Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My snake crapped her water bowl and I want to know how to make sure its clean. Any advice appreciated, thanks in advance.

I throw them in buckets filled with 1/2 bleach 1/4 amonia and 1/4 water. After they sit in that for a while I transfer the water bowls to buckets with fresh water for rinsing. Then i let them completely dry before using.
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That sounds TOXIC Be careful

Ammonia Bleach = Mustard Gas!
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Work is the curse of
the drinking class!

Reminds me of the time I mixed perioxide with povidone-iodine in a bottle, put a cap on and left it in a warm place.This is the mix they use in hospital ERs for small wounds.Well I left that bottle at work and the next day my boss asked why iodine was all over the walls.I played dumb.

perioxide povidone-iodine = Bomb
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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

Hey Campers,

As both a herper and a chemist, I advise against mixing bleach with ammonia. Ammonia reacts with hypochlorite ion in the bleach to form chloramine (NH2Cl), dichloramine (NHCl2) and nitrogen trichloride (NCl3), all of which are strong irritants and can be toxic in high enough concentrations. Better to stick with a strong solution of bleach alone -- bacteria cannot survive the strong oxidizing agents in bleach. The ammonia doesn't help, and can be dangerous.

Be careful out there . . .

Tom C.

Thanks Tom, super good to know!
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Todd Hughes

Jeez I have been doing this for years and never knew. i guess it kills the heck out of whatever might be on those water bowls. LOL!

The reason I use amonia is I heard that bleach alone cannot kill everything when it comes to slimy water bowls. That there are some bacteria (or whatever) that bleach does not kill.
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I have used ONLY hot water, dish soap, and some elbow grease on my water bowls and everything enclosure related for the past 20 years and have never had a issue..

~ Mike Russo

I used to use a weak bleach solution to clean my bowls and enclosures, but I switched to plain old dish soap and water years ago. I've had no problems whatsoever.

Greg

I find that either Dawn dish soap or (forgive me if I spell this wrong) chlorahexaderm work terrificly. I've been using these two for more than 7 years and have yet to have issues.

Mike
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1.1 Cal. Kings
1.0 Ball Python
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
0.0.2 African House Snakes
0.0.1 Oketee Corn Snake
0.1 Salmon Boa Constrictor
0.0.1 Marbled Salamander
0.0.1 Japanese Fire-Bellied Newt
0.2 Labs

I have used soap or even no soap for 45 years and have not had one single issue either.

Which kinda means, all they need is water.

Don't get me wrong, I have tried all manner of stuff, but just washing with water seems to have the same results as anything else. Soap and water and plain water, is what I have done the most of. Then bleach added for short periods. I hate the feel of bleach. Also I have tried several reptile products. It just seems I go back to water and off we go.

I get the feeling most people disinfect stuff for them and not really about the animals. Which is great if that makes them(the people) feel better. Cheers

> not had one single issue either.

Which kinda means, all they need is water.

Don't get me wrong, I have tried all manner of stuff, but just washing with water seems to have the same results as anything else <

I'm with Mike russo. I think we can go overboard. But I also think disinfecting is neccessary sometimes. A water bowl that's been dumped in still smells REAL bad. This TOO casual attitude of cleanliness has me a little concerned to shake hands at herp shows when I meet some of you or accepting a glass of water while visiting. LOL Bob.

Do you guys not see the peace corp. commercials where people die because of drinking the water from the same source they urinate/defecate in? How the situation changes dramaticly with simple hygene? I don't think those folks are shedding their parisites and living long lives.

If you would not urinate in a glass and just wash it out with water and serve it to a friend why would you do that to your animals?

I know there has been research to suggest that when an environment has been too clean kids don't develope resistance to some sicknesses but when you compare that to the poor thousands that die every year in squalor for lack of proper/appropriate sanitation there seems to be better middle ground. Just my opinion.

Everyone deserves their own opinion. I happen to share your's for the most part.

Mike
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1.1 Cal. Kings
1.0 Ball Python
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
0.0.2 African House Snakes
0.0.1 Oketee Corn Snake
0.1 Salmon Boa Constrictor
0.0.1 Marbled Salamander
0.0.1 Japanese Fire-Bellied Newt
0.2 Labs

" If you would not urinate in a glass and just wash it out with water and serve it to a friend why would you do that to your animals? "

Great post and great point Bob!!

I have been to many health classes, and people would be amazed at how easy it is to get sick, and how cleanliness is of the upmost importance.

Common sense is a good thing, just like soap and water!
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Genesis 1:1

A key to disinfecting when using soap and water is to let things air dry. That takes care of the smell part, also. I've never used bleach or anything other than plain old dish soap and I've never had any issues.
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Diego

SWCHR

Bill, my reply was from results of decades of snake keeping. So you saying, in some cases, has little meaning to me.

The truth is, I rarely introduce snakes from other collections, and never unhealthy individuals to my collection.

I have trust with wild caughts, but those dang captives cannot be trusted.

Again the point is, decades of casual(as you called it) has not resulted in any problems. Just telling it like it is.

What I think is missing here is, many do not understand the effects of 45 years of continued keeping of kingsnakes. What it means is, you have plenty of time to try all manner of things instead of believing whatever is told to you.

