpensive. It is recommended that it be diluted 4oz to us gal (118mL to 3.8L) for bleach and 3.5 oz per gallon (103mL to 3.8L) for ammonia. Both react to uranates so it must be completely free of residue before using this product. The contact time is 30 min it takes 30 mins of sitting to be effective. It MUST be COMPLETELY washed off before that animal can contact anything that has been cleaned with either. I personally would not recommend either for amphibians. Do not spray either in a spray bottle. They are both very toxic for your animals the MUST be used carefully and with great caution. Please read and follow the instructions and cautions on the bottle carefully.

Vinegar
Regular household vinegar diluted equal parts with water also is an decent disinfectant killing many bacteria and some germs (very few virus however) Namely Salmonella. It is relatively safe to use although care should be taken if spraying it. It is a slow reaction and needs at least 30 min to be effective and is easily available. This MUST be carefully washed off. Generally if you can no longer smell the vinegar it is clean please use your head, don't smell un-rinsed vinegar! Use your nose after you think you have rinsed enough. (Take a break before you do the sniff test too)

The second group when used correctly does not need to be washed off.

Chlorhexidine
There are a number of brand names for the same product it used as a veterinary disinfectant and may be difficult to find. It is available online but be sure to buy from a Canadian distributer as it is controlled and may not cross the border well. Available in 2% and 4% solutions the most common is 2% (usually blue) and less common in 4% (usually pink) The dilution rates typically used is 1oz per quart. (30mL to 1L) for the 2% and 0.5 oz per quart (15mL to 1L). There is stability issues associated with Chlorhexidine I inquired regarding the stability of this type of product from one of the manufacturers and received this response:

"Dear Mr. Chisholm,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding Nolvasan Solution.:cens0r: :cens0r:When reconstituted with tap water, Nolvasan Solution may be stored in tightly sealed containers, at 25 °C (typical room temperature conditions), for up to one week. :cens0r:When reconstituted with water purified by deionization or an equivalent method, Nolvasan Solution may be stored at 25 °C (typical room temperature conditions), in tightly sealed containers, for up to 6 weeks.:cens0r: Containers should not be dipped into.:cens0r:
Veterinary Medical Information and Product Support
Pfizer Animal Health"

The product is generally safe for contact with the animal it is not as effective as some but safer to use. This product is often sprayed however this is not recommended by the manufactures. Never mix chemicals just because it is safe to contact it is not 'safe' can must be taken to avoid all oxidizing agents strong acids and alkalis. Not as effective as some but safer to deal with. It can be moderately expensive. Generally it requires at 15-20 min contact time to be effective it is good against some bacteria especially gram negative. Not very good against gram positive or viruses.

F10
F10 is relatively new product it is a appears to be a modified Quaternary Ammonium Compound although that is a best guess it is a trade secret. It has been toted as a perfect choice by big breeders as it is safe to use and is effective against a wide range of bacteria moulds and viruses. It is not been shown to cause any adverse health effects in people or animals at working dilutions and maybe use around animals freely. It almost sounds too good to be true. It is diluted 1:250 (chemical to water) or 1:500. Suppliers maybe found in both the USA and Europe. It has recently been approved in the US and europe. In Europe it has been used as a beginning treatment for RI. That being said RI is best treated and diagnosed by a vet. It is moderately expensive but the dilution rate is massive so a little goes a long way. Once diluted it maybe stored for 6 months before use although it is a good idea to use distilled water just to be sure. This is a new product and information is limited but at this point it seems to be promising. 20-30 min contact times are needed.

Steam
Steam Cleaning is non toxic and safe for the herps after surfaces have cooled. The equipment is costly but the 'cleaner' is cheap as water ;-). Steam is hot and you can get a nasty burn from it. The other problem many steam cleaners do not actually get hot enough the stream is starting to cool before it leaves the hose. This is basically a way of delivering heat to the enclosure and that heat cooks bacteria germs viruses (it will cook you and your animals ,if you spray it at them make sure you use it carefully) . It is very effective if you can get the surface to 165ºF (73ºC) It needs a lot of steam so good equipment is needed or it will take a long time. Be very careful using steam on glass you can break it. and melt some plastics as well.


OK the steps.

1 Remove your pet from the enclosure it is a good time to do a close examination of your animal and make sure it is still in top health! Keep notes on what you find and when you clean and spot clean and feed notes and information may help diagnose problems at a labor date and track growth too. Place your pet in an escape proof holding enclosure while you clean. Remember if you are using chemicals it may be a good idea to remove it from the area you are cleaning in!

2 Remove all furniture from the enclosure (glass doors too if they come off) and give it a wash in water a scrub with your brush and make sure it is clean and then use a chemical disinfectant of your choice note the time and move on.

3. Remove all the substrate from the enclosure. I use a fine particle coco coir product so I employ a scoop and vacuums to do this. Depending on the substrate this might be a quick and easy task or longer and really needs that vacuum.

4. Wipe out the enclosure with rags and hot water or my choice is to use a steam cleaner now I spray the inside paying special attention to cracks and crevasses hard to get spots I then whip out the water. Scrape/rub off any and all uranate bits re-wash with a new rag. When you have scrubbed and scraped every clean and you don't think it will get better move to 5.

5. Disinfect enclosure with your disinfectant, some may choose to ignore this it is your choice. Note the time.

6. Finish the furniture and wash the water bowls no matter the agent used. I don't like leaving anything in the water bowls myself. I often use a quick hot water rinse for everything just to be sure and to kill 20 min while I wait for the enclosure to disinfect.

7. Wash down the whole enclosure make sure that it is completely washed out if you are using the first group of disinfectants. The second group as it needs to be saturated you will at least need to take up the extra liquid. I usually dry the interior for the most part.

8. Add your substrate and return the furniture to the enclosure and then make sure the doors close properly and all openings are returned to secure again. Double check to make sure your enclosure is again escape proof after the cleaning!

9. Return your pet and clean the holding enclosure for the next time!

Many use sponges in place of rags. I don't like doing this, rags are disposable, yes I know the environmental issues, go ahead wash then boil them and reuse them but consider where the power it takes comes from. The problem with sponges is that the temptation to use them on multiple animals enclosures. This should be avoided as you want to try to prevent cross contamination. I am sure you are thinking at this point 'Hey what about the brushes?' rightly so. Yes brushes and other tools used are avenues for doing the same. I always after i am finished using a brush of tool wash it and use some of my disinfect of choice on it. For the most part they are hard non-pores items and maybe cleaned very effectively reducing the cross contamination. There is no way to kill everything to do that you need hospital grade equipment and treat everything, every surface as contaminated. It is not practice this isn't about sterilization but effective cleaning and killing bacteria or as many as it practical that maybe harmful to your pet.

Have fun! If you see this as a task it will be laborious and time consuming but if you leave your self the time and set up with comfortable tools and work space it isn't so bad I actually enjoy it! I try to stagger cleaning so rather than do all the enclosures at once (if you have multiples) do one or two depending and then a few more a different day. This level of cleaning does not usually need to be done more than once a month and many do it once every two months. I use my nose how the 'feel' of an enclosure is if it smells off and is dirty looking it is time to clean if it does not it is ok for now. No matter what I clean at least every 2 months.

Information changes all the time, I believe this to be accurate however you need to double check to make sure that what you have read here or anywhere else is correct. Please be careful using any chemicals read the instructions and look up the MSDS sheets to be sure you are doing every thing you can to be safe. The author cannot be held responsible for anything that may happen as a result from following his advise in this article.

http://buyf10.com/

I really like the F10 cleaner. The smallest size makes 50 spray bottles, and it's sold by Pro Exotics.