when can I move my spoon back to her room?

[bingerhammer]

Hi all, I'm shiny new to the hobby and just hoping for a bit of advice

I had to spray down some shelves with disinfectant (just antibacterial kitchen spray) last night due to a grain mites outbreak from my fruit flies that I discovered yesterday. I moved my spider's enclosure into another room before I did this.

It's been about 12-14hrs. I've aired the room out and it still smells like the spray. Will it be safe to put her back or should I wait longer?

 

[The Snark]

WAIT. We cannot tell you how long without knowing what chemicals are in the spray but the presence of the odor is tell tale they are still present. How about you thoroughly cleaning the area that was sprayed? In the future, a very mild solution of laundry detergent in water is quite efficient at killing grain mites. 1 teaspoon in a half gallon of water.

 

[bingerhammer]

Oh no, I've probably massively overdone it then in my panic

The bottles says, Per 100g contains 58.00g Ethanol, 0.10g Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Saccharinate, Contains Disinfectant, Parfum

 

[The Snark]

Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Saccharinate

AKA BKC. Bad news. Wash it off. Powerful fungicide in concentrations. Residual. That is, biocidal agent. Keep well away from animals.

Benzalkonium chloride, also known as alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride and by the trade name Zephiran, is a type of cationic surfactant. It is an organic salt classified as a quaternary ammonium compound. ADBACs have three main categories of use: as a biocide, ...

 

[bingerhammer]

Oh god okay yeah I defo went overboard. I did wipe the surfaces down this morning, but that was with kitchen wipes that look like they also include bkc. I'll wash the shelves with water & detergent like you said, just thankful its only a small area and I didnt use it on the shelves where I keep her.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Arachnopets]

@HooahArmy is always my go to for anything needing chemical related answers.

 

[The Snark]

I had a feeling BKC was in that spray. From deadly mold killer that requires a respirator to the FDA approved preservative on the packaging of all sorts of food - all depending on the concentration, the stuff is used everywhere. Just shows to go you, read the labels of your products, be wary, and use a surfeit of common sense assuming the worst.

 

[bingerhammer]

I had a feeling BKC was in that spray. From deadly mold killer that requires a respirator to the FDA approved preservative on the packaging of all sorts of food - all depending on the concentration, the stuff is used everywhere. Just shows to go you, read the labels of your products, be wary, and use a surfeit of common sense assuming the worst.

I'll be sure to check literally anything that I use in my room after this. I just have the one spider, and I keep her in my gaming/office room as it's the warmest room in the house, so I sorta panicked after finding the mites and went into deep-cleaning mode. Feeling a lot better though after reading some posts about mites on this forum, I probably could have just left it at binning the cultures and wiping down the surfaces a couple times a day since I took away their food source and there's nothing else in here they can eat

The good news though is that I wiped down the surfaces & aired the room overnight, and now the room just smells of icy cold Scottish air. I'll clean the shelves a couple more times today and air out again tonight before putting her back in here Also bought DE to make some moats for keeping the casters in (I think I'm done with fruit flies lol) and lay a trap and hopefully catch the remaining stragglers.

Now I've just gotta try and not overanalyze every speck of dust that I come across

 

[The Snark]

The good news though is that I...

... thought things through and was cautious, and we aren't reading yet another 'Why is my spider in a death curl? I did everything right!'.
This modern age is flooding our lives with conveniences inclusive of a galaxy of chemicals that are never tested on or around animals. Or people for that matter.
A week ago my wife asked me about a rash and itching. Checking her over from ankles to neck on her back she was solid urticaria with pitting edema. I whammed her with powerful antihistamines, saw a recession, then did a little sleuthing. She had her car washed and they used some nifty new chemical to clean the seats.

