Tong disinfectant

[JackV]

Just a quick question, what is the best way to disinfect feeding tongs?

 

[TheraMygale]

Most of us don’t. Hot water rinse.

boiling if just sterling?

alcohol? Will need to be rinsed.

vinegar is good too. Get 10% over for best disinfecting properties. RINSE.

the key is rinsing.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I use a towel and hot water or dish soap and water .

 

[Brewser]

No need to tong feed imo
Recommend Soft Tip Tongs for those that do.

 

[TheraMygale]

No need to tong feed imo
Recommend Soft Tip Tongs for those that do.

I need to second this: i cant feed tong any of my tarantulas. I drop crickets by hand through the doors or holes. Cant keep crickets in tongs anyways: either i drop em or kill em.

i use my tongs for cleaning.

if your tongs are nasty, wipe em down. Use some bio dishsoap and RINSE.

 

[Wolfram1]

i wash them the same way i do my eating utensils or dishes, with a simple rinse after

 

[viper69]

Just a quick question, what is the best way to disinfect feeding tongs?

How are you using them?

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

1) Don’t use tongs or tweezers to feed tarantulas.

2) Clean the tools for tarantula maintenance with dish soap and water. If one really feels the need to disinfect, just wipe with good old fashioned rubbing alcohol and let dry completely.

 

[Hardus nameous]

I don't disinfect my feeding tongs; if they need cleaning I just use hot water and dish soap.
If you want massive overkill an autoclave should work.....

I do have a pair I used to feed a baby bird, but rather than disinfecting them I just don't use them for pet food anymore.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Tongs can hurt your T in feeding & isn't recommended, but... assuming you use them for maintenance, etc, here's what I do:
All of the tools/equipment I use for all of my creatures, be them plants or animals, goes through the same routine...
-Boiling water/vinegar/boiling water, we'll say "week one"
-Boiling water/bleach/boiling water, "week two"
-Boiling water/iodine/boiling water "week three"
I don't use the same agent twice in a row, & I avoid things that can potentially leave residue beyond a second shower of boiling water. I boil my plant trimmers & scissors insect & animal tongs, etc, etc, etc, all together with each cleaning that may be more or less than a "week" apart, depending on use. In my opinion, it's good to alternate cleansers, but it's fact that you shouldn't feed your T's with tongs ..

 

[l4nsky]

So, devil's advocate here, but not all feeding tongs are actually used to directly feed and cleaning them is a valid concern even for a responsible keeper.

For biosecurity purposes, I maintain two clearly marked tongs for husbandry, one for trash and one for food. The feeding tongs are used mainly to prekill and offer prey or they're used to grab dubia males by the wings as that's the easiest way to handle them. They can get quite messy with roach guts, but since they'll be used to directly handle your animal's food, being cautious about what cleaner used is warranted to a certain degree.

Now, having said all of that, and to mirror what others have already said, simple hot water and dish soap should do the trick to clean them up, just make sure to wash them well to remove all the residue after. I do have a separate cleaning method if I accidently using the feeding tongs for bolus removal, but I think that's outside the scope of the question lol.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

So, devil's advocate here, but not all feeding tongs are actually used to directly feed and cleaning them is a valid concern even for a responsible keeper.

For biosecurity purposes, I maintain two clearly marked tongs for husbandry, one for trash and one for food. The feeding tongs are used mainly to prekill and offer prey or they're used to grab dubia males by the wings as that's the easiest way to handle them. They can get quite messy with roach guts, but since they'll be used to directly handle your animal's food, being cautious about what cleaner used is warranted to a certain degree.

Now, having said all of that, and to mirror what others have already said, simple hot water and dish soap should do the trick to clean them up, just make sure to wash them well to remove all the residue after. I do have a separate cleaning method if I accidently using the feeding tongs for bolus removal, but I think that's outside the scope of the question lol.

Is there a best type of feeding tongs I just bought what pet supplies plus had lol .. I saw fancier ones online . I just drop them in the cage with them and clean bolas / water dishes . Plus grab dubia roaches which I don’t know if I should shut there heat off .