Question about cancer in my herd

B

BlueBelle

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
104
I know this is a common topic and I've read tons about it in these forums and others but wanted to ask for some advice on my particular situation. I'm just not sure what to do. I've never really paid much attention to pony cancer up until now even though I've collected for years. Probably because I've never really had a problem with it. I just started noticing tonight though that about 40 of my ponies have it--the pindot, regular, all kinds basically. I think it has something to do with where I live. I used to live in Oregon and Washington my entire life, now I live here in California (have been here for 3 years so far) so apparently the change in climate seems to be ruining my collection. And there is not much I can do about that unfortunately. :(

Anyway I do not want to pop their heads off and boil them or even dunk them in bleach because I don't want to risk messing up their hair. I know many people recommend these methods but I just can't do them. And I still don't know if it really spreads. I don't think it does--doesn't appear to in my herd but I could be wrong since it takes time to show up.

Anyway I've read about different methods for stopping the spread without doing the boiling, etc. Several sound iffy to me though. I did hear about one I liked that I know doesn't hurt my ponies. Soft Scrub with bleach. Does anyone go that route for stopping cancer and does it actually stop it?
And would you suggest I clean my whole herd to make sure they are all safe? And once you clean them does that keep them safe or do we have to keep cleaning them every so often as they age? I can learn to live with several of my girls having it, but I don't want anymore to get it. So any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!
 
Hi there,

Well, first of all, I'm pretty sure cancer DOES spread. I found that out the hard way... *comforts poor Mimic*

So I would suggest that the ONLY way to save your herd is popping the infected ponies' heads off and boiling them on the stove with water and some Oxyclean (the powder stuff) and just keep dipping the pony in the water (for about 10 seconds at a time) with a pair of tongs repeatedly until you think the spread has stopped. Don't let the pony touch the side or the bottom of the pot as it may melt the plastic. Make sure there is bowl of cold water nearby so you can dunk your pony in there when your done to cool her off. :) I'm sorry - but I'm afraid that this is the only way to save them. :( If you do it right, you'll have a happy pony herd later. It shouldn't hurt the hair unless the hair is pale pink as it will fade (stated below), and to prevent the hair from drying out, condition it right after you boil them. :D No worries.

Dos and Don'ts: Do NOT boil ponies with very light pink hair - it will fade to white. Do NOT boil Twinkle Eyed ponies - it will wreck the eyes. And do NOT boil ponies with glittery symbols and the glitter will come right off.

Also - don't braid the mane or tail before boiling them otherwise your pony will have permanantly crimped hair afterwards. *looks at 4-Speed* ...Oops. :lol:

And remember to boil every single pony with cancer or traces of cancer. It's like headlice - if you don't get it ALL it will come back!

The ponies that you are not able to boil, you should rub acetone on the cancer spots and then store the pony in a plastic bag for quarantine. (but make sure the pony is 100% dry before doing this otherwise you'll have it spread like wildfire!)

And after this, all you can do I wait and keep on checking for signs of more spreading. The boiling will not get RID of some cancers, but it will stop them from spreading. However, just to be on the safe side you should keep an eye out for any further trouble. :)

Thank-you. *takes a bow*

-- Yuixe
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I appreciate it. :)
I don't know what I'll do then. I'm open to lots more ideas though! I can use all the advice I can get.
:)
And yea I was wondering about removezit. I read that some people said it bleaches the ponies too much. I suppose I could try different things on a test pony.
I do have an extra G1 that I can test with since she has cancer. But her head won't come off so guess I can't boil her. :roll:

So how would I keep the rest of the herd safe in case they are starting to get it? Cleaning them?
*curses California climate*
 
In addition to the "do not boil list",

- any pony with 3D symbols (eg Princess Ponies and Precious Pocket ponies)
- any pony with an mechanism (eg Drink and Wets, Brush and Grows)
- Sweet Talkin' ponies (because of the fact the electronics wont work afterwards)
 
I dunno about the cancer thing. I've never had the brown, age spot cancer spread pony to pony yet in my herd. Pin dot mold I've seen spread though - but mold will spread on items close together.

