How long should I let chlorhexadine sit?

[Shelby]

I was just reading an article on anapsid.org about cage cleaning, and they say you should let the disinfectant sit for 15-20 minutes. Well, that's fine and dandy if you have one (or even two) snakes, but how am I supposed to do that with 18 of the boogers.. let alone you with hundreds!

What am I missing here?

[daniel1983]

Good question April....I always just spray and wipe. So if it needs to sit...I have not been cleaning for the last year.

[Shelby]

I usually spray and wipe too.. if I am going to handle the snake I'll spray and leave it, but that's the exception.

[Adam_Wysocki]

There's a HUGE difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Spray and wipe cleans, soaking with disinfectant ... well .... disinfects.

IMO, both are extremely important aspects of captive husbandry.

-adam

[Shelby]

Ok Adam.. how do you 'disinfect' 200+ snake cages? Do you ever sleep?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Do you ever sleep?

No actually, but that has nothing to do with disinfecting.

You have to look at things logically ... For example, what is the likely hood of snakes picking up germs, viruses, or bacteria from the bottom of the cage floor vs. their water bowl?

IMO, water bowls should be disinfected weekly ... I use deli cups instead in order to save time ... this basically is the same as replacing the water bowl each week .... we clean hide boxes weekly, but disinfect them monthly, and cages get cleaned weekly as well, but disinfected in waves .... 10 one week, 10 more a couple of weeks later .... so that every cage is disinfected about once per quarter or so.

Quarantine cages are disinfected weekly, and if a sick or dead animal is found within the collection, once it's isolated it's cage and every cage in it's rack is disinfected that day.

-adam

[Shelby]

Hmm.. ok.

I'm thinking maybe get two water bowls for every snake, and switch them out every week.. disinfect one while I'm using the other. A little more convenient without having to buy deli cups all the time. (some of mine would sabotage deli cups anyway..)

[Adam_Wysocki]

6 in one, half dozen in the other .... the deli cups cost me pennies a piece and I get them shipped directly to my door every other month. I hold them in place with 4" PVC couplers from home depot ... Even my HUGE normal girls never ever tip them over.

When you have 250+ animals, storing an extra 250 water bowl becomes a problem ... also, you still have to soak them each week ... the deli cups get thrown away every 7 days.

-adam

[Shelby]

Well 18 vs 250 is quite a difference.

Out of curiosity, where do you get your deli cups? And what do those PVC things look like?

[mr~python]

You have to look at things logically ... For example, what is the likely hood of snakes picking up germs, viruses, or bacteria from the bottom of the cage floor vs. their water bowl?

i have a quick question about that since it brings up snakes getting stuff from there water bowls. ok, so my mom has gotten into this whole organic/healthy food, etc. since my aunt got cancer. she has a book that says that plastics "leach" toxins or something like that, that release estrigen(sp?), and thats why (my mom, and this book thinks) that its harder for us to produce fertile sperm since plastics were invented. right now im using a small plastic container for zulu's water bowl. would that "leach" any harmful toxins into him that might cause him to have weak or less spirm when i try to breed him? does anybody know? BTW, sorry for getting off subject