Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When doing a complete bedding (Aspen) change, is it okay to spray the empty tub with disinfectant, and while still wet, place new bedding back into the tub?

Also, how often do you perform a complete cleaning/disinfecting of your tubs/cages??

Thanks for your help.

Brian

I clean my enclosures once a week with 10% clorox 90% water solution. This should kill everything and they stay clean. About once a month I clean all hides and water bowls with the same solution. I would not put substrate back into the enclosure until it is completely dry. I wipe mine until it is dry then let it air out for 2-3 minutes before replacing substrate. This also allows time to make sure my guys gets handled for a short period of time each week.
Link

-----

I would wait for it to be completely dry unless you are using a dilution of the cleaning solution that would be considered safe for small children to ingest. Since that much of a dilution probably won't kill too much bacteria, it's best to just wipe it clean and let it dry.

I use papertowel, and just clean it whenever I see poop or a significant amount of urates. A little pinch of urates in one corner is not that big a deal.
I clean the entire tub when it looks dirty, or when I can't remember the last time I cleaned the entire tub. I use clorox bleach wipes, and in the rare occasions of an exceptionally dirty tub, I take it outside and bleach and hose it down.

I clean waterbowls with dishsoap whenever they look dirty or if it's been over a month since I cleaned them.

Once a month I also clean out and spray down all of my cages with equate lice spray, since my job puts me at a high risk of bringing mites home to my snakes.
-----
"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."
- Anna Sewell (1820-1878)

regarding the kids and bleach thing, while its not exactly health food drinking a small amount of bleach won't harm you, your stomach acids basically break it down into salt and water. it is actually one of the safest chemicals usually found around the house. not to say it isn't an irritant, or it won't make you feel like crap, it just isn't that toxic. that said, given the relative size and weak respiratory systems of our animals it is definitely better to wait a while (even use a small fan) to let the chlorine fumes completely dissipate b4 putting the critter back into its cage. just because we can't smell it, doesn't mean it won't be irritating to the snake.
mike
-----
..1 Jayne "The Hero of Canton", Ball Python
..1 Edmund Slackbladder, Mexican Kingsnake
..1 El Diablo "They haven't built a cage I can't get out of" Pueblan Milksnake
(Currently serving 25 to life in a Maryland Supermax
______________________________________________________

Me; And finally monsieur a wafer thin pinkie
El Diablo: blaggh
Me: ah sir its only 1 leetle pink one
ED: ahh, sod off! I'm full
Me: ah sir hmm? its only wafer thin?
ED: bah! i couldn't eat another thing I'm absolutely stuffed. bugger off!
Me: ah sir, sir just ...just one......?
ED: ok just one
Me just the one.
Me: voila!
Me: bon appetite!.......

n/p

LOL...jeeze, to say that bleach is made from salt is more than a little misleading. (modern) Bleach is a solution of sodium hypochlorite in water.

Sodium hypochlorite is created in a chemical reaction between chloring gas and lye (sodium hydroxide) in solution. Some salt (sodium chloride) is produced in this reaction.

While the chlorine gas for this reaction could probably generated using salt, it would be a terribly inefficient way to go.

Also, for anyone who might not know, mixing anything containing ammonia(sp) with bleach, or anything containing chlorine releases chlorine gas, not only dangerous to reptiles but it will also kill people. CM

To be effective chlorhexidine needs to sit on the tub for 5 minutes before you wipe or rinse it off. Same goes for bleach - the up side to the chlorhexidine is that it is safe to use on animals - so if there is still some in the tub or on the substrate it's ok for the snake to come in contact with - bleach (and it's fumes) however can be toxic and you need to be more careful. Also be sure you mix fresh Chlorhexidine it's only supposed to be good once mixed with water for like a day or something.
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons

>>When doing a complete bedding (Aspen) change, is it okay to spray the empty tub with disinfectant, and while still wet, place new bedding back into the tub?

Not if you want the chlorhexidine to actually disinfect. Its antimicrobial action becomes ineffective in the presence of organic matter like wood chips, feces, pieces of shed skin, etc., so you have to wash with soap and water first to remove those particles. And if you meant is it okay to use, as in safety -- not that chlorhexidine isn't considered fairly mild and "safe", but I personally wouldn't want any disinfecting chemical of any kind mixed into my bed sheets.

One disinfectant that doesn't become ineffective in the presence of organic matter is hydrogen peroxide. Mader's newest edition of Reptile Medicine and Surgery has a good chapter on disinfectants for reptiles, as does the Barkers' POTW, vol. 2.

DR

Suboc.com

Chlorhexidine is safe to use around your animals and leaving it wet in the tub will cause no harm to your animals. I have actually sprayed it (3/8 tsp.Chlorhexidine to 32 oz of water) directly on a snake with no ill effects. I have also sprayed it on my rats when they have gotten a bite or scratch while fighting. Works great. Which by the way is what it is for. Check out this link. You may be as surprised as I was to find out that it is often used in mouthwash. I do a complete clean about once a month, but use only dish soap and water to clean my tubs. There's nothing in the tub the snake hasn't already been exposed to. The only time I use the Chlorhexidine is if I am moving an animal from one tub or rack to another. Then I wash the tub, spray it and the rack slot with the Chlorhexidine, dry them off and replace the bedding. My Boa cages I spray and wipe every time I change the newspaper. Now for my rats I use it every time I clean a tub. But there I am always moving animals into a different tub as we clean.

Jeff
Link