Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a question. Here's the story. I have a collection of about 100 snakes. I am really anal about cleaning procedures. I currently spot clean daily, change water daily, and sterilize weekly with a quaternary ammonium solution called kennel sol. That product was recommended to me by my vet. He had me switch from Chlorhexidine (Nolvasan) since, he said, kennel sol kills a broader spectrum of bacteria, parasites, and so on and so forth.

Anyway, more to the point... It would save a ton of time to purchase twice as many tubs for racks as I currently have and simply switch out the tubs weekly. Then, I could clean all the used tubs and sterilize them at once rather than having to clean only a few at a time while the snake is in another holding tub. Then, the next week, I would have a supply of fresh tubs ready to be switched out for the now-soiled ones. The drawback is that I would be putting the snake in a tub that was previously used by another snake, bringing in the possibility of cross-contamination between animals. Here are the main questions:

1) What does everyone think about quaternary ammonium products - Are they effective enough? Are there better quaternary ammonium products than what I am using?
2) I've heard people go back and forth on whether quaternary ammonium products have to be rinsed or just dried/wiped off. Am I wasting my time to be rinsing all my tubs, or should I keep doing it?
3) Is the idea about rotating tubs going to cause a potential problem, or is there a way (assuming what I'm doing isn't good enough) to sterilize them to the point that cross-contamination won't be an issue? (Of course, I have no active problems in my collection, but I still want to be careful just in case.)
4) Any other thoughts?

Thanks for taking the time to read this really long post. I will really appreciate any and all responses. Thanks, and take care...

Wow, 100 snakes.. I"m envious

Some things to consider...

We are only talking about your "collection". Quarantined animals yet to enter your collection are always seperate, out of the loop, and do not have their tubs in general circulation.

Quatsyl has a similar range of effectiveness as chlorhexadine, but does out compete it when it comes to virus' and some parasites. (coccidia is a big one I believe). It definately has to be rinsed well. While chlorhexadine is used as a surgical scrub with direct skin contact, quatsyl is strictly a surface antiseptic. No animal contact.

If it suites what you are looking for, I'd use chlorhexadine for spot cleaning and quatsyl for cage cleaning and quarantine animals.

For your rotating enclosure idea, and since you have such a vast collection, perhaps consider getting a steam cleaner. Ask about it as it was discussed on the venomous forums a while back (they arn't commonly available in Canada so I have little info). The idea is that you actually get sterile conditions, thus animal exposure via a new tub isn't a reality.

Good luck with your snakes

Ian

Kudos to your attitude to keep things clean

I use Quatsyl at home (and work), in addition to a 1:30 bleach solution for quarantine animals (smelly, but does the job). At work we never rinse Quatsyl, but we're working with cats and dogs, much larger than most herps. At home I always rinse the Quatsyl and rinse and air dry the bleach. All of these products have fumes that may not be irritating to us, but to smaller animals could be dangerous.

I have never heard of Kennel-Sol, but quaternary ammonium compounds are all pretty similar. I do not know whether one is better than the other, but if your vet suggested it then it's probably pretty reliable.

What is very useful and I suggest you print out and keep handy is a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on your Kennel-Sol, here it is as a PDF from the company: http://www.alphatechpet.com/literature/kensolmsd.pdf
It contains info on hazardous ingredients and what to do if it comes in contact with eyes, skin, if it's ingested, etc...

Christina