Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have searched almost every forum to see what people use for disinfectant. I see a few use nolvasan but it is 60.00 a gallon. Are they diluting it? I also saw a new brand coming in april that is being sold in Canada right now but I forget the name..Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I just came back to the hobby and bought 10 snakes. I watched almost all of Ralph Davis's vids and see he sprays everything. Anybody know what he uses?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What's wrong with the good old standy: Bleach?
10% bleach solution works like a charm for me.
-----
Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

i only use bleach as well, does the trick for all my animals
-----
0.3 double het pied/carmel 1.3.2 normals, 1.3.1 pastels, 0.1 mojave, 0.1 pinstripe, 0.1 albino, 1.0 yellow belly, 1.1 het pied, 1.0 amelanistic corn, 0.1 normal corn, 2.1 miniture dachshunds, 0.1 beautiful fiance
*snakes are like oreos, no one can just have one!*

I'm w/these guys! Why the need to get fancy? Bleach is cheap and the solution works great!

Bleach is what I have been using but your supposed to leave it sit for two minutes before rinsing to be effective. I see vids of people spraying and rinsing immediately. Is there something out there better? Thanks for the responses.

Can I just dip my hands in a 10% bleach solution before going to another snake?

I would think that would start to suck pretty quick. It would probably work just fine, but I wouldn't recommend it. That will wreack havoc on your skin. Totally your choice though.

You would still need to disinfect the tubs, racks and equipment though. Feces and other animal build-up can contribute to bacterial growth and infections.
-----
Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I don't know what Ralph uses, but Brian from BHB uses F10. I got some from the UK, but it wasn't cheap. Not overly expensive (I don't think) but not cheap either. Pro Exotics will be carrying F10 soon. I was using Priority Care 1 Chlorhexidine Solution that I diluted to 1 ounce per gallon of water. I am going to continue to use this until Peo Exotics starts carrying the F10, then I will be switching to that.

What are the benefits of these disinfectants over Bleach? Gentler on snakes? Better at killing bacteria?
-----
Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I heard a rumor (don't know if it's true or not) that bleach gives balls cancer over long periods of exposure. I don't know other wise. Sorry.

If you look at the cost of Novalsan (chlorahexidine) it is actually relatively cheap 2 oz to a gallon of water. You can make 64 gallons of solution and if it is still a little damp no harm to the animals. I also use it for mouth rot and it works very well. I Snake sat for someone whose snake had the cheese mouth and I sprayed it from the back of the mouth towards the front and it works well. I treated the snake every other day until it was gone about ten days. I know dentists office use a version of this for humans.

Personally, I use tea tree oil to disinfect. I use it on everything, actually. I really don't like to use a lot of chemicals around my family, snakes included.

I might get some mixed reactions for this, but I'm a huge believer in a 50/50 mix of hot water and nasty brown Listerine.

It's a great disinfectant, it's cheaper than anything else you could by and it leaves the room with a really great clean smell.
I've used it for years and won't use anything else.

Wow these are some great responses with things that I never even thought of to use.

Nolvasan (chlorhexidine diacetate) is a bactericide and virucide cleanser available in scented and unscented. You can find it at some of the Tractor Supply Stores in smaller containers than the gallon size, but it is a concentrate that you mix with water. I use quart spray bottles and mix about 2 oz of Nolvasan and fill with water. It is great stuff, I have used it for 20 yrs! Nolvasan also makes a surgical scrub and a wound cleanser. As Ed said, if it can heal up mouth rot...it MUST be good stuff!

Susan Sentman
SSNAKES Reptiles

For sanitizing tubs and water bowls I use chlorhexadine diluted 2oz per gallon. The final concentraton is 0.03%. This concentration is adequate to kill many bacteria and not cause harm to tissue. After washing the tubs with soap and water, I spray them with chlorhexadine and let them sit for a few minutes, then rinse. Chlorhexadine is used in products used to treat humans. Peridex oral rinse is a prescription rinse (0.12%) to treat gingivitis. Hibiclens (4%) is a surgical scrub. Some hospitals are now using chlorhexadine for prepping injection sites instead of alcohol because it is effective and less irritating.
Bleach is very effective, but also very caustic. If not rinsed adequately, could cause harm by contact or by inhalation of fumes.
For general hand sanitizing I still use the alcohol based hand sanitizer gels.

Bill J.