Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can i use a spray bottle with 90% water and 10% rubbing alcohol to clean and disinfect a cage? I know virosan is best but will this work? any and all suggestions and pointers will help.

I use 90% water 10% bleach to clean all my tubs.
If you have a few the fastest way to do this is by filling up
a new garbage can with 90% water 10% bleach and another
with water only. Soak them for a few minutes scrub them
down and rinse.

If you have cages only use spray bottle but remember to rinse with water.
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Adrian
AFR
http://imageevent.com/afreptiles

Good method...but do you make sure to seal up the cans after using them? Hypochlorite (aka bleach) will disappate into the atmosphere if left uncovered, reducing the concentration in your barrel-o-bleach.

Couple of reasons alcohol wont go so well. First is it is incredibly flammable and also makes some unhealthy fumes as it evaporates. I dont think you want your animal locked in a box with that. isopropyl alcohol is quite toxic. Second is alcohol and water do not mix very well. Your solution will very quickly stratify leaving you with no mix at all. Just water and alcohol.
Just some ideas for you. Nolvasan is really pretty cheap if you mix it right. One of my gallons lasts me a few months and I have a BUNCH of cages to keep clean. Yes, some may point out that I may be considered biased in favor of nolvasan/chlorhexadine for reasons involving the market place but if you add up the value of the animals you are cleaning saving $10-$20 a year doesent really seem all that important AND IT WORKS GREAT.
Reptile Basics Inc

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Rich Goldzung
Reptile Basics Inc
www.reptilebasics.com

Since when? LMAO

Ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, propanol, butanol and even pentanol are 100% misible in water (meaning they mix and do not separate out). Not only that, but a 50% alcohol solution (100 proof) is not incredibly flamable (just a bit). Even 100% ethanol doesn't burn very hot/fast compared to other solvents such as hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, etc.

As for using alcohol as a cleaning agent...as long as you wipe it down well it should work fine. Isopropanol has a quite high vapour pressure...meaning that it evaporates fast.

Here's my point:

Disinfectants kill things, they rupture cells...the stronger they are, the better they will work. Chlorhexidine gluconate, if used properly can work well...but the key is to make sure to give it time to work. Unlike bleach or an alcohol solution, Nolvasan (in the concentrations normally used) needs a much longer time to properly disinfect something.

I've read that Virosan needs approximately five (5) minutes to work properly. I used to favor a 10% bleach solution, but after splashing bleach in my eye (OUCH!) I decided that the five minutes isn't too bad.

(Plus I save a lot of time mixing bleach, lugging the boxes outside, and taking the necessary extra precautions. I guess the five minute wait evens out.)

I'm glad you posted about the wait time. People need to know that.

Chris
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mean people suck

I do not have a commercial interest in Nolvasan but have been using it for 7 years now. A number of Vets have told me that Bleach residue (it's there no matter what you do!) is harmful over the long haul. Vets use Nolvasan to disinfect. I'm not a Ball keeper right now (had my first Ball 37 years ago! I'm just visiting y'all--man you guys are wild over here!) but I would think with the big$$$$$ y'all have in your animals you'd want the safest strongest disinfectant. It works for my collection.
Pat G-C

The chlorhexadine solutions like Nolvasan or Virosan are effective, harmless, fast, and easy. These products can cut the time involved with regular cleanings in half. And you don't have to take everything outside. I clean everything right there at the rack. I absolutely love these products. I purchased my supply from Pro Exotics and just order simple refills as needed. Actually, I haven't ordered any refills yet. This stuff lasts forever. I probably won't order refills until sometime in late 2007.

Chris
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mean people suck

np

I used to use the bleach/water solution, but switched to Quadracide (maybe misspelled) many years ago, from Big Apple Herps and have been very pleased with it. It's a cleanser that hospitals use.
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