This is actually more of a poll, but there is an almost endless number of options, so I figure I'd just let people just chime in. I wanted to know what everyone used for cleaning up after their pets. In the reptile community this can be a pretty big subject, for two main reasons. One, all reptiles, like all birds, are potential carriers of Salmonella. That is pretty easily dealt with, and really not as big of a risk as it sounds, but should always be considered. For the most part, basic sanitation can remove this risk entirely. Two, there are a number of infections, bacterial, viral, and parasitic, that reptiles can have, and transfer to other reptiles, that can be a problem. And, many can be "carriers", not showing symptoms for an extended period, and transfer the infection to another species unknowingly that is not as resistant.
But I would think others with multiple pets, especially if you do any rescues, would be concerned about this as well. Personally, my new favorite is a product called
F10sc (super concentrate). It is a "secret recipe", primarily based on alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride, a type of
quaternary ammonium, or what is called "quat", or "quat sanitizer", which has been considered the safest and most effective sanitizer solution in food service for years now. It kills all types of pathogens, it is bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, & sporicidal.
It has been common in the UK, & the rest of the EU, and Australia for years, is used in many zoos and veterinary offices, food service and livestock type facilities. And it has a very low toxicity to animals. There are many people and veterinarians that use it in a nebulizers to treat animals with respiratory infections.
I also still keep chlorhexidine around, which is another good disinfectant, though not as safe and needs to be rinsed thoroughly. And diluted properly, it is also very good for almost any species of reptile with stomatitis, or mouth rot. And occasionally I still use bleach, and more regular soap, like the old fashioned dawn, the plain blue stuff, not "ultra", "super", "scented", or any of that. I still think that is one of the best surfactant cleaners I have ever used.
So what disinfectants does everyone else use? For fish, cats, dogs, litter pans, beds, whatever?
