What's the worst that could happen?

[Pythonfriend]

why use bleach anyway?

that would be my question, why is everyone using bleach? Bleach here, bleach there, i dont get it.

Yeah, its a powerful disinfectant with the ability to kill all known lifeforms. But it also attacks plastics, and when a plastic surface is chemically attacked or corroded, toxins can get out of the plastic no matter how long you wash it afterwards.

i recommend the method of disinfection we use for the plates and forks and spoons and knives we use, and even for baby bottles. Hot water with some dishwashing liquid followed by cold clean water. If its good enough to disinfect milk bottles for our own babies, why shouldnt that be enough for our snakes? The heat does the disinfection, and a bit of dishwasher unlike bleach cannot hurt my snake and also cannot eat my hand off.

Also, no bacteria or virus can survive for long on a clean and dry and smooth surface. So you can just take your tubs and water bowls outside, blast them clean with cold water at high pressure, let the stuff dry, let it rest for a few days, and for all practical purposes its clean. not sterile because new bacteria arrive being carried through the air, but clean enough to rule out any transmission from one snake to another. So why even use bleach? Why not get the stuff used for antibacterial and antiviral disinfection on human hands? or medicinal alcohol, which quickly evaporates? or a hydrogen peroxide solution, which also quickly evaporates?

People try so hard to keep their snakes absolutely sterile, reaching for the most agressive cleaning products, and then feed them living or dead rhodents. Uncooked. Not deep-fried, sometimes deep-frozen. Containing some poop, among other things. Anyone else see a contradiction here?