Can you really clean the cage items with rubbing alcohol?

The active ingredient in those hand sanitizer gels is rubbing alcohol and I use that stuff all the time in my snake room. I don't see where it would be harmful for cleaning as long as you rinsed well afterwards.

one thing is Alcohol is highly flammable, so i think you should worry if ever those stuff come in contact with heat.

in order for alcohol to be a proper disinfectant, it must be left with the item for a certain time period. For ethyl alcohol, 20 minutes contact time is consider a proper disinfection period.

Disadvantage about this is, the alcohol will evaporate before the 20 minutes is up. another no is alcohol can attack and stain certain plastics.

Isopropyl alcohol isn't an effective disinfectant, its main use is for skin wipe to remove organic debris from the site of wound or injection.

one thing, you don't want your cages becoming TOO clean. a daily cleaning routine will tired you down. the old spot cleaning + weekly bedding + weekly tub wash is already a great cleaning regime.

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Originally Posted by EdShal

one thing, you don't want your cages becoming TOO clean. a daily cleaning routine will tired you down. the old spot cleaning + weekly bedding + weekly tub wash is already a great cleaning regime.

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I agree - if you try to keep everything sterile or as close to sterile as possible, then your animal never gets to build up his own natural resistance to things, and some bacteria is actually beneficial as opposed to detrimental.

Think about it - kids these days seem to get sick much easier with parents that are now so germaphobic. Not like when I was growing up and you packed a lunch to take with you up to the tree house to eat with your grimy hands from climbing trees and playing in the woods all day. :P

I fill the sink with hot water and use antibacterial soft soap and let my snake hide, water dish and other cage items soak for a while then wash like you’re doing dishes then rinse and dry. I also use the same soapy water to wash the inside of the cage.

To clean my tank and accesories I use an all natural multi-purpose cleaner made by shaklee. It works great and theres zero chemicals in it.

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Originally Posted by BPboy

To clean my tank and accesories I use an all natural multi-purpose cleaner made by shaklee...theres zero chemicals in it.

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*emphasis mine*

I highly doubt the bolded part... :P

Seriously though, all-natural doesn't necessarily mean safe for your snake. Isn't pine oil often used for natural cleaners?

Everything has chemicals...even the air we breath has chemicals.

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Originally Posted by soy.lor.n

*emphasis mine*

I highly doubt the bolded part... :P

Seriously though, all-natural doesn't necessarily mean safe for your snake. Isn't pine oil often used for natural cleaners?

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If i use it to clean my vegitables, then its safe :P lol. And i did do my research to make sure theres no pine oils in it. I find this works and i can see from this thread there are many other ways people clean their tanks that may be good to keep in mind in the future.

I'm confused....you're feeding your snake vegetables? Because if not, I don't see what's safe for you to use on vegetables is safe for your snake.

I mean, I'm sure your product is fine, and actually sounds similar to what I use for typical tank cleaning, I'm just sick of people thinking "all natural" means "safe for all living things"
Hemlock, after all, is all-natural

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I agree - if you try to keep everything sterile or as close to sterile as possible, then your animal never gets to build up his own natural resistance to things, and some bacteria is actually beneficial as opposed to detrimental.

Think about it - kids these days seem to get sick much easier with parents that are now so germaphobic. Not like when I was growing up and you packed a lunch to take with you up to the tree house to eat with your grimy hands from climbing trees and playing in the woods all day. :P

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EXACTLY. It bothers me when parents are constantly sterilizing their kids. With babies, I understand. Little kids need to be exposed to this stuff though!

That being said, I use good old soap and water :)