 

[bingerhammer]

... thought things through and was cautious, and we aren't reading yet another 'Why is my spider in a death curl? I did everything right!'.
This modern age is flooding our lives with conveniences inclusive of a galaxy of chemicals that are never tested on or around animals. Or people for that matter.
A week ago my wife asked me about a rash and itching. Checking her over from ankles to neck on her back she was solid urticaria with pitting edema. I whammed her with powerful antihistamines, saw a recession, then did a little sleuthing. She had her car washed and they used some nifty new chemical to clean the seats.

Yikes, that's rough! I guess I never really thought about the chemicals they use in stuff these days, but now I definitely will be checking!

I've only had my spider for 3 weeks so I'm still very nervous about what I'm doing, and the grain mites just added on to an already stressful week following discovering flour mites in the kitchen (chilly Scottish weather + our poorly venitlated kitchen = perfect conditions for flour mites to thrive) but I really appreciate your swift response yesterday and now I know what to use/avoid when cleaning, plus the tools I need to make a (hopefully) foolproof setup for keeping my feeders. Thank you again for your help here's a pic of my spood for tax- I named her Piper.

 

[The Snark]

I named her Piper.

Wishing you both a long enjoyable relationship.

Don't be stressed over grain mites. Around here everything becomes infested with them. Hermetically sealed containers or keep in the fridge. You can also use grain mites as the canary in the coal mine. We usually keep a thriving container or two of them and test foods suspected of having pesticides.

 

[HooahArmy]

A bit late, but worth the wait!

Ladies and gentlemen, and @Arachnopets for summoning me out of a pentagram! Let's take a look at what we have in this case! Our big boss on hand for the disinfectant is Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Saccharinate, which I'll call ADBAS for short. This stuff is a hot item in the chem field because of its proven hazard to human health along with the health of critters. Although it needs to be ingested or rubbed on for maximum health impact, spraying it on a surface that is not frequently contacted can help reduce exposure risk. The chemical also is less of a transfer hazard when dry, but still can pose health risks due to enduring vapors and transfer to hands or items that contact food, critters, or the body.

Altered toxicological endpoints in humans from common quaternary ammonium compound disinfectant exposure - PMC

Abbreviations: ADBAC, alkyldimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride; ANOVA, analysis of variance; BAC, benzalkonium chloride; CRP, C-reactive protein; DDAC, didecyldimethyl ammonium chloride; FCCP, trifluoromethoxy carbonylcyanide phenylhydrazone; IL-6, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

As with all chemicals used in places near pets, it's a good idea to wait until the scent dissapates, since nose-notable vapors can indicate that the stuff is still venting into the air. After the scent becomes undetectable to the nose, a wipedown and cleansing of the area with soap and water, hydrogen peroxide, or other safe cleanser can be use to sanitize surfaces and locations of the any lingering residues. ADBAS can hang around as a residue, so to ensure maximum safety, a post-use cleansing is a must to make a living space safe for small sensitive creatures again. Good job, @bingerhammer, on the wipedown you conducted yesterday! As long as you don't feel or see any grimes or notice any offensive stenches, your pal should be fine!

 

[bingerhammer]

Good job, @bingerhammer, on the wipedown you conducted yesterday! As long as you don't feel or see any grimes or notice any offensive stenches, your pal should be fine!

I've learned so muched in the last couple of days! I'm very grateful to everyone's info and advice, especially regarding the chemicals. I cleaned the shelves twice more yesterday, and brought spood back into the room this morning and she seems pleased to be back in her usual spot (if not a bit miffed that there's no sign of food. I should hopefully have some green bottles hatching in a few days, but if not, the reptile store in town will sell me some fruit flies on their own. Think I'm done with the cultures for now lol)

Thank you

 

[The Snark]

ADBAS

Not to mention what gets created when noxious chemicals get combined. I was reading about that railways tank car disaster and fire where they openly came out and said combined chemicals produce toxins that are off all scales and can never be identified and tested let alone what short and long term hazards may be created. Chemical Armageddon waiting to happen?

@HooahArmy Can't find the web site now. But, a college did a survey and found on average, 100 or more synthetic chemicals on the average dressing table. Any two or more when combined together may create a toxin. Dressing table = EPA superfund site.