What Disinfectant Do You Prefer For Tubs

Thinking of switching to Chlorhexidine or F10 for disinfecting my tubs. What do you guys use/prefer and why? Are any of you able to get either of these (or something comperable) locally? I think I'm leaning towards ordering Chlorhexidine off of Amazon now, but would love to find something I can pickup locally if/when necessary.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Depends on where locally is. I found some at a livestock supply store.

I get my chlorhex from rich at reptile basics. Have not tried to get it locally tho. You might be able to get some from you vet hosp.

I use F10 sc xd and F10 sc mostly due to its diluted life (6 months) and its effect against virus and gram pos and neg bacteria. CHD or CHG works too the diluted stability is quite a lot lower. There are a few off the shelf products the most common is bleach diluted 1:10 solution it needs to be washed off completely before contact with reptiles.

I've been using F10 and love it. I ordered from Pro Exotics as I like supporting people in the hobby/business.

I use f10, you can get it from Reptile Basics. A bottle goes a long way, because it gets so diluted. And its safe to put animals back in when dry, with out having to rinse anything off ( I do rinse the water bowl though, when I use it in there). Each poo, I spray a paper towel with it and wipe down tub. Let dry and put water bowl, and clean paper towels back in. Wipe down hide too if it got yucky. Then every couple weeks, everything gets a thorough spray/soak down.

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Thanks op for this post I've been wondering what other people use as well.
I'll have to check these out myself.

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I currently use Chloraheidine, but am looking into importing F10 by the case because its nearly impossible to get in Canada!

Personally I have never seen any of the scxd the cleanser that is recommended to use before the disinfectant available in Canada or the US so i would suggest ordering from John Berry anyway Mel and John are great to deal with! I really like the hand sanitizer and hand soap as well.

Thanks guys. I meant locally as in somewhere common (i.e. Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart...) I currently use a 1:10 Bleach solution, but would rather use something safer.

I do like the idea of a 6 month diluted shelf life though. That alone might push me over to the F10 camp. From what I've read, the Chlorhexidine should be used within a week of mixing... And I don't think the Bleach solution is much better.

I've been using natures miracle sanitation spray, I spray it and wipe the bin really clean then clean it again with water. I'm never knew people used such harsh chemicals, I wouldn't be able to do that because of my cockatoo.

10% bleach solution - easy, cheap, effective, and you can pick up a bottle of bleach anywhere

I get the Chlorahexidine from amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i01

The same seller also offers a generic pump for it, which I find helpful when making the solution in a spray bottle. I like it. I use it for my reptile tubs AND my ASF rat tubs.

I prefer to use this than bleach to disinfect because the ammonia in the rat urine mixing with bleach can be bad news. Probably not a problem, but when they mix together they have the potential to create chlorine gas-- a chemical weapon in WW1. I doubt that there is a high enough content of either chemical to cause a reaction, especially if you rinse your tubs well.

BUT you don't have to rinse after using chlorahexidine, its not toxic to the snakes in its diluted state, and it does the same job.

The only issue with bleach is its toxicity for reptiles. It is very effective, has a reasonable contact time (10-15 min) The downside is it is critical to keep it away from all reptiles (birds too I believe) spraying it can also be an issue for humans too. All traces needs to washed away a few hours in strong uv can also help but not always practical.

Hot water and Dawn dish soap

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Originally Posted by FoxReptiles

Thanks guys. I meant locally as in somewhere common (i.e. Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart...) I currently use a 1:10 Bleach solution, but would rather use something safer.

I do like the idea of a 6 month diluted shelf life though. That alone might push me over to the F10 camp. From what I've read, the Chlorhexidine should be used within a week of mixing... And I don't think the Bleach solution is much better.

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Bleach solutions need to be used within 24 hours.

Just a side note, regardless of what type of disinfectant is used, it should be applied after the tub has been scrubbed & is free of urates, feces, substrate, paper, etc. Disinfectants shouldn't be expected to do double duty as detergents & remove all the regular "cage guck" that soils the surface of a tub. Scrub first, then disinfect (lather/rinse/repeat as needed) for optimum results. :)

F10

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

The only issue with bleach is its toxicity for reptiles. It is very effective, has a reasonable contact time (10-15 min) The downside is it is critical to keep it away from all reptiles (birds too I believe) spraying it can also be an issue for humans too. All traces needs to washed away a few hours in strong uv can also help but not always practical.

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Any cleaner with a scent is dangerous to parrots, the smell must be completely gone and any residue can be potentially lethal.

For any parrot owners on the forum. I use the natures miracle sanitation spray in the tub when I'm cleaning it really good outside of my room(where my galahs cage is), and when I clean it in my room I use natures miracle cage and aviary. After using it I always go over with a water mister and wipe it down again to get off any residue. I'm still careful and keep my bedroom window open to allow fresh air in.

I use 2% Chlorhexidine and I love it.

What do you guys think of steam cleaners?

Ive been thinking of getting one...

If chlorhexidine scrub is good enough to be involved in prepping skin for surgery, it's probably pretty good for sterilizing tubs as well! +1 for chlorhex

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Originally Posted by copperarabian

Any cleaner with a scent is dangerous to parrots, the smell must be completely gone and any residue can be potentially lethal.

For any parrot owners on the forum. I use the natures miracle sanitation spray in the tub when I'm cleaning it really good outside of my room(where my galahs cage is), and when I clean it in my room I use natures miracle cage and aviary. After using it I always go over with a water mister and wipe it down again to get off any residue. I'm still careful and keep my bedroom window open to allow fresh air in.

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F10 has been tested with birds too. The EU tested it to be non toxic, they have been testing F10 sc (NOT scXD!!!) against circovirus (nebulization treatment) in conjunction with drugs. The fact there was not a large kill proves it is a safe disinfectant around birds. Unlike bleach.
http://www.f10biocare.co.uk/F10factsissue2.pdf
http://www.f10biocare.co.uk/articles.html

As pointed out CHD (CHG) are not a very stable compound. If mixed with tap water the kept life is only 1 week, distilled water mixing is longer 6 weeks. There also was a comment about bleach liberating chlorine gas. Yes this is true, but as a disinfectant this should NEVER happen bleach is not stable with organic compounds and starts to break down... (remember the chlorine gas? chlorine gas is not disinfecting the tub...) as with ALL the mentioned disinfectants they are not soap. They all only work on CLEAN surfaces that means soap and water first rinsed then disinfectant and the correct contact time. The only reasonable way you know it is working is to follow the instructions very carefully. Surfaces must be clean and free of organic debris.

Steam is very effective disinfectant. The problem is many steamers allow the steam to cool before it exits the steamer. I have a couple one (shark) is very poor the temp out of the end is 160 and ideally it should be in the 200-300º range. The second one is often 300º+ it has no hose just a pointed end and is toted as a disinfecting tool not just a steamer. I get regular first degree burns from it trying to manoeuvre it into tight spaces. Care must be used with glass too!!

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