Mantis Stick Questions URGENT REPLY QUICKLY!

[Mantis Man13]

I am getting my mantises in a few hours and I need to know something quick! I have sticks that have been in a cage for a year do I need to disinfect them? How do I disinfect them quickly? Also, in another cage I have hot glued sticks. How do I disinfect those without taking them out? Please respond quickly I need to be ready for my Orchids when they arrive!

 

[LAME]

They'll probably be alright, but if you REALLY want to disinfect you can boil and/or bake them. As far as the ones that are hot glued... You may try a water/bleach solution, chisel them out and boil/bake, or just leave them be..

Hope this helps.

 

[Mantis Man13]

How long should I boil the sticks? Should I put vinegar in the solution as well to kill off bacteria better? Please give more info thx.

 

[dmina]

I have a feeling you don't want to remove them... so I suggest the water/bleach solution as Lame said... but I would spray well, let set for a minute... but rinse even better...

 

[Mantis Man13]

Would vinegar be better instead of bleach since it is natural? Also, I don't want the bleach to affect the sticks in any way that is bad.

 

[CosbyArt]

You could try vinegar as you seem set to use it; however, most use a bleach mixture (as bleach is great at disinfecting), making sure to rinse it well and let it dry.

Vinegar is used in fly food/medium and such, the fruit flies love it. So vinegar doesn't seem to disinfect anything as it would kill/injure the flies and their larvae, which it doesn't and makes them thrive (they eat it).

 

[Mantis Man13]

How should I rinse the sticks that are still in my cage? I don't want to take them out because I glued them.

 

[dmina]

I don't know.. I never used vinegar... but I do not use that strong of a bleach solution as Thomas suggested... I only put a few drops of bleach to a cup of water.. maybe I am not making it strong enough?... but I have not had any problems reusing my containers... Knock on wood...

 

[dmina]

Pour water in and shake it around really well....

 

[Mantis Man13]

So do you not have any ideas for how I can clean my sticks in my cage that I don't want to take out then?

 

[CosbyArt]

I don't know.. I never used vinegar... but I do not use that strong of a bleach solution as Thomas suggested... I only put a few drops of bleach to a cup of water.. maybe I am not making it strong enough?... but I have not had any problems reusing my containers... Knock on wood...

You are quite right about that, I just mix bleach into my bottle of water until I can detect a small odor of it once mixed (much less than I said for sure, so I removed that). I think the amount to use depends on if you are doing a disinfect/precaution cleaning, killing mold, or what not too.

 

[CosbyArt]

So do you not have any ideas for how I can clean my sticks in my cage that I don't want to take out then?

Indeed as mentioned use a spray bottle with the mixture and spray the sticks with a mist until they are wet. Let it stand a few minutes. Then with another spray bottle with only water spray everything clean, and wipe dry.

 

[LAME]

Indeed as mentioned use a spray bottle with the mixture and spray the sticks with a mist until they are wet. Let it stand a few minutes. Then with another spray bottle with only water spray everything clean, and wipe dry.

^ perfect.Also... When using the boil and/or bake method. It varies with size... But I'm sure you'll know when its ready. It only needs to boil or bake long enough to kill anything on or in whatever it is your sterilizing.

However when I do it, I boil AND bake... So the process is longer for me.

 

[MantidBro]

^ perfect.

Also... When using the boil and/or bake method. It varies with size... But I'm sure you'll know when its ready. It only needs to boil or bake long enough to kill anything on or in whatever it is your sterilizing.

However when I do it, I boil AND bake... So the process is longer for me.

I boil mine, scrub em with a toothbrush, sometimes salt the sticks then rinse em, and then microwave em dry lol

 

[Mantis Man13]

I put 90 percent hot water 10 percent bleach and soaked the cage and sticks with it. Then I rinsed everything off well with water. Is that enough to ensure sanitation? And is rinsing it off well enough to combat the bleach so my Orchids won't die from it?

 

[dmina]

Yes, if you give it a good time to dry you should be fine.. I think the bleach breaks down quickly to a harmless component.