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I'm thinking about switching to Nolvasan as a cleaner. How long after you clean a cage do you wait to put the animal back in? Is there a better dilution ratio than is on the bottle?

If you rinse the enclosure out you shouldn't need to wait before putting animals back in. At the dilution recommended on the bottle the chemical should be non-toxic to reptiles (well, don't let them drink it...). Remember that Nolvasan is designed to be used to clean out wounds of large mammals kind of like how we would use hydrogen peroxide for ourselves. Granted, reptiles are a lot smaller, but it goes to show that trace amounts aren't going to poison an animal if it gets into their system. You can probably stretch the dilution a little farther for your purposes but let's see if somebody else has something different to say.

Ok thanks. My concern was to not have to rinse them out because they are very large cages and i was already doing that with bleach. I'm trying to speed up the process of getting them back into there cages but not too fast as to cause harm.

When I clean with Nolvasan I spray enclosure, wipe it dry, and wait a few minutes for the majority of the fumes to disspate. Sometimes a small fan blowing in the cage can help. For the most part, if it's dry, it's relatively safe. Some cages will hold retain vapors longer than others but it's usually cleared enough within a matter of minutes.

You can do the same thing with a 90% water - 10% bleach solution. You don't have to literally rinse the cage with running water. Spray the bleach solution, lightly coating the cage with a fine mist, and wipe with dry rag or paper towels. Dampen another rag/paper towels and wipe again. Repeat. Repeat again, if nccessary to remove majority of odor and use a fan to blow out remaining vapors.

Nolvasan isn't cheap, but it does cut down on some of the cleaning time and adds peace of mind. For a 3ft x 7ft cage, nolvasan might save me about 5 minutes cleaning time. Figure up the time you'll save & factor in the cost and see if it's worth it to you. To some it is, to others it's not.

Best wishes!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Thanks HH. I see that it is expensive but it will give me piece of mind.

I believe the dilution I use is 30 mL novalsan to one gallon water. It works just fine for me and have never had any issues with it.

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

It has been used even on sensitive newly-hatched chicks to wipe down their beaks after hand feeding. If it doesn't hurt them, it will not hurt to wipe down the cage then put the snake back in. I've used it for years to clean water bowls too.
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Mark

I have used it for years with great results in cleaning Vision cages and their glass doors. I do not rinse. When cleaning water bowls I do rinse thoroughly. Bill.
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

I went to the dentist, and he gave me a bottle of oral rinse for after brushing. The label says Chlorohexidine gluconate (Nolvosan) 1.2% or .12%, forgot as I type this. There you go. Who would have thought. I can just spray my mouth while I clean cages.
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Mark

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