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Disinfecting without bleach?

yellowfeathers

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I really want to get into making toys and perches for my budgie but I'm not fully sure how to go about disinfecting them. I've done some research but most methods I've seen include soaking them in heavily diluted bleach. I can see how this would be ok if you then scrub the living daylights out of it and ensure that no bleach remains but I don't particularly want to risk missing a bit. I am also not sure about the wood potentially absorbing some of the bleach water. Does anyone know of a better way of disinfecting things like wood and seashells?
 

Mizzely

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F10 disinfectant. Veterinary grade and safe when properly diluted.

Bleach is generally safe also, it just can't be used around the pet and they can't be in contact with it until it dries completely. Bleach breaks down essentially into salt water when properly diluted and given some time.
 

Monaco

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Very hot water will also speed up off gasing. The other thing I do with my fish equipment is to add dechlorinator to the rinse water for all of my filter media and things I can't scrub. I use it all immediately after that.
 

taxidermynerd

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F10 is safe and requires no rinsing, it also lasts a super long time because it comes in a little bottle of concentrate.
 

Khizz

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Otherwise I believe @Zara has a list of cleaning ingredients?
 

Shezbug

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You can also use a 50/50 water vinegar solution....a lot of the members here use that for cleaning and disinfecting.
Steam is another safe cleaning option.
Some use the heat of an oven for sterilizing wood too- you may have to do some digging about on this site to find the times and temperatures for this.

I personally like the F10sc solution......easy, precise, safe and used for many other things too. Once I have scrubbed things down with either hot water and dish soap or vinegar and hot water I like to rise well then cover them with F10sc and let them dry in the sunshine for however long it takes to dry them out properly.
 

Zara

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Otherwise I believe @Zara has a list of cleaning ingredients?
I know I posted my lists on the site somewhere. I can´t remember where though. I will make a thread maybe, when I get a sec so that I can stick it in my bookmarks :)
 

keikoasmom

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I didn't read the entire thread, so sorry. But we have not used bleach or ammonia of any kind
since my son and I had a live-reef aquarium business. We installed custom aquariums, and either product
used anywhere near an aquarium (especially salt water) could cause the entire ecosystem to die
within a few weeks.
We had a client with a sushi bar who thought we were ridiculous, even after we offered her
an alternative (Melaleuca Clear Power) to use-free- because she sprayed the aquariums and glass
food cases several times a day. She sis not believe that anything used in the restaurant was in the air.

Her new company reported that ALL seven aquariums crashed, everything died, within two months.
We were heart-broken. She had gorgeous fish and invertebrates.

Anyway, I have been using melaleuca (tea tree oil) products for years. I also use Mrs. Meyers
and Method products and have recently been buying from GROVE. I have also used Grapefruit Seed
Extract to disinfect the syringes for my infection-prone Amazon, Keikoa. Now I need a solution to my spider problem.
 

rocky'smom

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Please don't use tea tree oil. 50/50 vinegar and water or F-10 .
 

rocky'smom

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Tea tree oil toxic to birds
 

yellowfeathers

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Thanks for the help guys I couldn't find any F-10 so I have been using vinegar and the oven.
 

juliashmulia

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F10 all the way.
Vinegar is a mild disinfectant at best, and only at full strength.
 
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