Cleaning and Disinfecting Wooden Enclosure

[jb_z28]

Hey guys,

I've been following the forum for a couple weeks, first time posting since I've gotten my female baby BP. (She still doesn't have a name! Open to suggestions.) I came across an ad on Craigslist for a large, (used), hand-made wooden enclosure that came with a heat lamp, half log hide, some grapevine and a couple other things. The owner had mentioned that they used the enclosure for small turtles before they sold them off. I plan on fixing it up a bit, in preparation for my BP when she's of size to live in it. First and foremost, however, I'm looking for some good suggestions for a way to clean out and disinfect the entire enclosure, before proceeding with furnishing. Ideally, a full, thorough decontamination would be best, as I'm a little weary of putting my BP in an enclosure that was inhabited by a different species. I did a little bit of research, but couldn't find much regarding cleaning/disinfecting an entire wooden enclosure, just small wooden hides, branches, and other furnishings of the likes. The pages that did yield results, suggested trying Chlorhexidine. If anyone could provide some insight on the effectiveness of Chlorhexidine, as well as any other suggesting other products, I would greatly appreciate it.

And YES! I do realize that plastic tubs would be much easier. However, the look of the wooden enclosure is very aesthetically pleasing to me, and fits in well with the furniture, and all of that good stuff.

I'll post some pics of the enclosure when I get a chance.

Again, thanks for any and all help!

-Josh

[KMG]

Well you have found the main issue with wood. Chlorhexidine is used by many of use here. As for its use on wood I'm really not sure. As long as you allow the cage to completely dry out it should be fine but I would be concerned later when the time needed to dry it is longer than your snake needs to be outside its house.

I would line it with something water proof on the floor and maybe a bit up the walls to make further cleaning easier. That would also protect the wood from feces and urine soaking into the wood.

The other big issue with wood is the difficulty of using a uth. What's your plans there?

The lamp alone can work but if its mounted inside you are going to need a fine grade write mesh to make a cage to keep your snake from touching it. And remember it needs to be removable to change bulbs. If this is the case I suggest using a che. I have one that has been pumping for over two years at full power 24/7.

[jb_z28]

Well you have found the main issue with wood. Chlorhexidine is used by many of use here. As for its use on wood I'm really not sure. As long as you allow the cage to completely dry out it should be fine but I would be concerned later when the time needed to dry it is longer than your snake needs to be outside its house.

I would line it with something water proof on the floor and maybe a bit up the walls to make further cleaning easier. That would also protect the wood from feces and urine soaking into the wood.

The other big issue with wood is the difficulty of using a uth. What's your plans there?

The lamp alone can work but if its mounted inside you are going to need a fine grade write mesh to make a cage to keep your snake from touching it. And remember it needs to be removable to change bulbs. If this is the case I suggest using a che. I have one that has been pumping for over two years at full power 24/7.

Thanks for such a quick response!

I've prepared a temporary shelter for her when the time comes that I need to clean out the wooden enclosure. I figure she'll be fine in a 20gallon for a little while, with a back up UTH and lamp.

I was thinking of drilling in to the wood and running the cord into the enclosure, with flexwatt and something over that (as you mentioned to protect from urine and feces).

When the enclosure was built, it had two large holes cut out for heating/secondary lighting, and the owner threw in a bunch of fine mesh after I told him this would be for a BP. So bases covered there.

What is a CHE? I'm assuming something to do with bumping up the humidity..?

Again, I appreciate the help!

-Josh

[KMG]

Sorry, a che is a ceramic heat emitter. They cost more than a bulb but when used correctly they last much longer and become cost effective. Just use them with the proper heat fixture and it will work great. I use the wire fixture. The issue is when the wrong fixture is used the heat backs up and burns out the unit.

I don't know what to suggest since I don't know the size of the cage but just like the bulbs they have the recommended cage size on the box.

This link has it for 16 bucks which is outstanding. They are usually 40.
http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Cerami...eating+element

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Wire-C...omed+heat+lamp

[jb_z28]

I should have figured out the acronym, but I haven't yet seen it written as CHE, haha.

The owner said that it's a bit bigger than a 40gal. Maybe somewhere in the 48-53gallon range. I'll have to double check and make sure, though.

And I'll definitely look into the CHE's.

Also, as a way of fixing a cover to the bottom of the enclosure, would hot gluing it down be a viable option? I can't possibly count all of the posts I've seen here and elsewhere that stress, "don't use tape of any kind inside the enclosure." So hot glue popped into my head.

-Josh

[KMG]

The only thing I remember seeing done is laying tile in the cage but I don't like that idea as it is heavy and grout is porous.

If it were me I think I would go with a piece of melamine cut to fit and use a waterproof epoxy to seal the edges with other pieces that extend up the wall an inch or two. This would give you waterproofing and the same resistance on the ugh as we have on our PVC cages. This would also allow for you to easily clean it.

I would not permanently attach it to the floor and instead use a weak bond, maybe hot glue would work. Something that I could easily remove it if need be to change, adjust, or replace the uth. Really if it was cut to fit well enough it may not even need a bonding agent.

[bcr229]

Instead of flexwatt there are heat mats that are sealed, easily cleaned, and can get damp. They do need a t-stat. Big Apple Herp sells the IntelliTemp brand and I have several, they're great in my heavy melamine enclosures where a UTH just can't get the job done because the floor is too thick to transmit heat well.

I would also put some sort of liner on the enclosure floor and partially up the walls like tile, vinyl tile, melamine sheet, etc. to make cleaning easier.

[Gary P]

I just built a wooden cage myself (2ft D x 16in H x 8ft length, it has four sections for four snakes, anywho...) and I lined the interior with corrugated plastic (plastic cardboard). It's made our of polypropylene which is the same basic plastic many reptile cages are made out of. Super easy to clean and disinfect the inside of each enclosure.

I used indoor/outdoor carpet glue to stick it to the wood. And used silicone to water proof all the corners. Looks real nice and is holding up really good. And it is slightly insulated since it has the air space inside of it so it helps with heat and humidity. You'll have to wait at least a week for the smells of the glue and silicone to go away though, that's the only bad thing. The plus side is building an awesome cage that houses 4 adult BP's for about 230 bucks.

I would think the wood inside the cage would kind of suck the humidity away if it wasn't covered with something.