Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My new beardie will most likely be going in a 50 gallon tank, not 50 tall btw. Previously there was another monitor in there that i am pretty sure had worms. Anyways, in the past i have been using antibacterial handsoap to clean cages for new animals and had no problem. I try to stay away from bleach, because i really just dont want to risk it. What i normally do is get everything out of the tank, wipe it down well with warm soapy water, rinse, repeat, and then let it sit inside for a while to dry and air out. Should this process of cleaning get the cage clean enough even after the monitor i had in there had worms most likely?

Antibacterial soaps won't kill it all. Have you tried Nolvasan? It's the next best thing to bleach, without the harmful odors and residue. I wrote an article on disinfectants, you might want to give it a look over ...

http://home.comcast.net/~holachapulin/Disinfectants.html

Good luck with your new beardie!

Hugs,
Veronica

>>My new beardie will most likely be going in a 50 gallon tank, not 50 tall btw. Previously there was another monitor in there that i am pretty sure had worms. Anyways, in the past i have been using antibacterial handsoap to clean cages for new animals and had no problem. I try to stay away from bleach, because i really just dont want to risk it. What i normally do is get everything out of the tank, wipe it down well with warm soapy water, rinse, repeat, and then let it sit inside for a while to dry and air out. Should this process of cleaning get the cage clean enough even after the monitor i had in there had worms most likely?
Beautiful Dragons

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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

Thanx, i read about the steam cleaning, my mom just bought a steam cleaner, how do i keep from cracking or breaking the aquarium when using it??

I haven't cracked an aquarium yet - knock on wood. Just be careful if you're steam cleaning a cold aquarium, like one that was stored in the garage or outside in the cold. Let it warm up to room temp before steaming it. And I also don't let the steam build up in one place for too long. I use a slow side-to-side motion with the steamer wand and get the entire surface. You have to go pretty slow to ensure that the steam gets the glass hot enough (165 degrees) to kill the nasties.

Veronica
Beautiful Dragons Reptile Rescue

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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

Thanks. The cage has been inside, but i am going to do the steaming outside on the porch, is that a problem?? should i worry about any "nastys" gettting in while i am steaming it outside?? I am gonna spray it from a distance first to warm the glass up, and then spray closer up. But hopefully it should be fine since it has been kept inside.

Unless it's freezing outside you should be fine. The nasties I was referring to are the parasites that can infect our beardies ... coccidia, pinworms, etc... They are not airborne, so cleaning the tank outside should be just fine.

Veronica

>>Thanks. The cage has been inside, but i am going to do the steaming outside on the porch, is that a problem?? should i worry about any "nastys" gettting in while i am steaming it outside?? I am gonna spray it from a distance first to warm the glass up, and then spray closer up. But hopefully it should be fine since it has been kept inside.
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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]