Disinfecting and cleaning

[WtGreg]

I cannot find the original article that says the types affected, but found some examples of some that are:
PETE PVC and PS are resistant, but prolonged exposure will have negative effects. PC is not good with alcohol. PMMA (acrylic) is not good with alcohol according to most sources other than personal experience.

If you spray a plastic and there is a 'film' or 'residue' left after wards (something I have seen many times) that is "leaching the plasticiser out of the plastic piece." the best example is the film on car windows that develops as the sun causes the dash to break down. The ineviatble cracking is the result, so same thing (cracking) will be the result of use on affected plastics.
This film is what I meant as the reason for letting dry and cleaning once more with water, you are cleaning that off, but further it is a sign the alcohol negatively reacted with plastic.

I don't think it does. I think you're thinking of ammonia which is hard on acrylic plastics because it can cause the material to shrink and crack. Alcohol is actually a recommended cleaner of polycarbonate plastics.

I was thinking of alcohol on acrylic. I work with it alot. Just google "alcohol and acrylic plastic"

All this info and more can be found on a Google Search. I'ld post links to some I found, but dunno that BP.net wants outside links posted, so you will have to check for yourself.

[Coleslaw007]

I personally use dish soap and just scrub well with a brush and a scrubber pad on water dishes and hides, which I clean once per week unless they get gross faster. I use the antibacterial Palmolive that uses lactic acid and I replace the scrubber pad and brush frequently. If there was anything nasty on a hide I'll dry it and spray it with F10 and let it sit and I periodically, once a month or two, spray all water dishes and hides down with F10 after washing.

[Samii]

You can do whatever you want, but you don't need nearly that much. 1/4cup of bleach per gallon is enough. 1/6 part bleach would be like 10cups of bleach per gallon. Once again, do as you please, but you could save some money by using less bleach. Also make sure you rinse well, thats a high concentration of bleach.

Thanks, but It's really not that much when I do it. I have a spray bottle that I do it in, and one mix lasts me like 6 months. I shake it before every use, then empty the cage, spray everything down, let it sit for 15 minutes, then wipe down. After that I rinse it all down until the smell of bleach is basically gone. So far I've had no problems!

[kitedemon]

Thanks, but It's really not that much when I do it. I have a spray bottle that I do it in, and one mix lasts me like 6 months. I shake it before every use, then empty the cage, spray everything down, let it sit for 15 minutes, then wipe down. After that I rinse it all down until the smell of bleach is basically gone. So far I've had no problems!

I am going to point out an issue. Bleach is quite unstable, once diluted it only remains effective for 24 hours and less if it is not in an opaque bottle. There is a reason bleach bottles are always solid white. mix what you need and use it and discard the left overs. Once a bleach bottle is opened and exposed to air (especially used 1/2 down) it is only good for 6 months.

This is true of many (chlorahexadine) different times but basically unstable. The biggest advantage of F10, the stability it is stable diluted for 6 months.
ref.
http://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.ed...ach-update.pdf
http://weill.cornell.edu/ehs/forms_a...al_safety.html

[jclaiborne]

Ok I am a total noob here but after reading this I'm a little confused. the reptile store I got my supplies from told me not to use any soap or cleaner and to just scrub using hot water and to wipe down the cage with a damp cloth?? Should I be cleaning the bowls and hides weekly with a cleaner or?

[whispersinmyhead]

Another thing to consider is contact times. F10 is part of the QUAT group of disinfectants. They require a 10 minute contact time (wet time). Bleach requires 20 minute wet contact time. Also the QUAT group kills more bacteria etc. it is also way safer than bleach. Diluted it doesn't require rinsing though I would definitely wipe dry. I rinse water bowls out just to be extra safe.

