'Mint Juice' Disinfectant?

[coyote]

I happened to find this African snail blog from Brazil, and I used the translator at translate.reference.com to see what it said in English. This part jumped out at me:
"As the main etiologic agents shed in the feces, mainly worms and protozoa, require time to become infective, the daily cleaning of the fund, associated with other forms of prophylaxis, such as spraying of the animals 1 X daily with water mixed with mint juice, allows us to virtually eliminate contamination of animals without the use of disinfectants or medications."

There was no explanation of what was meant by mint juice or how strong it was. It's also possible the translator didn't do an accurate translation (it happens relatively often) and the original meaning was really something else. But if it really meant mint juice, as in the juice from crushed mint leaves (Mentha piperita), I wonder if it could be used to help treat our pet snails?

If anyone understand Portuguese, please let us know if this original text actually says mint juice: "Como os principais agentes etiológicos eliminados nas fezes, principalmente vermes e protozoários, necessitam de um tempo para se tornarem infectantes, a limpeza diária da caixa do fundo, associados a outras formas de profilaxia, como a pulverização dos animais 1 X ao dia, com água misturada com sumo de hortelã, nos permite, praticamente, eliminar a contaminação dos animais, sem o uso de desinfetantes ou medicamentos."

[foghog]

I am guessing they are talking about didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, which vetinarians use and is called mint disinfectant perhaps?

[coyote]

The article was talking about spraying the snails directly with the substance, and I don't think veterinarian's mint disinfectant is meant to be applied directly to animals (even snails). I think it's only meant to disinfect inanimate surfaces of things such as cages, floors, exam tables, counter tops, etc.

[foghog]

exactly. and I do not think the article was talking about spraying the concentrate directly. I think it was probably talking in diluted form. but if you feel like it, mash some Mentha up and make a tea out of it, spray your snail with it and see what it does. it could make sense either way, with the disinfectant, or with the mint, which maybe parasites wouldn't like. Mint has long been used in poultices do to its antifungle properties, and it is also high in antioxidants.

but the link you provided for the site where it is talking about it does say "If you have any questions or want to contribute, please message at: blah blah blah......So how about you message and ask whoever runs the site what they think?

[coyote]

The article says "spraying of the animals 1 X daily with water mixed with mint juice," so of course it's diluted. And even so, I would not want to experiment on my own animals with diluted disinfectant.

When it comes to herbal disinfectants / antibiotics / antimicrobials / antifungals etc., mint is not the first thing that comes to mind, so again I'm reluctant to mix up my own batch and try it on my snails.

I wish I knew exactly what the author meant. I will think about contacting him through the website. The language difference gives me a bit of pause, though.

[inky]

I have a pet snail, but he's wild caught. Would this kill out the meningitis that he may have?

[foghog]

you never got back with us with what the author said, did you find any information Coyote?

[coyote]

No, I didn't go any farther with it because of real-life issues going on, and this was a lower priority.

All my snails have been WC and I don't do anything about the potential meningitis they may have. I take precautions when handling them and so far everything has been fine.

[leila]

I think by mint juice they might mean mint extract, my friend had this really nasty cold sore this one time and she went to a naturopathic doctor and he told her to just put some mint extract on it and it would heal faster (I assume because it would kill the infection) and she applied it basically all the time. Although it did go away sooner than a normal cold sore the scab turned this nasty black color, so i would definitely try dabbing a tiny amount that's already diluted on ur snails before you decide to use it every day

[foghog]

well if it is mint juice as from a plant good luck because there are over 250 genre and 7000 species to chose which ones they were talking about and using. but if anyone tries it, tell us how it works out.