Cleaning Terracotta Dishes

CrystalsFamily

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Ok, perhaps I am getting obsessive and/or starting to overpost. But I am still on a quest to get Crystal's new home as close to perfect for him as I can. I see that there are a lot of approaches and opinions about cleaning tortoise dishes. I lean toward wanting things disinfected, for his sake and ours. I have been fine washing the food dish with soap and water in the kitchen sink, but the water dish, in which he sometimes poops or urates (is that the verb?), I want sterilized. I have been using Lysol cleaner, in the bathtub, and meaning to switch to a bleach solution, but it hasn't felt so important what I used because it was a plastic dish.

I read about using terracotta dishes to help keep his nails shorter, and that seemed like a great idea. Plus the big plastic water dish was taking up too much room and was probably too deep. But now I'm concerned about how to disinfect the unglazed terracotta. Since it is porous (soaks in water and then dries out again), I am concerned that cleaner could leach out from it back into the water Crystal drinks. Has anyone else thought this hard about this?
 

thatrebecca

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I scrub my terra cotta dishes with water and the same Dawn or Palmolive dish soap I use for our own dinner dishes. That seems to get them plenty clean. Never had a problem. I wouldn't use Lysol or anything toxic.


Oh but I should say, I don't wash it in the kitchen sink -- I use a designated rubber dish tub for washing my tort supplies, and a designated scrubber.
 

CrystalsFamily

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thatrebecca said:
I scrub my terra cotta dishes with water and the same Dawn or Palmolive dish soap I use for our own dinner dishes. That seems to get them plenty clean. Never had a problem. I wouldn't use Lysol or anything toxic.


Oh but I should say, I don't wash it in the kitchen sink -- I use a designated rubber dish tub for washing my tort supplies, and a designated scrubber.



Thanks, Rebecca. Do you feel like you shouldn't wash the food dish in the kitchen sink, or just the dishes they might poop etc in?
 

thatrebecca

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CrystalsFamily said:
thatrebecca said:
I scrub my terra cotta dishes with water and the same Dawn or Palmolive dish soap I use for our own dinner dishes. That seems to get them plenty clean. Never had a problem. I wouldn't use Lysol or anything toxic.


Oh but I should say, I don't wash it in the kitchen sink -- I use a designated rubber dish tub for washing my tort supplies, and a designated scrubber.



Thanks, Rebecca. Do you feel like you shouldn't wash the food dish in the kitchen sink, or just the dishes they might poop etc in?



Sometimes my torts go the bathroom on their food dishes, which are actually pieces of blue stone leftover from some landscaping we did. I'm sure folks who are careful to disinfect afterward manage to clean their tort stuff in the kitchen sink without incident, but for me it's just easier to have it separate.
 

OliveW

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I realize this is a very old post, but I have a question about the same thing so it popped up.

I use a 14" unglazed terracotta planter bottom for fresh water. This used to be for my tort to sit in water, but he takes up the entire dish now, so he has a mud hole to play in. I just like to keep clean water for him to drink.

So how do you clean these? I have been afraid to use any kind of soap for fear it will soak into the pottery. No bleach, for the same reason. Algae grows in it almost daily and I have to scrub it out. I've used vinegar and water from the hose, but it's getting to be a real pain.

I'm also concerned about the vinegar, even though I rinse extensively. It takes quite a bit of scrubbing and then seems to start growing algae again as I'm walked away from it. I guess it's the Florida sun. It's getting ridiculous.

Tractor Supply has shallow galvanized metal pans that I'm thinking of switching to. They don't have the sloped edge that I like on the terracotta, but I'm thinking my 8 pound sully can handle it now without being a flipping hazard. Thoughts on that?
 

Gillian M

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Thanks, Rebecca. Do you feel like you shouldn't wash the food dish in the kitchen sink, or just the dishes they might poop etc in?
Personally, I never use the kitchen sink for anything to do with my tort. "Better be safe than sorry."
 

Yvonne G

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Algae isn't unhealthy. . . unsightly, yes, but unhealthy, no. I just flush out the dishes in place with the hose and refill with the hose. Water dishes in indoor enclosures get dumped in a bucket kept for that purpose then re filled.
 

OliveW

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Algae isn't unhealthy. . . unsightly, yes, but unhealthy, no. I just flush out the dishes in place with the hose and refill with the hose. Water dishes in indoor enclosures get dumped in a bucket kept for that purpose then re filled.

Wow, that is great to hear! Now I won't feel like a bad mom if his drinking water isn't sparkling clean.
 

Sarah2020

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Hi, I use a reptile disinfectant spray on both water and food dishes and enclosure items and unit. Scrub with a dedicated brush if required and rinse then refill. When completed I spray household disinfectant cleaner spray over sink/tap and worktop. Very easy and simple .
The brand I use Beaphar Deep Clean Reptile Disinfectant
 

OliveW

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Hi, I use a reptile disinfectant spray on both water and food dishes and enclosure items and unit. Scrub with a dedicated brush if required and rinse then refill. When completed I spray household disinfectant cleaner spray over sink/tap and worktop. Very easy and simple .
The brand I use Beaphar Deep Clean Reptile Disinfectant

I didn't know reptile disinfectant even existed! I do use a dedicated brush that I keep out in the shed.

Happy Birthday! 🎂🥳🎉
 

Tom

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I realize this is a very old post, but I have a question about the same thing so it popped up.

I use a 14" unglazed terracotta planter bottom for fresh water. This used to be for my tort to sit in water, but he takes up the entire dish now, so he has a mud hole to play in. I just like to keep clean water for him to drink.

