Using f10 to sanitise sand

[Glider]

Thought I'd put it out there to see what peoples thoughts are on this.

I would usually just replace sand every three months when used as a knobtail gecko substrate. However, I have obtained a very limited supply of proper red desert sand, the really fine bright red/maroon dune sand you usually cannot purchase.

This being a completely limited supply, it cannot simply be thrown out and replaced. So far it is spot-cleaned every night, and re-washed in copious amounts of fresh water and dried in the sun every three months.

However, I had a thought that perhaps it could be made more hygenic by adding f10 (in the weakest dilution rate specified) to the washing bucket and leaving it soak for an hour before the copious rinsing and sun-drying.

I can't see any problem with this as it will kill any lurking nasties, but will not 'poison' the sand as it will be well and truly rinsed and sun-dried before used again.

Can anyone (knowledgeable) see a good reason not to do this?

 

[miley_take]

no not that I am aware...it's safe to use with reps so you'd think it was a good idea...though I may be wrong

 

[buttss66]

Why don't you just dry the sand in the oven after you've washed it? That would kill any nasties.

 

[caustichumor]

I have done the same thing with bleach in the past, I can't see how it could cause any harm at all?

 

[Dodie]

Buttss is on the money, high heat... wet the sand a bit, nuke in oven or microwave, let dry, replace. Better yet, a pressure cooker works even better.

 

[Glider]

It's a limited resourse, but there's a lot to treat
Spreads out to a 4m x 2m area about 2cm thick, thats why it sun-dries in the backyard and not in an oven or pressure cooker!

 

[Jewly]

I use red desert sand for both my Thicktails and my Central Netted and I'm able to get it from Pet City at Mt Gravatt.

 

[buttss66]

It's a limited resourse, but there's a lot to treat
Spreads out to a 4m x 2m area about 2cm thick, thats why it sun-dries in the backyard and not in an oven or pressure cooker!

Yes I have to admit you'd need one hell of a big oven for that!:shock:

 

[Glider]

I use red desert sand for both my Thicktails and my Central Netted and I'm able to get it from Pet City at Mt Gravatt.

Hi Jewely,

The red desert sand I'm talking about is wildly different than the red desert sand you buy at Pet City. The Pet City stuff is like roadbase compared to my stuff

 

[mysnakesau]

F10 shouldn't need to be rinsed away. When I did voluntary work with the local wildlife park it was used very sparingly but when we did use it all we did was spray it round and let it dry. Even one time I accidentally sprayed a python's cage with F10 instead of the eucy wash but my boss said it won't hurt them. I didn't need to wash it away.

 

[cris]

Not much point using f10, they arnt going to transfer viruses to themselves. I would just wash it with water and dry it in the sun.

 

[Glider]

Does F10 not also kill bacteria?

 

[Glider]

Plus the sand is used in multiple enclosures so if helping maintain proper quarantine for new aquisitions is only amatter of a few drops of f10 in a bucket for an hour, I'll do it.

Basically what I was getting at in my first post is that I can see no reason NOT to do it, so I intend to unless someone sees a significant danger or risk that I hadn't thought of.

 

[-Peter]

so you do one enclosure worth at a time in the oven. easy.