Bleach in water pools

[ZEROPILOT]

A few questions here about bleach.
My Redfoot torts lay in and poo in the water pools each and every day. I wash them out and replace the water just about every day. I also have in the past thought about placing two or three bleach drops per gallon like you would for human consumption.
Is a very small level acceptable and how long does it take to dissapate.?
This would just be for the prevention of disease.

 

[DawnH]

If it were me I would not add bleach to the drinking water but instead clean with it. For instance, I clean Tuleo's bowls, make sure they are soaking wet and do a bleach clean then rinse 400 times before refilling. I would be leery about leaving any amount of bleach in for consumption.

 

[wellington]

I agree with DawnH I would never want an animal to ingest bleach. Taking a big risk if you ask me.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Me too.
I would never chance it.
Not worth the risk.

 

[naturalman91]

wouldnt risk it

 

[jaizei]

I dont know that it'd be worth the effort if you're already changing the water frequently but I don't see what the risk would be if you followed the same guidelines as for human consumption.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Human consumption is 3 drops per gallon.
My concern was that mammals and reptiles might react differently.
I'll just keep bailing and changing every other day.
Thanks.

 

[Tom]

Years ago I worked with a vet in a pet store. We would sometimes get in new hamsters that had diarrhea. He would mix up a solution of very dilute bleach, just regular laundry bleach mixed with lots of water and he would administer this with an eye drop to each one. He did this with hundreds of them over a period of years and it cured them every time. I don't remember what the concentration was, but it was more than 3 drops per gallon. The point of the story is that a little trace amount of chlorine bleach won't hurt anything.

I don't think 3 drops per gallon is going to do anything either. Chlorine by itself dissipates very fast in warm water in sunshine. We learned about this in the animal college from the vet when we were taught proper disinfection techniques. We had to mix up a fresh batch of bleach water every day. This is also why you must run enough "conditioner" in swimming pools. The cyanuric acid helps keep the free chlorine in the water longer. In our tap they add ammonia. Chlorine bonds with ammonia and forms "chloramines" which are much more stable and last longer than plain chlorine. Using plain city tap water will do more than you adding bleach.

I think if you hose out your pool, splash some bleach on the wet surface, let is sit 20 minutes and then rinse thoroughly before refilling, you will be fine. Personally, I would skip the bleach and let the pool form a layer of beneficial bacteria and algae. Just hose it out thoroughly and remove any solids daily.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thanks Tom.
I'll do just that.

 

[Blakem]

My sulcata does the same thing. I will dump it out every other day or so, let the hot sun dry up the junk, and fill it back up. Sorry I'm not helpful with the bleach. Its Good to read for me

 

[Hippytort]

For the water bowl for mu sulcata, Every few weeks, on a cool day or in the evening when I'm sure he is in for the evening, I pour a good splash of bleach in his water bowl, Let it sit for a while then dump, rinse and refill.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Right now the heat and mosquitos are the water pool issue......

 

[CourtneyG]

Sun destroys bleach so if you leave it for a day in full sun then rinse clean you are safe. What we do with fish tanks that have algae in them and we want to use them again. Also what we do with water troughs at work.

 

[JohnnyB65]

I noticed Last weekend a pink mold growing in the bottom of my tortoises soaking container. I don’t know what this mold is or if it is dangerous, but I have seen it in my shower if I miss a cleaning. It usually comes right off in the shower with a little spray bath cleaner.

I pulled it completely out and tried to wash it with a scrub brush which didn’t work and then I tried pure Clorox in the container. I let it soak and then used the scrub brush again to remove all but just a trace. I rinsed it the best I could and let it set out in the sun all week to remove the bleach. I can’t smell the bleach anymore, but it appears the mold has hardened similar to lime or calcium build up.

So now I don’t know if in fact it is mold or perhaps some sort of orange mineral build up although the color is barely noticeable after the bleach. I’m curious now what it might be.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

The orange or pinkish 'mold' commonly found in bathrooms, on shower curtains and seemingly on your tort's soaking bowl is probably the bacteria Serratia marcescens. It can cause illness in people and other animals, so probably tortoises.
But is killed by bleach and will leave a 'skeletal' residue behind.
Probably safe now, but I'd get another soaking bowl myself, just in case.

 

[JohnnyB65]

The orange or pinkish 'mold' commonly found in bathrooms, on shower curtains and seemingly on your tort's soaking bowl is probably the bacteria Serratia marcescens. It can cause illness in people and other animals, so probably tortoises.
But is killed by bleach and will leave a 'skeletal' residue behind.
Probably safe now, but I'd get another soaking bowl myself, just in case.

Wow, thanks for identifying that. Now I know what look for and I will be researching this. It must be coming from my water supply because my tortoise has never been near my shower and the only thing in common is the water. I can't wait to talk to the neighbors to see if they also have it.
I can't thank you enough for replying because I've wondered about this stuff for a long time