Cleaning Pesticide Container

[chameleoman]

Hey everyone i thought this might be a useful thread mostly because its my problem right now but i have a 10 gallon tank and i had crickets in there. The tank got infested with ants and my dad sprayed this ant killer (basically a pesticide) i need to put my crickets in there right now but want to know how would i clean it first? It of course needs to be SUPER CLEAN because

1. Crickets are going in there
2. Baby crickets will be hatched in there
3. And my last thing is im feeding those crickets to my CHAMELEONS!!! so i dont want them to kill me chams?!?!?!


-Joseph

 

[SpartyTessy]

I would use Distilled White vinegar and let it soak in the container for about 30 minutes or so. Then rinse it off really good. You can also use GSE(Grape Seed Extract). I love using Vinegar and GSE because they are organic so you do not have to worry if any residue was left it doing harm to your colony as even the tiniest drop of bleach would be extremely deadly. And the Vinegar will get rid of the pesticides that were left in the cage.

 

[chameleoman]

hmmmm i dont have any white vinegar just red and i dont have GSE you cant just use soap and water?

 

[coldbloodedAL]

You can use soap and water, you will have to do it many times to make sure there is no pesticide left. Soap, scrub, rinse, repeat.. at least ten times.

Id recommend just getting a new bin though, that way you wont even have to worry about it.

 

[SpartyTessy]

hmmmm i dont have any white vinegar just red and i dont have GSE you cant just use soap and water?

You can get a large 1 gallon of vinegar cheap at most grocery stores and Walmart for less than $4. Would probably be cheaper than buying a new 10 gallon tank HOWEVER you would be better off getting a $10 30 gallon rubbermaid container that would house much more crickets and is easier to clean. I use the rubbermaids to house my Cricket colonies. Each one can house more than 1000 crickets if setup right. Just plenty of egg carton material and you are good to go. They really are much better to house crickets than your typical glass tank is.