I use a cheaper QUAT called Simple green D-Pro 3. This is a disinfectant with a mild detergent with mild herbal scent. (Simple Green D-PRO 5 is just disinfectant with no scent). I find it works very well as a one step solution. The downside is once mixed it only lasts about a week before it loses it effectiveness. Now I mix a 32oz spray bottle weekly. Only need 15ml for deep clean and disinfectant. You can use 10ml for everyday cleaning but I just use 15 because its so cheap. I bought it at Canadian tire for $15 two years ago and haven't even used half! I used it on a large enclosure with lots of decore. It was a 4'x2'x2' cage. Now that I have a rack for BP's and no beardie I use less because there is no decore. Just a hide and water dish. I know Coccidea was a big issue with beardies and a rough thing to kill. Bleach wouldn't even kill it but apparently all the QUAT disinfectants do. They are hospital grade.

Highly recommend f10 or any of the QUAT disinfectants. Just make sure that you use a soap to clean before disinfecting if you don't use a combo like simple green. Side note: I clean and scrub with simple green and then spray simple green again to disinfect. I find I usually have to re-apply every 5 minutes in order to keep the surface wet. This is how I do things and thee are probably better ways. This works for me.

[bcr229]

Ok I am a total noob here but after reading this I'm a little confused. the reptile store I got my supplies from told me not to use any soap or cleaner and to just scrub using hot water and to wipe down the cage with a damp cloth?? Should I be cleaning the bowls and hides weekly with a cleaner or?

People tend to go overboard when using cleaning chemicals, and many of them can make your snake very sick or kill it if it's not completely rinsed away.

I put plastic hides, water bowls, etc. through the dishwasher to clean them. The few wooden hides I have are cleaned in a mild dish soap solution, rinsed well, and then baked in an oven at 180*F for 20 minutes to kill nasties, as any harsh chemicals used on them would be difficult to rinse off since wood is porous.

Don't laugh, I've found that non-alcohol based unscented baby wipes are great for spot-cleaning the tubs. Once done spray with water and wipe with a paper towel.

[jclaiborne]

People tend to go overboard when using cleaning chemicals, and many of them can make your snake very sick or kill it if it's not completely rinsed away.

I put plastic hides, water bowls, etc. through the dishwasher to clean them. The few wooden hides I have are cleaned in a mild dish soap solution, rinsed well, and then baked in an oven at 180*F for 20 minutes to kill nasties, as any harsh chemicals used on them would be difficult to rinse off since wood is porous.

Don't laugh, I've found that non-alcohol based unscented baby wipes are great for spot-cleaning the tubs. Once done spray with water and wipe with a paper towel.

Thanks for the input, I have a wood hide and branches in my corns tank and plastic in the baby balls, I will give the wood a try in the oven, should the cleaning be done once a week?

[kitedemon]

There is cleaning which you are speaking of, I use soap and water. I clean water bowls for example every 3 days (when I replace all the water, the rest of the time I top it up unless it is fouled) If a bowl has junk in it (substrate or pee/poo or feels slimy) I clean it and then disinfect it. I personally use F10 but there is a whole range of disinfectants.

Cleaning should be done as needed, and soap water is the easiest some choose detergents I also use baby wipes they are simple and easy.

Disinfecting is different. It is the treatment of surfaces to kill bacteria, virus, spores, moulds, and fungus. Many choose to do a 'deep' cleaning (full scrub all surfaces and disinfect) once a month or longer. I personally do every two regardless and if it smells anything other than substrate sooner. In between I spot clean and/or surface wipe with water or wipe. Water bowls tend to grow things so they get a more frequent deep clean weekly, and just a regular cleaning in between.

[whispersinmyhead]

I agree with Kitedemon. Water bowls I get a little more anal about. I do a full disinfect once a month or some times every other month. That is when where I make sure all surfaces get that 10 minute contact time. Other than that I mix a new bottle of cleaner weekly and spot clean. I like the sime green only because I know the detergent is mild and it works well. I usually just spray it on paper towel to spot clean. I hated using bleach because I always worried I didn't rinse it well enough (paranoid). I love havingthe spray bottle for spot cleaning because it just saves me time. I used baby wipes all the time with my beardie because I used tile for substrate. For the snakes I find them much cleaner and really just replace soiled spot/area of substrate. I do spray and wipe the surface below too.

Water gets replaced every 2-3 days and give them a quick wash amd rinse. I disinfect water bowls weekly. I actually spend very little time in maintanence when I think about it. I only have three and only an on 6-8 as permanent pets.