Disinfecting Wood

[GouldieFledge]

I'm disinfecting my food/water dishes and cages with a bleach/water solution. I would assume I cannot use this mixture on wood items, like perches, branches, etc. Is there an alternative disinfectant that I can use on wooden items?

[Dave]

I ran a greenhouse most of my life. Wood benches there were always a problem. A piece of wood has millions of pores, just right for bacteria and the like to hide.

To disinfect using chemicals (bleach, virkon, quats etc) you need to clean first, because any organic matter will neutralize the disinfectant. With wood, you just can't clean properly because of the pores.

You can disinfect using hot water (160 degrees F) or oven heat (same temperature) for 30 minutes.

Butchers used to rub salt into their wood cutting blocks, as the salt would get into the pores and desiccate the germs. They put salt onto the wood and rubbed it in.

[finchboy]

I guess soaking wooden perches in a concentrated brine solution for 30 min. And thereafter drying it in the sun or oven should be doable. I've not done that yet though I'll do it once I've got spare perches.

Hopefully the dry salt crystals won't affect the birds adversely in any way.

[cindy]

you can soak perches and wooden branches in a solution of bleach and water for no less than 15 minutes, scrub and rinse...sun dry. Recommended by our avian vet...Bleach will kill bacteria, fungus and molds.

[cindy]

Another option is using Virkon S, you can safely soak and wipe down perches, the cage with a Virkon S solution.

[Dave]

Just to be clear (I know that I've said this already) bleach or Virkon S will not disinfect surfaces that are dirty when you use the chemical. Clean first, and then disinfect.

[cindy]

Yes... I discussed this with our avian vet, you can soak then scrub the grime off and soak a bit more... the virkon s works great as does bleach.... this is what works for me.

We use to pull branches from an orange tree grove in Ft Myers during pruning.... we use to scrub down with dish soap and a brush to break down any pesticides, grime then rinse well then soak in bleach and water, rinse and sun dry... as per the club's avian vet.

[cindy]

for general maintenance cleaning cage (touch ups) a few times a week you can wipe down the perches with a paper towel soaked in virkon s solution, or white vinegar and water or even use peroxide wipes.

I like the virkon the best...not found of the white vinegar smell! Virkon S kills a lot of the bacteria and fungals it is a broad spectrum disinfectant. http://www.pharmacal.com/Virkon.htm

I have not had issue with it not removing grime, takes a little scrubbing after the perches, nestboxes cage, accessories that includes cups and water tubes have been soak for a bit scrubbed and soaked a bit longer... it aslo works great in cleaning grates down. I know several breeders that use the product for cleaning. (think Sally uses Virkon S)

For the dishes and water tubes you soak for 15 minutes, scrub with a bottle brush that is left in the solution and then rinse the cup/tube..... some do not even rinse if there is no grime. Some take dirty water tubes down, empty, replace with a new tube and soak the dirty ones over night in the solution, during watering the next day they simply pull the tube out of the virkon..some rinse, some do not, fill and replace the used water tube....repeat.

Virkon is even used by some in sprouting during the soaking stage.

*The amount to use for cleaning is 4 tsp per gallon of water
*The amount to use for cleaning is 6.5 oz to 5 gallons of water
*The amount for sprouting 1/2 tsp per quart of water

The solution is good for 7 days. I keep a container made up to wipe cages and perches down. I have pulled perches soaked scrubbed soaked rinse, wipe dry and put the perch back in... they clean up fine. I use the powder vs the tablets. (use a separate clean paper towel per cage for cleaning). The lady that sells bird products, meds I purchased my virkon from said she she tears off sheets of paper towels, adds them to the virkon s solution and uses a new one per cage as she cleans cages/her aviary.

[cindy]

Virkon S is .... Contains 20.4% potassium peroxymonosulfate & 1.5% sodium chloride (Salt). A 10 lb pail makes 123 gallons solution.

I also have a large walkin wooden framed aviary in one of my 2 birdrooms...I use Virkon to wipe/wash/scrub the frame and floor and mesh. I have over 2 dozen java in the aviary and have been happy with the product for cleaning/disinfecting.

[Sally]

Yes, I also use Virkon S, I love this stuff. I keep buckets of Virkon S solution in my bird room. I have three gallons of solution (1 Tbs. Virkon S to 3 gallons of water). I keep my water tubes soaking in these buckets. Each day, I take the water tubes off the cages and dump the water out. I take clean tubes out of the soaking bucket, fill them with fresh water (no rinsing), and place them back on the cages. Then I place all the used tubes in the buckets to soak in the solution till the next day, when I repeat the procedure. Since the solution is only viable for 7 days, once a week I throw out all the solution and make a fresh batch.

I also use Virkon S for soaking/sprouting seeds, as well as disinfecting.

[GouldieFledge]

Thank you for all the info cindy and Sally, this is great. I've been looking for Virkon everywhere and I can't find it, where do you buy it? I'm in northern New Jersey.

I was also hoping to avoid the smell of vinegar! Haha.

Now normally I use dishwashing liquid (Dawn) to clean out the food/water dishes and wipe down all the perches/branches and grates, and then rinse. That's my regular cleaning routine. Is this not advisable?

In between that schedule, I'll do a bleach soak (I have been on the non-porous stuff, anyway). Fortunately, I did know that organic matter renders disinfectants like bleach neutral, so I had that going for me.

[cindy]

Some feed stores carry but most order their in....think Terri stopped carrying the powder and has the tablets only. http://www.glamgouldians.com/product-virkons.php

you can shop around to see who carries it, look on amazon too. See if your feed store can get it in for you.

you can clean with dish soap but it will not disinfect. I like the virkon because it disinfects. The first time I used it I was amazed on how well it cleaned perches, drinkers and cages.

[lovezebs]

I use a mixture of white vinegar and water.
Also wash things in hot water and dish soap.

[Sally]

The 10# pail of Virkon S is available online, check Amazon. This is a LOT of powder, it is expensive but will last a really long time! For those with small numbers of birds, I think I would go with the tablets, or you will have that pail of powder for years! lol

[slwatson]

Sally

I have a question about the tablets...since that's what I have, because I didn't want to spend so much money on the powder.

As Cindy mentioned, the amount for sprouting is 1/2 tsp per quart of water....can I crush a tablet or two, then measure out 1/2 a tsp, and use that as if it were the powder form? I didn't know if it was more concentrated since it was pill form, or if it was the same as the powder.