So how do you clean these? I have been afraid to use any kind of soap for fear it will soak into the pottery. No bleach, for the same reason. Algae grows in it almost daily and I have to scrub it out. I've used vinegar and water from the hose, but it's getting to be a real pain.

I'm also concerned about the vinegar, even though I rinse extensively. It takes quite a bit of scrubbing and then seems to start growing algae again as I'm walked away from it. I guess it's the Florida sun. It's getting ridiculous.

Tractor Supply has shallow galvanized metal pans that I'm thinking of switching to. They don't have the sloped edge that I like on the terracotta, but I'm thinking my 8 pound sully can handle it now without being a flipping hazard. Thoughts on that?
I have a few thoughts on this:
1. Tortoises in the wild drink from mud puddles. Not sterile or even clean in any way. They are not sensitive to this sort of thing. Remember that at least some, if not all species, eat mammal feces are part of their regular diet, and will readily do so in captivity too. I am NOT advocating dirty dishes, or unsanitary practices, just pointing out some facts.
2. There are pond and aquarium filters that use algae. Literally, algae "cleans" the water as it passes over. Algae removes pollutants (fertilizer) from the water, uses up carbon dioxide and gives of oxygen. I agree with Yvonne on this point. Feces and even dirt should be removed and cleaned up daily or more if needed, but algae growing on the surfaces of an otherwise "clean" terra cotta saucer is not a problem. My usual routine is to blast all the old water, dirt and debris out of the bowls with a hose, and then refill them. If a water dish is particularly dirty I will lift it up and really blast it out, but I only scrub them with plain water and a brush once a month or so. I never use soap or cleaning agents of any kind. Every once in a while, I'll get a wild hair and decide to bleach them. All you have to do is rinse well and then let the saucer sit in the sun for a day or two. There won't be any bleach left after that, but even if there was, trace amounts of bleach do no harm. Bleach is in our tap water anyway. Chlorine. It keeps the water safe for us to drink and bathe in. In fact I knew a vet that used dilute bleach to medicate sick hamsters that came into our pet store and it worked like a charm.
3. I usually tell people to buy two sets of dishes. Use one set and at the end of the day, or the next morning, swap it out for the new clean set. Rinse and scrub the dirty set and then leave it to sit in the sun for drying and disinfection. Your bowls will always remain clean and disinfected this way and will never grow algae. The heat and UV from direct sunshine offers terrific disinfection properties, and is completely non-toxic in every way. No residue from sunshine. Also, iff you drop a dish and break it, well, you already have a spare. Terra cotta saucers are cheap. I use so many of them that I just buy them by the dozen to save trips to the store.
4. I don't trust galvanized pans. Ever notice how they turn the water all milky white when they are new? What is that? What is leeching into the water from that? No thank you. Likewise with some plastics. I use plastic trays for water on my big guys, but they are trays meant for pizza dough, so I know it is a safe type of plastic.
 

OliveW

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Thanks, @Tom! I've never used galvanized before so I didn't notice know about the yuk they add to water. Glad I asked before getting one.

I'll definitely pick up a couple more terracotta ones. Of course, intellectually, I know crystal clear and clean water doesn't exist in the wild, except maybe some mountain streams. It's just a me thing. Tortimer mucks up his water every day, the algae was really my main concern because I thought it would harm him in some way. I'm very glad to hear from both you and @Yvonne G that's it's not only safe, but a potential positive. I'll be giving the "blast out" method a try. Sounds much easier! I'll leave scrubbing to when it gets to really needing it.

No bleach or chlorine in our water. We have a well and two filtration systems. We most certainly have enough sun to sanitize something dry that's left out.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Algae isn't unhealthy. . . unsightly, yes, but unhealthy, no. I just flush out the dishes in place with the hose and refill with the hose. Water dishes in indoor enclosures get dumped in a bucket kept for that purpose then re filled.
same here.
Levi has 2 terra cotta dishes in the yard. Both are filled with water. I never move them, just hose them out and refill. In the summer I occasionally use a dedicated scrub brush to wipe off the algae.
 

Dovey

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Ok, perhaps I am getting obsessive and/or starting to overpost. But I am still on a quest to get Crystal's new home as close to perfect for him as I can. I see that there are a lot of approaches and opinions about cleaning tortoise dishes. I lean toward wanting things disinfected, for his sake and ours. I have been fine washing the food dish with soap and water in the kitchen sink, but the water dish, in which he sometimes poops or urates (is that the verb?), I want sterilized. I have been using Lysol cleaner, in the bathtub, and meaning to switch to a bleach solution, but it hasn't felt so important what I used because it was a plastic dish.

I read about using terracotta dishes to help keep his nails shorter, and that seemed like a great idea. Plus the big plastic water dish was taking up too much room and was probably too deep. But now I'm concerned about how to disinfect the unglazed terracotta. Since it is porous (soaks in water and then dries out again), I am concerned that cleaner could leach out from it back into the water Crystal drinks. Has anyone else thought this hard about this?
 

Dovey

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I wash my terracotta dishes out daily with an extremely mild dish soap cut 50/50 or more with water. I got one of those hollow sponge wands that holds dish detergent to scrub any "grunginess" off, wipe it with a clean towel, and thoroughly air dry it before I replace it in her habitat. 2 minutes to wash and wipe, 30 minutes to air dry. Done it that way for years.
 

Maggie3fan

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I figure tortoises eat their own poop or someone else's. So I don't worry about sanitizing anything. Mary drinks from the box turtle pond filled with poop and slugs and snails and crawdad's to mess with lol. Sometimes when one of the poster's has a tort with a mystery illness...I bet some of those are because they are kept too clean...
 

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