Good chemical to heavily clean an enclosure?

[Triggerman73]

Well, I bought a 10 gal. tank from a friend who had a G. rosea but I have my doubts because he was not treating it very well. He also left dead crickets in the tank and fed the T crickets from outside the T died quite recently and the tank smelled like it was rotting in there for a while. :wall:

Now I have to seriously *nuke* the cage with the most effective thing I can but I have plans to section it in half and put two arboreals in there so I can't use anything that can cause harm to a T. I was thinking either bleach or isopropyl but I have doubts that those would be safe. Is there anything that I can find around the house that can be effective in cleaning the tank while not hurting any T's I expect to put in there?

 

[Warren Bautista]

Vinegar is the only thing I can think of that isn't dangerous.

 

[Triggerman73]

Vinegar is the only thing I can think of that isn't dangerous.

Do you think vinegar would clean well enough?

 

[reverendsterlin]

bleach works fine as long as you triple rinse and let throughly dry.

 

[Satellite Rob]

If you want to sterilize any container.Use 91% or rubbing alcohol.Just wipe
down the container using paper towels.Then wash it with Palmolive or any
other dish soup.

 

[Sarcastro]

vinegar kills mold spores,bacteria,any other kind of pest. it's natures cleaning solution,but i would scrub it down real good with a mild detergent first then with vinegar.

 

[Nerri1029]

vinegar kills mold spores,bacteria,any other kind of pest. it's natures cleaning solution,but i would scrub it down real good with a mild detergent first then with vinegar.

One more vote for vinegar

 

[gumby]

I dont clean the walls of my enclosures very often but when I put a T in a cage that was used by another T before I usually scrub well with water and a little dish soap and then scub lightly with a little vinegar. This does the job well.

 

[G. pulchra]

Vinegar and a stiff nylon brush will clean off the walls

 

[BrynWilliams]

a weak bleach solution or vinegar should both be fine, both are simply making the solution acidic, bleach is just a stronger acid with more oxidation power so you gotta make sure it's all washed out after.

 

[WelshTan]

milton sterilising fluid for sterilising baby bottles. . . .best n safest thing u cud ever use. . .people also use it to make dirty water safe to drink

 

[Anthony Straus]

a weak bleach solution or vinegar should both be fine, both are simply making the solution acidic, bleach is just a stronger acid with more oxidation power so you gotta make sure it's all washed out after.

Most bleaches are basic...work as reducing agents not oxidators. pH around 12.

 

[kupo969]

I use liquid hand soap.......... just rinse it off. Zero problems.

 

[BrynWilliams]

I was referring to generation of the HOCL free radical oxidant species as a consequence of the NaCLO (sodium hypochlorite) which is often used in bleaches. I was thinking about oxidant bleaches not reducing ones.

They follow as below:
Cl2(aq) + H2O(l) <=> H+(aq) + Cl-(aq) + HClO(aq)
Cl2(aq) + H2O(l) <=> 2H+(aq) + Cl-(aq) + ClO-(aq)

The above is most certainly acidic as it generates free H+ ions

The oxidant bleaches disrupt the chromophores to species that are either no longer light reflecting or change them into something other than a chromophore.


There are basic bleaches So you're not wrong at all, were just talking about two different types

Most bleaches are basic...work as reducing agents not oxidators. pH around 12.

 

[gvfarns]

Vinegar does very little to sterilize. I really think it's a waste of time to use it, quite frankly.

Bleach is the wonder sterilizer. One of the most effective antiseptics around. You don't even need a very high concentration.

Alcohol is quite effective against bacteria and viruses if the concentration is between 62 and 90 % (more or less than that is bad). It doesn't kill the mold and fungus and stuff as well as bleach, though. Also, it can harm acrylic, so don't use it if that's what your enclosure is made of.

Peroxide alone can kill most bacteria but it doesn't kill viruses or mold or fungus. Not really very good. If you do use it, don't rinse it out, just let it dry in place. The water dries up first so the peroxode concentrates up and becomes stronger. Then it dries up and leaves no residue.

If you mix vinegar and peroxide you get peracetic acid, which is a very effective antiseptic. I've never used it, though, and i don't know what concentration is best. It also doesn't store, I'm pretty sure.

Actually soap is pretty good. It kills some bad things and washes the rest away. Dish soap is some of the strongest and most convenient.

My suggestion: an appropriate bleach concentration. Rinse it out and let it dry and you are good to go.

 

[binary71]

to me virosan(novalsan) is the best and really safe. here is a link to the page at pro exotics that gives a great description of it.

http://www.proexotics.com/store/product.php?productid=16192&cat=0&page=1

 

[Nomadinexile]

Bleach, especially if worried about problem

Bleach will actually kill most things we are worried about. If you have a really dry cage with no problems on T and no problems with outbreaks of anything, you can consider soap or whatever. If you have a problem with nematodes, pest mites, molds, etc, I would use bleach. 1.5 cups bleach per 2 gallons H2O.
Sit for 5 minutes, rinse rinse dry, rinse dry, let sit. Walaa, as sanitized as you can get without getting crazy expensive machinery etc. I am not a biologist, zoologist, etc, but I would not trust soap or vinager for much, except help getting stuck particles out, and most surface fairly clean. Fine for some sometimes, but not o.k. if you have any concerns imo. Ryan

 

[Sathane]

My girlfriend is a nurse with a specialty in Infection Control. She says that bleach is the best to disinfect and clean.

Nomad pretty well has it for the process. Make sure you rinse very thoroughly and let it dry completely. For good measure, I'd clean it again with a mild soap solution, rinse thoroughly again and then let it dry.

I've done this several times with questionable enclosures or ones that have been used for other animals and have never had a fatality.

 

[Nomadinexile]

My G/f

My girlfriend is a dental hygentist (2 bachelors, one is history), She makes me clean my scorpion tongs with bleach whenever I get cricket parts out of cage or whatever. She is not in infection control, but she has to deal with biohazard stuff all day and obviously learned a bit about it. She started lecturing me when I said what I was reading on here, so I figured I should post so she would feel better and stop lecturing me! :O) ryan

My girlfriend is a nurse with a specialty in Infection Control. She says that bleach is the best to disinfect and clean.

Nomad pretty well has it for the process. Make sure you rinse very thoroughly and let it dry completely. For good measure, I'd clean it again with a mild soap solution, rinse thoroughly again and then let it dry.

I've done this several times with questionable enclosures or ones that have been used for other animals and have never had a fatality.

 

[Steve Calceatum]

If you're looking to thoroughly sanitize, bleach and heat will sterilize about anything. Otherwise some mild antibacterial dish soap, or vinegar will do just fine. Personally, I detest the smell of vinegar, so as an alternative, I use lemon juice when I clean my wooden kitchen cutting board....it's a really good natural disinfectant.