Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a couple of husbandry questions on different topics. I'd appreciate any guidance that folks could give on any of them.

1. I've been using something called "Healthy Habitat" for some cleaning purposes. This spray is made by a company called "Natural Chemistry." This is one of those sprays that's advertised as 100% natural and safe to spray in the cage while a snake is in the cage. First, has anyone used this product? Are there any good or bad reviews?

My real question is whether I can reuse the bottle for misting the cage. I emptied one bottle about a month ago, and I've rinsed it many times. I've also filled the bottle and squirted an entire bottle of water through the spray mechanism several times. The stuff was supposed to safe to spray in the cage as it was. I've now rinsed the bottle enough that any remaining ingredients should be very dilute if present at all. Would anyone be afraid of using the bottle for misting? I've not yet found another bottle that I like for misting.

2. How quickly does ball python feces dry in a cage with a humidity around 40 to 50 percent? Tonight, I found where my ball python had defecated in her cage. The feces felt dry as if it had been in the cage for a while. However, I'm certain that it wasn't there Saturday night and almost certain that it wasn't there last night. If the feces dry quickly, then she could have dropped it today while I was at work. If feces dry slowly, then I probably missed seeing this stuff all day yesterday. I'd hate to think that I left it in the cage for two days.

3. Does anyone else use chlorhexidine solution for cage cleaning. I'm moving towards this cleaner and away from the Healthy Habitat. I'm trying to use this stuff to clean water bowls. I remove the old water every couple of days, spray the stuff over the interior surfaces of the bowl, and rinse with water again before refilling the bowl. Will this cleaning be effective? Is there any danger to my snakes? I've read that they use this stuff for oral surgery on snakes. If that claim is true, I can't imagine that a little bit that escaped being rinsed would hurt my snakes.

Thanks,

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

1. I have never used Healthy Habitat so don't really know whats in it - most cleaning chemicals are fairly inert once they become very diluted, exposed to sunlight and/or dry. Assuming that this was specifically designed for use in animal cages (and therefor fairly safe) and you have thouroughly cleaned and dried the bottle and spraying apparatus then I don't see as there could be any major problem - it's a judgement call - I found a really great little sprayer at Savon for $1.00 has a great fine mist bought one for my GTP cage and three for the snake room.

2. A day or two - depending - haven't really thought about it - we clean out cages every day - they are fairly dry, some aren't.

3. Yes we are using chlorhexidine now - should do the job on the water bowl - remember to let it sit for 5 minutes before cleaning it off. Yes it's used in the mouth and for wounds - shouldn't have any problems with snake ingesting a little of it.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

Thanks for the answers.

I don't know whether we have a Savon around here. I wouldn't mind paying for a sprayer, but I liked this bottle so much when I was using to spray the Healthy Habitat that I wanted to convert it to misting use. I think one of the things that I like most about it is good capacity. I can wet everything very well without having to return to the kitchen to refill the sprayer.

I'm encouraged to think that your ball pythons produce a fairly dry feces most of the time. I was pretty upset with myself at the thought that I might have left something in her cage for more than a day. I don't find every little urate pellet, but I try to clean all feces within half a day of her having a bowel movement.

I'll have to modify my technique to let the bowl sit for five minutes. I don't like the thought of bleaching the bowl very often for fear that I won't always remove all of the bleach. The chlorhexidine will allow me to get better cleaning more frequently without running that danger.

One of the things that struck me when I was cleaning bowls the other night was what my real answer should be to how I'd invest big money in my snakes. If I had really big money to invest in snakes, I'd buy a new house with a custom snake room. That room would include an industrial-sized sink with plenty of room for cleaning cage stuff. That little addition would make snake keeping more fun than any other investment that I could make right now.

Thanks,

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.