Sterilizing / decontaminating after death

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Simland

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Hi,

I was wondering how you guys sterilize your terrariums to prepare them for new occupants after a death (especially if you are not entirely sure of the cause of death).

Wood and rock are easy, but what about the terrarium itself and the rest of the furniture (commercial resin or plastic water bowls, fake plants, real plants, and anything else you may have in there).
 
For general disinfection (i.e. disinfection to avoid catching something from my animals), I use rubbing alcohol (the one I have right now is 70% isopropyl alcohol, but I'm thinking of getting a more concentrated rubbing alcohol).

Is rubbing alcohol sufficient when your salamander may have died from a disease or parasite?

It evaporates relatively quickly, so, at least, the odds of poisoning your other salamander are pretty low as long as you don't put it right in.
 
Dilute chlorox is sufficient. I would be afraid of residue from rubbing alcohol.
 
michael said:
Dilute chlorox is sufficient. I would be afraid of residue from rubbing alcohol.
Click to expand...

Chlorox is bleach right? Don't they leave residue...? or do they evaporate?

What solution(as in water:chlorox ratio?) do you recommend?
 
Rupert said:
Chlorox is bleach right? Don't they leave residue...? or do they evaporate?

What solution(as in water:chlorox ratio?) do you recommend?
Click to expand...

You stole the words from my fingers.

I think alcohol evaporates pretty completely because it's evaporation point is so low (I guess there could be something else in there that could leave a residue), but I'm not sure if it's a strong enough disinfectant to kill all of the potential diseases and parasites, or if it stays on long enough to do the job properly.
 
About 5% chlorine bleach. It breaks down fairly fast. I use the dilute solution for about a 15 minutes soak. After I dump the chlorine bleach out I rinse or soak with tap water and dechlorinator. The dechlorinator probably isn't necessary if the equipment is not going to be used immediately.
 
michael said:
About 5% chlorine bleach. It breaks down fairly fast. I use the dilute solution for about a 15 minutes soak. After I dump the chlorine bleach out I rinse or soak with tap water and dechlorinator. The dechlorinator probably isn't necessary if the equipment is not going to be used immediately.
Click to expand...

Same procedure for substrate as well?

Im not so sure if I should soak my 0.6mm sugar-sized sand should be soaked in bleach... Or would a good rinse sort things out?

Thanks in advance :)
 
michael said:
After I dump the chlorine bleach out I rinse or soak with tap water and dechlorinator. The dechlorinator probably isn't necessary if the equipment is not going to be used immediately.
Click to expand...

How much dechlorinator should be used? Just enough for to remove the chlorine from the rinsing water? Or enough to cover for chlorine residues from the bleach?

I sort of remember reading about someone killing all of their newts by not using enough dechlorinator after a bleach decontamination, but they might have used pure bleach instead of a bleach solution...I don't remember...
 
Should a test be done before putting the new salamander in.

For instance: maybe filling part of the terrarium with dechlorinated water and testing it for chlorine? If so, are proper chlorine test kits available? Are the ones for pools suitable or are they meant only for concentrations that are too high?

So many questions, lol...
 
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