I think many folks are not aware that nasties can appear in healthy collections that have good husbandry. They could be living in the gex already and not be a problem, come from food sources, or from cross contamination of some kind, like touching one terrarium and then another. There are many nasties to mention and countless ways to get them.
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For anyone to think that just because they're practicing good husbandry techniques or have a healthy collection therefore have nothing in the world to worry about, sounds pretty ignorant to me. You are right, pathogens can come from anywhere, and we must all make sure we're being as sanitary as possible when dealing with these little critters.
Now my preference by far is using the hydrogen peroxide/vinegar combination to disinfect enclosures. Just like the quatricide you were talking about, i just spray, wait, and wipe dry. I clean and disinfect my enclosures once a week throughly as well as their dishes and such. Many herpers go without cleaning for a long period of time and wonder why their reptile is extremely ill.
Crickets can and a lot of times do carry a lot of nasties that infect a reptile leading to problems. I've heard of this happening many times to other herpers. Mold growing on chicken mash and such substrates being eaten by mealies/crickets, don't harm the feeders, however can and the majority of the time have been proven to be deadly when reptiles eat these infected prey items. Therefore those examples are just a few of many areas to watch out for when it comes to keeping your reptiles healthy. We can't possibly eliminate all the bacteria/pathogens around us, or that will possibly contact our reptiles. We can only do our best to help prevent as many of them as possible. Many pathogens and such have different tolerances, some need to be cooked at high temps, while others need different types of disinfectants.
Hydrogen peroxide kills off all the same bacteria/pathogens as quatricide does.
To name a few:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Staphylococcus aureus
Salmonella choleraesuis
and some other viruses that can be eliminated with broad spectrum sanitizing using this solution.
Our own human bodies make hydrogen peroxide to kill off viruses and pathogens!! Does this not mean something???
I am sure this argument btwn the two disinfectants will go on and on forever, one thing's for sure however, not one type of disinfectant will virtually kill off all pathogens in an enclosure.
-Sam