Another point is, I am not against folks using whatever they want, you can and should do whatever blows your shorts up. But, these forums are suppose to include other options as well, as in my experiences. And yes, I do not feel its important to disinfect water bowls. Now if I had a desease with my snakes, then sure, I would disinfect the water bowls. Again for some reason, my snakes do not need all manner of mans junk to maintain health and reproductive success.Cheers

I was wondering what the water conditions would be like in a hibernaculum.I see snakes come out in the spring with water blisters that I assume is from being in water.Do you think that the water they drink is partly fouled.Do they have fresh water for those 4 months? Are conditions so humid that they dont drink ?
I will guess that a snake goes into the hibernaculum after not eating for a few weeks so its intestines may be clean.Just like we do as keepers.So the winter home may be somewhat clean in that respect.If they do drink water thats not as clean as we may like do the intestinal enzymes and gastric fluids help them to clean the potential parasites? After all they can disolve the bones of a rodent.

I don't think there is anything wrong with using bleach as I stated above i use it.But as a purley academic study I find these questions worth talking about.
I agree with you here FR,some people don't want to learn from the animal they rather have the animal learn from them.

Wonder how they would deal with these guys?
I know my wife would never allow that sort of behavoir.
LOL

Ill email you this post in case they erase it.Im curious to hear your thoughts
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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

Same here! Jeff

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Diego

SWCHR

Mike,
Same here. I use good soap and hot water. If the snake dumps in the bowl, after the first scrub and wash, I do it all over again. You would be surprised that sometimes, you can still smell the dump after one thorough washing of the bowl.

I am also a huge fan of rinsing the allmighty tar out of the bowls once I have washed and scrubbed them. Years ago, after what I thought was a good rinse, I would at times still see some soap residue in the water, as I stared at the new bowl of water I was fixing to put in the cage. So, I rinse and rinse just to be sure.

Good post my friend!
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Genesis 1:1

Think about it -- no bacteria can build up a resistance to being physically washed off a surface and down the sink! As long as the water bowl/dish is made from a nonporous material, soap and warm water followed by a good rinse is sufficient.

A weak bleach solution can be handy if parts of the bowl (e.g., the unglazed bottom, or a small chipped area) are porous and the dish acquires an odor. The bleach penetrates the porous portion and kills/oxidizes the source of the odor. Then a good soak/rinse is required afterward.

On a related issue, all herpers should WASH THEIR HANDS well with soap and water after handling reptiles, and especially after cleaning cages. This point of hygiene just makes good sense.

Below is a picture of "Rorschach", a leonis male from Bob Hansen. He's a favorite, but I still can't decide what the ink blot on his head represents ...

Think about it -- no bacteria can build up a resistance to being physically washed off a surface and down the sink! As long as the water bowl/dish is made from a nonporous material, soap and warm water followed by a good rinse is sufficient.

One thing to consider. When you have hundreds of water bowls to scrub and rinse every week it is time consuming to clean each individual bowl with just a little soap and elbow grease. I soak hundreds of bowls in bleach and amonia buckets every week because it is less time consuming. Soap and water will not do the job.

Since moving from the southwest to the southeastern part of the U.S. my water bowls develop a dark slimy film which cannot be removed by soaking in soap and water alone. Everything grows and decomposes faster here.
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"dark slimy film" Reminds me of a movies I saw once.
Thats interesting that water bowls have to be treated differently from west to east and I can see why with over one hundred bowls you soak them.
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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

Yuck. I definitely get it that you don't have time to scrub with that many slimy bowls. It seems a chore with the 15 or so bowls I clean weekly!

>>My snake crapped her water bowl and I want to know how to make sure its clean. Any advice appreciated, thanks in advance.

The best cleaning solution hands down is Nolvasan - (chlorhexidine diacetate) it kills more nasties then anything else including bleach and ammonia. I know VETS use it and many people on the boa forums swear by this stuff for cleaning and taking care of wounds because of its residual activity, HOWEVER I do not personally use it and I have not read if anyone uses it to clean water bowls. I have read people using it as "mouth wash" to help with mouth rot. Hopefully others who may use it can chime in.

I personally use Distilled vinegar and boiling water and never had any issues at all, I have been using it for 10 years or so as well. Hope this helps.
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Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."
My 2008 Care Sheet & The BRB Stats. Username: brb@kingsnake.com

I use plastic butter bowls for water bowls and when they get dirty I throw them in the dishwasher... For cage cleaning, I use anti-bactrial dish soap.... Works well for everything...
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~Maggie~

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious."
1.1 Cal Kings (Spot and Fry)
1.0 Florida King (Gamble)
1.0 Ball Python (Mitch)
0.1 Red Belly Piranha (Fluffy)
1.0 Australian Shepherd (Spooky)
1.0 Springer Spaniel/Beagle mix (Snoopy)
0.1 Cat (Ecco)

I've always used Sparkleen chemistry glass cleaner since all my bowls are glass.
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0.0.1 Lampropeltis getula nigra
1.0.0 Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri
2.3.0 Eublapharis macularius macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.1.0 Gerrhosaurus major major

I mostly use 4" pvc pipe couplers to hold 16oz. deli cups. I hate scrubbing water bowls. When they dump in the water bowl just empty in sink throw in garbage and put new cup in filled with fresh water. Unless it's a nice show type cage why bother with crock water bowls anyway? Life is too short.

Thanks for the input guys, I'm just gonna go with washing it with dish soap and water.

Same here...I use hot water and dawn dish soap.

Here's what you need:

2 drops of Bleach
1 ounce of Water
2 ounces of Scotch, Johnny Walker Black Label

Instructions
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1. Make a cleaning solution of 2 drop of bleach for every ounce of water.

2. Call your wife, tell her to clean the bowl and cage.

3. Have some Scotch.