Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Which do you use for cleaning? Which do you think is better?

I use plain water for most cleaning. When I want a good clean and disinfection I use chlorhexadine. There are pro's and con's to that and bleach. Bleach is cheaper, chlorhex has more detergent action. Both are excellent disinfectants and would have very similiar spectrums of activity. Now that I think of it, I probably use chlorhex over bleach mainly because it's less harsh on materials, my hands, my nose and my time (nothing to air out). During quarantine or if I'm concerned with a possible illness or parasite (coccidia specifically) I'll use Quatsyl-D. This has all the harsh qualities of bleach (why I don't use it all the time) but has probably the best viricidal activity.

I hope my opinion helps

Ian

Chlorhexadine is also awesome to have around for cleaning wounds should the need arise. It is tissue safe, but you still need to rinse and irrigate the wound.

Ian

i agree with ian that chlorexidine is great to have around for wounds, and use it for some cleaning but when we drag all the cages out a few times a year to deep clean i use bleach for $ reasons, we have a lot of cages to clean, even though i get chlor at wholesale thru work. i also use the heat of the south and the sun as part of the cleaning so i dont care about the airing out time, id be leaving it outside anyway!
i guess its just what you like and can handle and afford and works best with what your dealing with...id never use bleach in my wood cages (sealed well or not) but id be ok with chlor if i had time to rinse and air out a little.
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

ahh, the heat of the south. Right now -40F would be an improvement. My wife is down in Oklahoma right now sitting at a balmy 71F, that's over 100F difference and you can bet she's rubbing it in!