Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Another duh question from a newbie. Is the use of Virason or something comparable ok for Drys or should soap and water be the only thing used? I have some confliciting info saying you should never use any chemicals because these snakes are ultra sensitive..

thanks guys..

Virosan, better known as Chlorhexidine, is a great supplemental enclosure disinfectant and quite safe to boot, as it can also be used to clean dermal anomalies and oral stomatitis, just to name a couple extra uses, and I have used it on a variety of amphibians to no ill effect. You may wish to search for it under the name Chlorhexidine, as you can obtain it for much less in generic form and it is just as effective as the brand name offered by Fort Dodge. Valley Vet has it listed within their online catalog, should you need an easy reference.

Good luck,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Thanks Jeff for all the info..I use soap and a splash of bleach on my kings,rosys and other colubrids..I was told not to do that either!!

I love this forum!!!!

As long as you pay close attention at thoroughly rinsing and drying the cage, you'll be fine. I have been using a product called Quatricide PV from Pharmacal for many years w/out any ill effect on Indigos. Also, good 'ol Nolvasan is great too (diluted of course).

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>Thanks Jeff for all the info..I use soap and a splash of bleach on my kings,rosys and other colubrids..I was told not to do that either!!
>>
>>I love this forum!!!!
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

The best disinfectant for a cage is 1% chlorine bleach neutralized to a pH of about 6.5

Unfortunately, I have known more than one individual who has killed a Drymarchon using diluted bleach to clean their enclosure and I consider the use of bleach to be "old school". I have been keeping Drys for well over 20 years now, quite a few to boot, and have never incurred a problem using Chlorhexidine for enclosure maintenance.
In conjunction with Chlorhexidine, I use a quality steam cleaner, sorry those little scunci units just don't have the heating element required to do the job.
The nice thing about Chlorhexidine is you do not need to rinse teh enclosure after use and the fumes will not harm you, or your collection.
On a side note, my wife works within the Pediatrics Infectious Diseaese Research Department of Arkansas Children's Hospital. Several years ago they abolished the use of bleach throughout their facility, opting to use Chlorhexidine and an alcohol-based disinfectant known as Viraguard.

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

The microbiology lab I worked at did dozens of studies on the disinfectant potential for hundreds of different products and varyiny cocentrations of them. Bleach out performed ALL forms of disinfectants. By the way, chlorine is the active inredient in the disinfectant you are promoting, and is also in the pool you swim in, and the water you drink.

Chlorine does not kill Crypto.
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Bear in mind, it’s not a one-step process. I believe most of the commonly-used disinfectants will not be effective in the presence of a lot of organic debris. So don’t poo-poo (so to speak) your good old soap and water. A standard protocol is to first remove as much organic debris as possible by scraping or wiping up. Then wash with soap and rinse with water. Then apply whatever disinfectant you’ve chosen. My choice is Nolvasan.

-Joan

>>Another duh question from a newbie. Is the use of Virason or something comparable ok for Drys or should soap and water be the only thing used? I have some confliciting info saying you should never use any chemicals because these snakes are ultra sensitive..
>>
>>thanks guys..

Nolvasan also contains chlorine.

Nolvasan is a “brand” name for Chlorhexidine, as distributed by Wyeth and Ft. Dodge Pharmaceuticals. You can obtain it for about 50% less in the generic form, without sacrificing efficacy.
While Chlorine and Chloramines may be present within most municipal water supplies and public pools, there is some valuable European literature regarding the negative impact such chemicals have upon hereptofauna. I actually treat drinking water, for my animals, with a product known as AmQuel, which removes chlorine and chloramines.
Copperhead, you indicated you “used” to work within a bio research lab, I would have to ask how long ago that was, as my wife is “currently” conducting research within a secure infectious disease laboratory, where they work with some truly nasty pathogens, and as I indicated earlier, they have abolished the use of bleach, due to the physical and environmental hazards it has been known to cause. I too, have abolished the use of such within my lab as well, due primarily to the findings of the ID lab my wife works within.
Bleach may be effective, but in light of newer, safer and equally effective products, I still feel as though the use of such is “old-school”.
Also, as Bill has indicated, Chlorine is useless in the fight against Cryptosporidia serpentis, as only ammonia, UV radiation and heat are known to be effective in the fight against such.
All in all, I really do not believe there is a single correct way to properly clean and disinfect enclosures and I know a lot of folks still use bleach, to no ill effect, but there are safer and equally effective ways to accomplish such…

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947