cage cleaning

[Damian7]

It's almost time for my first full cage cleaning and I was wondering if some of you guys who have glass vivs could share some tips on cleaning and disinfecting. Some of the things I would like to know are what you use obviously and where you do it (kitchen, bathroom, back yard etc.) I made the mistake of adhering a UTH right to the bottom of the tank which I now think probably wasn't the best idea, So if anyone has done this before how did you go about cleaning with the uth still attached. Another thing where do you put your snake while your cleaning. Generally how long does it take? Heres one how do you get all the substrate out such as cypress mulch? Sorry for so many questions but I want to make sure I tackle this project with a boat load of knowledge.
TIA, Domenic

[Shelby]

Ok. Put the snake in some sort of container.. either a plastic one with a couple of holes in it or even a pillow case is fine. Take all the decorations out and dump all the substrate into a garbage can. The uth on the bottom shouldn't be a problem. You don't have to disinfect the outside of the cage.

I use chlorhexadine. You can get this stuff from Matt http://www.mgreptiles.com/ For now use a 1:10 bleach water solution. Make sure you rinse it out REAL well. Stick the tank in your bathtub and run some hot water and a little soap in there. Scrub it down and rinse it out. Then spray some bleach solution on the inside of it and let it set for 15 minutes. Soak your water bowls and hides in bleach solution too. After the 15 minutes, rinse, rinse, rinse!

You should disinfect your water bowl weekly. Cage disinfection needs only to be done about 4 times a year, but change your whole substrate at least monthly, and pick out poop and urates as you see them. When you change substrate at least scrub the tank with soapy water.

Since I use newspaper as substrate, I scrub tubs and change substrate weekly. I use disposable water bowls so I don't have to disinfect and scrub those weekly.

[Smulkin]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....&name=Sections

I think JamminJonah's "Cleaning 101" is still in the FAQ section as well.

[cassandra]

Awesome information, thanks guys! =)

[Damian7]

Great info and thanks guys. Another question though. How can I clean things like the Habba hut hide and a piece of driftwood? I wouldn't want to actually soak these things...would I?

[Shelby]

If it's plastic, soak it, if it's wood you can bake it in the oven for awhile (not sure on temps and duration.. someone else will know)