Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, what do you guys disinfect your cages with? Just curious. Need to disinfect soon. Thanks---I wouldn't want to use anything that would hurt my snake!
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***** Brandon *****

0.0.1 White's Tree Frog
1.0 Creamsicle Cornsnake
corn_snake_dude@yahoo.com

I clean with hot soapy water and disinfect with Nolvasan (aka Virosan). It's perfectly safe for reptiles, so you don't have to worry about totally rinsing and drying it to remove all traces (as with bleach). It's used by vets as a mouthrinse and wound treatment. It comes in a gallon jug and you dilute it - so it lasts a long while. I sterilize with ammonia and make my own glass cleaner.

Check these out:

www.anapsid.org/cleaning.html
www.animart.com/cgi-bin/details.cgi?sku=1261&line=Teat_Dips
reptilebasics.com/reptile_relief.html

www.naturalchemistry.com/pet/StorePlus/Store/viewConsumerItems.asp?idProduct=65

proexotics.com/supplies.html

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1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Good old bleach at a 10% kills most things

How often do you guys clean your cages? Do you take all substrate out and wash the whole tank? I just spot clean and that's about it.Other then washing the water bowls. I also clean the sides of the glass. Haven't had any problems.

I spray Nolvasan in the water bowl and wipe daily (to disinfect). I also spot clean daily.

Once a week (after my BP defecates) I take the carpet out (clean and disinfect) and replace with a clean piece. I also clean (hot soapy water) and disinfect (Nolvasan/Virosan)the water bowl and any deco that came in contact with urates or feces during the week. Then I spray the inside with Nolvasan and disinfect it. Finally, I clean the glass inside and out.

Since I use Nolvasan/Virosan to disinfect (as opposed to bleach) there's no need to wait for it to dry and dissipate, so cleaning is quicker and safer.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

I have had my corn for about 4 months and so far, I have just spot cleaned and cleaned my snake's water dish. I think that I better start doing a deeper cleaning job. Should I spend the money to invest in Nolvasan or Virosan? I only have one corn. Thanks.
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***** Brandon *****

0.0.1 White's Tree Frog
1.0 Creamsicle Cornsnake
corn_snake_dude@yahoo.com

Well worth it in my opinion - regardless of how many snakes you have. I bought my gallon jug when I only had one snake and am still on the same jug even though I now have 5. The jug goes a long way as you mix it to water before using.

I mixed some and put it in a spray bottle for quick disinfecting (spray and wipe water dish daily and for weekly cleanings I'm able to spray the inside of the tank easily). During weekly cleanings I mix some with water in a bucket or deep tub so that items (water dish, carpet, deco, etc) can soak for a 'deeper' cleaning.

Great investment in my opinion! And as I've said - totally safe.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

my vet sold me a new product called A-33 DRY.she likes it better than virosan (nolvsan).it's a detergent/disinfectant/odor counteractant for hospital and institutional use.i've been using it on tubs,water dishes and my rat breeders enclosures with great results.zooguy email me and i'll tell you more.
twh49801@yahoo.com

This has the same active ingredient (Quaternary Ammonium) as Roccal-D and Parvosal.

4 months is a long time not to clean a cage.If your using aspen and spot clean i would say once a month.Ive used a shop vac to suck out all the bedding.Now i will probably get flamed for this but i only use windex,period.If you use windex you have to let the cage air out for at least a couple hours or you will gas your snake.You will find some places like corners your snakes like to use and i scrape it out with a putty knife before i get windex happy.I have never had a problem using windex in over 20 years,but make dang sure you let it air out...Paul

Check out this link:

http://gpvec.unl.edu/Biosecurity-CD/BS-DinfectantUseTab.doc

Thanks for the link/info! What do you use? Thank you for your time.
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***** Brandon *****

0.0.1 White's Tree Frog
1.0 Creamsicle Cornsnake
corn_snake_dude@yahoo.com

Still experimenting.

Right now I soak in a bleach/dish soap solution for several hours. Rinse. Spray with pure ammonia (not the stuff with soap in it), cover and let it sit in the fumes for at least 30 minutes. Rinse. Then run it through the dishwasher to clean off all the chemicals. I use the high heat (140 degree) "sanitation" cycle.

Everything is washable: tub, water dish, hide box. Substrate is paper towels. I'm changing the water dishes every day (have plenty of extras). Water dishes are filled from a reverse osmosis filter.

BTW: The percentage of sodium hypochloride in bleach varies. Normal Chrlorox is 3.5%. Ultra is 6%. Other brands vary. I buy generic 5%--again, no soap, perfume or other garbage.

I've got Novalsan and ordered some Roccal-D. Like I said, still experimenting.

First, are these possitively the same stuff under a different name? If I choose to go with this, is this non-toxic and completely safe to use for my snake? If this is used as an antibiotic, does it do a good job for cage cleaning? Thanks everybody for your input.

P.S. If you know where I can get some over the internet, please let me know!
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***** Brandon *****

0.0.1 White's Tree Frog
1.0 Creamsicle Cornsnake
corn_snake_dude@yahoo.com

They are the same. I think one is a name brand and the other is the generic name of the spray. You can get it online from ProExotics.
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Anna

The Zoo
Corns
1.0 Snow - Cornelius
1.1 Ghost(pastel) - Gray Ghost & Pink
1.1 Amel - Parker & Scarlet
0.1 Hypo - Nikko
0.1 Anery - Missy
0.1 Hypo Motley - Cordelia aka Cordy
Boas
0.1 Columbian (BCC) - Bella
Lizards
1.0 Leopard Gecko - Leo
Rats
0.1 Dumbo Agouti - Moon
1.0 Silvered Black - Pluto
1.0 Powder Blue - Corner
0.1 Dumbo Siamese - Lily
Plus the breeders & babies
Cats
1.1 Siamese - Blue & Fiona
0.1 Gray DMS - Druscilla aka Dru
Horses
1.0 Thourghbred (Hunter/Jumper) - Morgan's Majesty aka Cody

Both Novalsan and Virosan have the same active ingredient (Chlorhexidine), but in different concentrations.

I'm still looking into this, but it may be that Virosan has an additional anti-viral agent which Novalsan doesn't have.

Gonna do some more reading, but I've already seen once source that suggests that you have to use this as soon as you mix it with water, then discard any extra. That is, no shelf life at all. Again, not sure about that claim.