cleaning

[amandajf]

I have tons and tons of bettas so I use the dishwasher in the jars and ten gallon tanks. I'll use the same for my bp's 10g. Once she grows into the 29, we'll do it the way we use for our bigger tanks.

drag the tank into the tub, get a dish scrubber where you can prefill soap into it and scrub like mad. then we use our hosed shower head set to scalding and rinse thorough. once dry, we check to make sure it's perfect and if not, scrub down again. We also have a shark steamer to use on funky containers to kill bacteria.

[otiswest]

Thanks, Corvid. I'm only about 20 min. from Parker, so maybe I'll check it out. I have several animal hospitals as clients, so I was thinking of asking one of them. They may just give me some since they really like us. Since you're local, you understand our lack of humidity. I have recently put a humidifier in the room with my snakes to try to keep the enclosure humidity at around 50%. From what I can tell, that is the "suggested" level, approaching 60% during shed. Do you have any thoughts/suggestions.

[JeffJ]

I use that Clorox green cleaner. its all natural smells great and does a good job.

[Corvid]

Thanks, Corvid. I'm only about 20 min. from Parker, so maybe I'll check it out. I have several animal hospitals as clients, so I was thinking of asking one of them. They may just give me some since they really like us. Since you're local, you understand our lack of humidity. I have recently put a humidifier in the room with my snakes to try to keep the enclosure humidity at around 50%. From what I can tell, that is the "suggested" level, approaching 60% during shed. Do you have any thoughts/suggestions.

You bet I understand the humidity woes here in Colorado!
What type of enclosures do you have? A humidifier could help, but it boils down to your enclosures. And substrate. I had been using CareFresh bedding which holds humidity in GREAT, but because I got more snakes and bigger areas I needed to switch to a substrate that was more cost effective, So I switched to Aspen and am struggling, but am slowly but surely getting it under control.

[Repsrul]

I use a mixture of a few different soaps and peroxide. It works very well. This concoction can also be used to treat mites on lizards. Just soak them on it and clean the enclosure with it and it will take care of the mites.

[otiswest]

I am using standard glass terrarriums (20 gal. - long) and am using a fir bark chips substrate. I started out using a combination of fir bark/tropical soil, but the tropical soil was still moist almost a week after I first wet it, and was still very moist under water dish. So now I am just using the bark chips because that stale moisture is breeding ground for bacteria. What have you heard from other BP owners in CO about ideal humidity levels? The ambient humidity, without any assistance, at my house is around 45%. I can get it up to 55 - 60%, but if the humidifier runs out of water at night or while I'm at work, then it drops down to the mid-40's quickly. I am very concerned that the fluctuations in humidity levels might be bad for my snakes. They are eating and pooping healthy, so I guess I should feel good about that. Tell me about your experiences with humidity levels. P.S.- I'm going caveing for a couple of days so I'll check your response Sun. night. Thanks!

[Mitch21]

I use a Mr. Clean antibacterial spray then rinse thoroughly. Been using it for almost a year and everything is good.

[pavlovk1025]

I use the Clorox Green Works cleaner that someone else mentioned. I spray down the tub, wipe it out and stick it in the bathtub for a scalding hot rinse. :shrug: Works for me.

[Corvid]

The humidity in your house is pretty good! I seem to be around 25-30% in my house... Personally, I try to keep the snake's humidity around 50-60% I have perfect sheds and stools that way. I've had fluctuations of humidity, and haven't seen many problems, however I'm sure it's not ideal to have the huge changes constantly.
One thing I forgot to mention, if you're getting chlorhex, you want the solution (I think it's 2%) and NOT the scrub. The scrub is soapy and will need to rinse.
One thing I did when I was using aquariums was set them on their sides and made plexi-glass doors for them. The humidity and the temperatures stayed PERFECT with misting about 1x/week. I can get you a picture if you would like.
I think it's a good idea that you got the tropical soil out, I line with newspaper and then lay my substrate on top. It make cleaning easy. Depending on how many snakes you have, you may want to look into carefresh, like I said it holds humidity very well. I have never used fir bark.

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

I use bleach on the tanks.

I do use Chlorhex, too... the vet has given it to me to soak the snakes in when I had one with scale rot. It didn't hurt her.