anyone use Chlorhexi​dine for cleaning?

[Tekpc007]

I just ordered a gallon of 2% Chlorhexi​dine for cage cleaning for 12$ , any advice on using this? Does it need to be rinsed off with water? I also have a hand held steam cleaner i want to use on the bedding when spot cleaning , I think steam cleaning should make it last longer no? I could do the whole cage bedding every 2 weeks or so. Any harm in putting a few drops of Chlorhexi​dine in the water used to spray the cage daily for humidity if I remove the water bowl and snake?

[Lankyrob]

Having to remove the bowl and snake every day just to be able to mist the enclosure seems impractical to me, some days snakey will be in shed/digesting etc etc

[mykee]

Its a chemical, keep it away from your snakes.
I use steam to clean everything, nothing else.

[Tekpc007]

Its a chemical, keep it away from your snakes.
I use steam to clean everything, nothing else.


Yea i think once the chlorhexidone is gone , i will use only steam cleaning. i'll just use the chlorhexidone for the 6 week total cage cleanings i do when i replace substrate and clean everything like branches and stuff.

[DeesBalls]

i know this probably wont help, but to clean, i use hot water, and regular antibacterial soap... and rinse and dry the stuff (bowl ect...) and everything worked good so far...

as for what you posted about, its a chemical, id keep it away...

[LISA127]

I use it for disinfecting my cages. It's much less toxic than using a bleach solution. But I wouldn't spray the cage with it with the snake in there.

What I do is dilute it, spray it on and let it sit for about 15 minutes and then wipe dry. I then take a spray bottle of plain water and spray again to rinse, wipe that out, and repeat one more time.

As I said, it is much less toxic than bleach. It is added to mouthwash, dog dental cleaning products, all kinds of things.

[Tekpc007]

here is a very good article about it for use with reptiles.

Information on Disinfectants from the Reptile Veterinary Literature (http://www.anapsid.org/disinfectants.html)

[LISA127]

Yes, I've read that. Honestly, I'll never be without chorhexidine again. I always have it in the house anyway, as at one time in the past I had a staph skin infection. My doctor told me to keep it in the house (under the name Hibiclens OCT) to wash if I get cut or something. So obviously it kills everything. Not ony that, if it were as toxic as bleach my doctor wouldn't be telling me to use it on my skin! I love this stuff. I feel better knowing my cages are disinfected without worrying about toxic fumes for my herps.

[beardeds4life]

It also does a better job killing parasites and stuff. Bleach does not effect microbial internal parasites in poop at all. If there was a branch you had in your enclosure that the animal pooped on (im talking lizards) you scrub it with bleach and return it to the cage. The animal licks it and has parasites again.

[mykee]

Where was the comparison made to bleach? "Better than bleach" isn't saying much. Both are chemicals and in my opinion, have no place anywhere near your reptiles.

[LISA127]

I agree. It should never be sprayed in the cage while the reptile is in the there. Of course I remove all animals while cage cleaning with it. But I will never use bleach on a cage my animal has to live in. I feel totally comfortable using the chlorhexidine on cages though. Considering chlorhexidine is applied directly to our skin and used in our mouthwashes, etc. I would say it is less toxic than bleach.