# cleaning dishes and water bowls?



## starjess81 (Dec 31, 2011)

How does everyone clean their tortoises food and water bowls? I usually soak and scrub in mild bleach water then soak in vinegar water to make sure all the bleach is gone.


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## bubbles01 (Dec 31, 2011)

I have 2 lots, I change them daily and put the spare set in the dishwasher...


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## Sammy (Dec 31, 2011)

Every night a gentle scrub. Soak in diluted vinegar for 10 mins. Rinse with warm water, dry with kitchen towels. My tortoise likes to soak in their water bowl, sometimes poo in it.


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## JoesMum (Dec 31, 2011)

I soak them in diluted Milton sterilising fluid (the stuff you use for babies' bottles) for about half an hour and then pop them in the dishwasher


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## Madkins007 (Dec 31, 2011)

My food dishes are folded pieces of newspaper- tossed every day!

I have two water dishes, and rotate them, rinse the dirty one into the toilet to avoid cross-contamination, then immediately wash in soap and water.

Those of you who use bleach and other sterilizing products, may I ask what you are worried about?


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## dmmj (Dec 31, 2011)

Hot soap and water, I do of course use a tortoise/turtle only sponge.


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## jaizei (Dec 31, 2011)

I just use hot water, soaking/scrubbing as needed.


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## starjess81 (Dec 31, 2011)

I use bleach to clean everything....lol but always rewash in vinegar water to make sure there is no bleach in them....I may try the folded up newspaper....great idea...bowls are nice but the food ends up everywhere!


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## DriveWRX (Dec 31, 2011)

I use paper plates as food dishes. Fresh ones every time.
I have 2-3 sets of water dishes and rotate. The dirty ones get washed and soaked in a mild bleach solution daily. Then they are triple rinsed and allowed to air dry completely before the next use.


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## Madkins007 (Jan 1, 2012)

While I would be the first to suggest bleach and rinsing for sick animals, why do so many of us use it on the food dishes? There are not a lot of germs that are easily passed between us and them, and most that do are dealt with nicely by soap and water.


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## ascott (Jan 1, 2012)

water dishes simply brushed clear then refilled
food dishes ---nothing hardly left behind--after they eat, I take the dish out and wipe it off and set on their enclosures for it to air out...then refill when chow time  (these are the RFs) Every so often replace it with a new one...

The CDTs do not have food dishes (they graze as a norm and if I supplement I lay it right on the turf or ground cover) and their water dishes are emptied and "swooshed" out then refilled...(these guys do not use their water dish as a toilet, so this is what I do )

I do however NEVER switch any dish from one enclosure to any other enclosure--when I do wipe out something it is with paper towel so can be tossed...


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## JoesMum (Jan 1, 2012)

Madkins007 said:


> Those of you who use bleach and other sterilizing products, may I ask what you are worried about?


I use sterilising products because Joe frequently wees or poos while eating... I wouldn't fancy eating off a dish that had been used as a toilet!


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## ascott (Jan 1, 2012)

> Joe frequently wees or poos while eating... I wouldn't fancy eating off a dish that had been used as a toilet!



Um, do you realize that they also will eat their poo and any other yummy poo, if the mood so strikes them?


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## Madkins007 (Jan 1, 2012)

OK, this may sound a bit disgusting, but bear with me...

Our normal eating dishes are often exposed to a lot of germs that can cause major health issues- salmonella, E. coli, fecalform bacteria, etc.- many of which are more dangerous than the relatively clean tortoise poo or urine. The process of using detergents and hot water (to physically break the bonds of the soil and germs from the surface so they drain away), and letting things air dry manages a huge percentage of germs quite nicely. The dishwasher adds another nice touch with the heated water that kills most things that might remain.

The main issue, as Ascott suggested, is to prevent cross-contamination between animals that are susceptible to each other's stuff. 

My tort's water dish is often poopy, and often has chunks of substrate in it, so I dump all that in the toilet, then rinse it and dump that rinse water in the toilet as well. If it is time to do the dishes, I'll wash the tortoise and cat stuff after the human stuff, and before the recycling stuff. Most often I just put a little soap in the dish and scrub it quick with hot water.


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## JoesMum (Jan 1, 2012)

ascott said:


> Um, do you realize that they also will eat their poo and any other yummy poo, if the mood so strikes them?



We've had Joe over 40 years.... I realise a lot 

I will continue to keep feeding stuff clean as foodstuffs encourage bacteria. It does no harm to Joe. TBH this only applies for the few times he's inside. Outside the lawn is his plate.


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