Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does diluted chlorhexadine have a shelf life - i.e., how long will the solution in my sprayer stay effective?

deg

It's best to call the manufacturer (should be a number on the bottle). Myself, and the vet I talked too can't reason why it would have a decreased shelf life from the concentrate, but another tech seems to remember certain products (namely quatsyl, no one knew chlorh. specifically) had to be discarded daily. As dilutions age, it was stated to leave in contact with the surface to be cleaned for a longer time.

Not much help but some ideas anyways,... again, I'd call the manufacturer.

Ian

>>It's best to call the manufacturer

The manufacturer will just tell you that you should only use distilled water to dilute Nolvasan. Tap water is full of metals and compounds that they can only assume with reduce its shelf life. I know I've used diluted Nolvasan that was a month or so old, but that is with something that wasn't crucial to be disinfected. Usually if something truly needed to be cleaned (from a sick animal) it went in the bleach. My advice: don't mix anymore than what you know you can use, otherwise, don't worry about it.
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Good information for all. I found a small spray bottle to keep my mixed Novalsan in--thus I make it up more often and it doesn't tend to sit.

In terms of bleach: once you mix a bleach and water solution, it must be used within 24 hours or it's disinfecting properties become inactive.

rgds,
althea

How would the chlorine be neutralized in water? Chlorine is used specifically in water treatment because one of its properties is that it will maintain its residual effects in water lines for weeks if not months. Just curious where you heard this.

Kelly

Kelly - my understanding is that it will be deactivated by exposure to light, but if kept in an opaque container it should be ok. Have no source to cite...