Cleaning and disinfecting/questions

I use anti microbial soap with bleach and 145-150 degree hot water.

Like Pit, F10 expires too soon for me.

The local reptile shop says, "Just use windex, it'll get things clean." I'm thinking it'll get them clean but not kill any nasty stuff...assuming there's nasty stuff. Watching your posts to find the most effective and commonly used cleaner....Thanks

My opinion is that if your place is a revolving door with new and strange animals coming into your place (think Vet's office), then F10 is a must.

If your place has the same reptiles and you follow proper quarantine procedures for new reptiles, then the other methods mentioned are fine.

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Originally Posted by BR8080

The local reptile shop says, "Just use windex, it'll get things clean." I'm thinking it'll get them clean but not kill any nasty stuff...assuming there's nasty stuff. Watching your posts to find the most effective and commonly used cleaner....Thanks

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My reasoning is that there is nothing that bleach wont kill and its wicked cheap. My enclosures don't ever stay dirty long enough for things to get really stuck on and crusty and even if they did, the bleach would do the job. It works for me and my current situation. It might be different if I had dozens of enclosures to clean regularly and couldn't be as on top of it as I can now.

I use a dilute solution of Chlorhexidine. You can get it on Amazon and I dilute it to about 20 mL in a quart of water. Since it's a concentrate it goes a very long way, it may even be cheaper than bleach LOL. I like it because it's safe enough to even use directly on the snake! I even spot clean with it and wipe it dry with a paper towel.

I've seen pro breeders use bleach on their grey tubs in their racks, it fades the tubs out and it looks really bad, none of the tubs match in color, looks like they all need to be replaced LOL. That's the main reason I stay away from bleach, plus I don't like to have any bleach residue left over, you never know how that could affect the snake.

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Originally Posted by cletus

I just scrub anything nasty with a brush and hot water and then fill up the tub with a weak bleach solution and soak the hides. I rinse well with uber hot water.

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I've read that bleach residue is salt. I have also read somewhere that salt is dangerous to snakes? I'm unsure. Might not use bleach in the future again cause of my anxiety.


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Originally Posted by Medduussa

I've read that bleach residue is salt. I have also read somewhere that salt is dangerous to snakes? I'm unsure. Might not use bleach in the future again cause of my anxiety.


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I've never experienced residue, which can be easily seen on tanks. Keep in mind, that Cletus and I use really hot water and rinse properly as well.

I use really hot water and a scrub brush to get poo/urates off of the water bowls and hides, and a diluted spray of Chlorhexadine to wipe down the tubs. I bought the bottle around March of last year when I had only one snake, I have 3 snakes now but I still have over 2/3 of the bottle left.

I go through a lot of Chlorhexidine, I use it for all my 20 snake tubs, my 20 rat tubs, and my 7 mouse aquariums. It has a faint chlorine smell, but disappears when you wash it out. I dilute it with water and spray it on heavy, then let it soak for 5-10 minutes, then use my pump up sprayer to spray it down with water. I like that it cuts right through the snake poo smells. I was actually thinking about going to a concentrated Lysol solution, but I'm worried about toxicity of left over residues. Keep in mind that even with Lysol you have to have sufficient contact time, you should let it soak for at least 5 minutes before washing it off, otherwise it's pretty ineffective.

I use wipeout 1 by zoomed, used to use diluted bleach and water.