Cleaning Used Racks

I'm about to purchase a used rack from someone locally and while I trust the person I'm buying it from, I still want to ensure the safety of my snakes by thoroughly cleaning them. Just wondering what you guys recommend using to clean/disinfect them? :D

a 1/10 mix of bleach and water, then a spray down with prevent-o-mite.

Chlorhexidine 2% solution, it is much safer than bleach and gets the same job done. I wouldn't use PAM unless there is reason for it, that stuff is too dangerous to be used in a proventitive fashion. Another mite spray like Reptile relief would be much safer.

I agree Chlorhexadine or F10, and MAYBE Reptile Relief.

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Originally Posted by jinx667

I agree Chlorhexadine or F10, and MAYBE Reptile Relief.

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Can that stuff be sprayed on flexwatt for example like in my RBI rack?

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Chlorhexidine 2% solution, it is much safer than bleach and gets the same job done. I wouldn't use PAM unless there is reason for it, that stuff is too dangerous to be used in a proventitive fashion. Another mite spray like Reptile relief would be much safer.

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Where can I find this stuff?

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Originally Posted by RetiredJedi

Can that stuff be sprayed on flexwatt for example like in my RBI rack?

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Chlorhexidine would be fine on flexwatt under 2 conditions

1. Flexwatt is unplugged

2. There isn't any exposed metal (exposed soldered joints for example)

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Originally Posted by jtomb1510

Where can I find this stuff?

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http://www.reptilebasics.com/chlorhexadine-16oz

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Chlorhexidine 2% solution, it is much safer than bleach and gets the same job done. I wouldn't use PAM unless there is reason for it, that stuff is too dangerous to be used in a proventitive fashion. Another mite spray like Reptile relief would be much safer.

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ok not to start any arguments here, maybe something has chanced in the few years of the the snake world for me and i may need a little re-education.

While i do see your point on the bleach water mix not being optimal since they are now making more products for safer cleaning, Personal choice for me is to stick with it, never had issues, and do not for see any. But where are you saying Prevent-a-mite should not be used as a preventative option?. the name says it all Prevent-a-mite, not Treat-a-mite, any chemicals you use around your animal are dangerous, but when used properly. and when used as a preventative aspect the spread of mites is severely lowered to non exsistant. issues i see that, it is an option you need to stick with to be effective, like quarantining incoming animals, if you do not keep that practice issues will arise. Even if you can not see yourself spraying the animals actual cage, spraying around it, Racks, shelves, outside of glass tanks. it helps preventing the traveling of mites to other animals. I do however forget the distances they can travel exactly, but i think it was around 20 something feet every 2 hours. so to me putting a line in the sand so to say with a "you shall not pass" aspect to me seems good enough for me to continue using it. So please offer me some re-education on this product. because i do not see spraying down any animal with Nix like some have suggested here.

a good write up i have read is from VPI located at the link below, mite are generally not a one shot treatment deal and may takes weeks to possibly months to eradicate in a collection.

http://www.vpi.com/publications/the_...of_snake_mites

PAM. Is very dangerous even when used correctly. I can justify that risk if I have a snake with mites, but I can't if there aren't any mites for sure. There are other less potent products on the market that are much safer. Some can even be applied to the animal directly. Sure they don't work as well as PAM but then again you are only trying to Provent a mite issue so they should be more than enough.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I can justify that risk if I have a snake with mites, but I can't if there aren't any mites for sure. .

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Not to nit pick or anything, but that is my point right there, most seem to use it "after" an issue is there, instead of to "prevent" a possible issue. obviously people are going to use what they are going to use, good or bad, my experiences are that when the issue is there and inexperienced or novice experience use this stuff, they over spray everything everyday hoping it is a quick fix for the problem, (like using nix and other chemicals directly on their animals, hey if it works cool, i am just not doing it). when just a quick spray of this stuff once a month or so on your mass cleaning days is more then sufficient.This stuff has never caused me any issues with any of the animals i have owned in the past and present. and since most get mites in one of two ways, 1 Live Feeders from pet stores, or 2 incoming animals that had them before purchase, having this stuff will help from them spreading throughout your house and your collections.

I was personally effected by the Pet store infestation from live feeders, and my collection at that time was very large and very varied, costing me a ton in rectifying the problem, it took a lot of time and a lot of money, that is when i started using Prevent-a-mite as a preventative, not a treatment, and i have never had the issue with my animals again. Knock on Wood!