That's my *personal* experience with my herd. And I've lots of Nirvanas now, so I'm pretty careful w/ mine and check them often. I haven't popped their heads and cleaned them out at all...I don't want to break the seals on them honestly.

I wash new ponies as I receive them, groom them, let them dry. Boil the ones that have pin dot mold (following the appropriate rules). That's it.

*M*
 
I've got G3s with G1s in my daughter's room - and a baitier bunch you've never seen, LOL - and not one of the G2s or G3 has gotten cancer in 2 years. :wink: None have pin dot (since I do cure that before she gets them) but many have brown age spot cancer.

It *does* spread on the pony ITSELF but not pony to pony. I have seen that. It's kind of like a plastic breakdown, maybe like regrind I think.

*M*
 
So keep the ideas coming. :)

What does everyone wash their ponies with?

So for now I decided to just get some Soft Scrub with bleach and clean my entire herd--both cancer and healthy ones. I probably will keep the cancer ones separate for now to make sure the soft scrub works and then keep an eye on the healthy ones to make sure no more get any.
And I do have a few pindot mold ones but their symbols are kinda faded and glittery so boiling them wouldn't be a good idea anyway. Luckily there isn't many.

And yea I'm curious if the G3's will get cancer as well. We probably wouldn't know about that for years though since they are still too new.
 
The g2s have much different plastic, and its probably less likely to mold, but will most likely deteriorate -eventually-...

Maybe someone should find an extremely cancerous g1 and put it with a g2 and g3 to see what happens?
 
I use Soft Scrub w/ Bleach too. You have to use conditioner on the hair afterward though; that bleach is very drying. It does clean very well though! :eek:k:

As for boiling - I had a lovely Italian Parasol I got for my collection that had pin dot mold up her legs - I just dipped her (w/ tongs) so her legs were in the water. She's great now, and I didn't behead her or anything.

*M*
 
Glad to hear someone else uses soft scrub with bleach! :)
And by the way, do you rub it on the pony or do you mix it with water and soak the pony in it? I usually just scrub my ponies down with it using a rag so the hair doesn't get dried out.

And yea I was going to try dipping my Sunbeam into boiling water real quick since it's mainly her legs that have the pindot mold. I guess I could try putting some soft scrub in the water too.
 
I scrub 'em all over with it to kinda disinfect them since I've had some NASTY lots come in from da 'bay.

Then I condition the hair and let the ponies sit for a bit for it soak in. I rinse them then, and dry their hair a bit. I let most of the hair dry on its own. I do dry the ponies with a towel. I wrap the hair the way I like it to lie on the pony while it's damp/wet also.

I haven't tried dipping a TE or different pony...none have had pindot mold here. Parasol I fell in love with and I just couldn't take losing to the stuff!

*M*
 
If the mechanism on a BnG, or DnP doesn't work anymore then boiling them won't make them work less. I wouldn't suggest boiling a talking pony, that could get messy. I wouldn't think there's a problem with boiling Princess ponies as long as you hold them with the tongs and are careful about how you dip.
 
Hey, How long does one boil the pony?

Where is a good web site detailing all of this? My Sundance has a lot of cancer and I've kept her out of touch with the rest of my herd since learning about what cancer can do. I probably should go through them though to double check if anyone else has cancer.

Does the boiling removed the spots or just kill the mold that makes it?
 
I've heard several people say they boil anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Some people have had success in getting rid of it, some not. But everyone says it kills the mold at least. There are non boiling methods too. Here are some main links that might help some but I'd do a search for cancer in the mlparena.com or on here for more comprehensive info. There are so many different ways of trying to get rid of it. I know cause I've been doing tons of research on it the past few days since 40 of my girls are infected. :(
Also here are a few links:
http://www3.telus.net/leinhorn/faq/cancer.html
http://mlparena.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=35413.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top