Big clean

[Reptile- mad]

My first big clean is coming up and I was wondering about any tips? I bought some 'Hera care' but I don't know if that's reliable or not. What do you do with your skink? And also my vivarium is wood and dose no have a screen top so putting water in it might be tricky. Thanks!

[LLB]

Although we are also new to BTS care, I did a lot of extensive research with sanitizing and disinfecting. I would suggest Simple Green (diluted per instructions) for sanitizing (you can spray directly on wood and wipe) and Novalsen for disinfecting (which also can be sprayed directly on wood). It can be sprayed and left to dry - the product has a lot of information on use. Novalsen is a bit pricey but a little bit goes a long way.

Because the Novalsen needs to dry, you might want to have a "tub" for back-up that you can put some substrate in and hang your basking light over to keep your skink warm... I hope this is useful to you and helps a bit?

[Reptile- mad]

Thank so much! but i just I can't find Nolvalsen in Australia. Anything else that might work?

[Spindown]

I use F-10. Some people use other things, I'd recommend that you do a search since there are some great detailed threads on it here

[Reptile- mad]

I have bought the simple green but cannot find nolvasen in Australia!

[Spindown]

I would recommend against Novalsen as a cleaner, as its a generic form of Chlorahexidine...a wound scrub, NOT a disinfectant.

I'm not sure what's in Simple Green, but I've been seeing it suggested recently, and am curious about it.

[El Lobo]

F10SC is readily available in reptile and other pet shops and will cover most things you are likely to come up against in a captive reptile's environment.

If you are searching for it I think it should be spelled Nolvasan.

[Scotts1au]

I just use good old cheap household disinfectant and a full clean out/strip down of the enclosure once a month or so :-) seems to work for me.

[Katydid11]

Strong sunshine is excellent at killing a number of bacteria and viruses. If you have a good sunny spot outside and can house your skink elsewhere for a little while, it would be helpful to empty out the vivarium, do a basic cleaning, dry it well and put it out in direct sunlight for a day or two. The heat, drying and UV light can knock out a lot of micro-organisms.

[Spindown]

Warm temps is a great suggestion. If you have a temp gun, make sure that it reaches temps about 180-200*F, as most nasties will die at those temps. Just be careful not to warm up or cool down the glass too fast

[Midnightgallop]

I try to use bleach diluted or f10 biocare