Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone tell me the best way to clean out my ball's 10-gallon tank? I've heard you should disinfect it, but I dont know if any chemicals can be hurtful to my snake. Can I just use regular dish soap or some of those clorox wipes?

I have never used anything but warm water and dish soap.. I figure if it works for your dinner plates it should work for your fishtank.. It's cheap and there is no chance of poisining your snake...

~ Mike

I use a spray bottle with aproximately 5% bleach mixed with water and just a drop or two of dishwashing liquid. Spray the tank, scrub it clean and then rinse it, thoroughly, with plain water.

Sometimes the bleach vapors can get trapped in the tank so make sure it's odorless before putting your snake back in. A fan blowing into it for just a couple of minutes will take care of it if its needed.

Have a good one!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

I use Clorahex for everything. It comes in gallon - 5 gallon jugs and just needs to be diluted. I spray it directly in their water dishes and just rinse them out. The great thing about it is it kills everything but is completley harmless to your animals. You can spray it directly in their mouths to fight mouth rot and it works wonders. It is kind of like mouthwash, only i wouldnt recommed using as a mouthwash for your self We have been using it for years with alot of species and never had a problem with it. We just dilute it and put it in a spray bottle and you are good to go..
KIm

I was given a mouth-rinse by my dentist that is a chlorhex solution plus some minty taste . Downside is it will darken your teeth if used for a long time.

Chlorhexidine is great for disinfecting, as are bleach solution (usually 10%), dish soap, or even vinegar. The trick with all but the Chlorhex is to leave it set for 10 minutes or so before rinsing to give it time to kill germs etc. With Clorhex there's no need to rinse. Chlorhex is the safest product, in my opinion, and is not very costly if you buy by the gallon and dilute it as recommended (2T per gallon of water).

Cheryl

We use Roccal-D diluted with water. It comes in one gallon jugs and that one gallon is so concentrated that it will last you the rest of your life. I keep a diluted solution of it in a spray bottle in the snake room. Just spray down whatever is you want to clean and disinfect, scrub, or wipe the container out and rinse with clean clear water, let air dry or fan dry if you are in a hurry. Here's the URL for the pfizer info page:
http://www.pfizerah.com/product_overview.asp?drug=RP&country=US&Lang=EN&species=FL

Kelly
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1.0 CB Boyfriend (Gregory)
1.1 Burmese (Gravity, Niran (turns out hes a she!)
1.1 Albino Burm (Rodimus, Typhoid Mary)
5.9 Ball python(too many to list)
1.0 Green tree Python (Scotty Don't)
1.0 Amazon Tree Boa (BigE)
0.1 Hog Island (Jane)
0.1 Nic red tail (Bonita)
1.1 Central Amer. Red tails(Pugsy, Odessa)
0.1 Ambon Retic(marilyn)
4.3 King snakes (various phases)
1.2 Rat snakes
1.1 Blood Pythons(Taint, Dee)
2.4 Leopard Geckos
2.0 dumb-estic cats (nugget & pedro)
1.0 Pit Bull (joker)
0.1 Jack russell/chihuahua (Harley)
1.0 MinPin (Bishop)