I am going to be taking my leos to the vet to get them de-wormed, because my normal leo has runny poop, and she lives with my albino, so I am goign to get them both done,and I was wondering what I should use to disinfect the tank to make sure it is clean for them when they get back in it.
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What is the best thing to use to disinfect a tank and all the hides and things...more.
bmills
Jun 14, 2003 12:46 PM
Replies (4)
thefiradragon
Jun 14, 2003 03:02 PM
10% bleach to water solution
my animal care class uses kennel Sol which can kill some nasty virus and other nasties.
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Just A Thought
Ashley
;P
bmills
Jun 14, 2003 03:18 PM
How soon after can you put your leos back in teh tank after using this solution?
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Brock
Jun 14, 2003 07:49 PM
You can use a vinegar solution, it's safer than bleach and doesn't smell as potent. Vinegar isn't harmful so you can use as much as you want. Bleach will kill viruses/bacteria, if that's what you're looking for, but vinegar will give it a good cleaning. Wait about 15-30 minutes, depending how well you dried it, for the bleach/vinegar to dry/dissipate before putting them back in.
-Brock
WingedWolfPsion
Jun 15, 2003 12:58 AM
I'm looking into better solutions on this one myself. Chlorine bleach is the most commonly used disinfectant, but it has the unpleasant characteristic of combining with organic wastes to form carcinogenic compounds. It does not work well when organic material is present. What you are disinfecting FOR matters, and you should always try to completely rinse the disinfectant away so as not to leave a residue that might be harmful to the animals.
Here's a site that might either help or complicate things for you:
http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/animaldisease/g1410.htm#Selection Table
On a somewhat irrelevant note, Roccal smells pleasantly of mint. <g>
As you can see, no disinfectant is perfect. Protozoal parasites are hard to kill (only a STRONG bleach solution will do it effectively, as will Ammonia (such as in Roccal-D).
That would make Roccal seem like the best choice, except that it doesn't handle bacterial spores very well, nor non-envelope viruses. It's no better in organic matter than bleach.
If we were going to be very thorough, we'd buy several types of disinfectants, and alternate them when we clean cages, so that anything missed by one will be gotten by another the next time. If you use bleach, clean the cage very thoroughly first, so that there is no organic residue to interfere with its action, and rinse extremely well.
