Well, here's my take on disinfecting wood. I don't - unless it has come from another vivarium (disease and parasite transfer) or came from a saltwater environment (residual salt leaching out into viv). Doesn't really make much sense, would you try to disinfect your moss? ... or oak leaves? ... or plants? How about when we put a piece of termite infested wood in the viv?

Most of what you kill when you disinfect are probably things that are beneficial to your vivarium such as springtails, spider and wood mites, fungii, mold, moss, algea, worms,

nematodes ...etc.

Without most of these to break it down, frog poop and substrate remain exactly that.

Yes, eventually all of these will be introduced to the viv one way or the other but why wait?

You would also be suprised what grows from some good wood. I've gotten some great moss from uncleaned cork bark and some great plants and ferns from uncleaned wood.

I understand the advantages of disinfecting but think they are minimal.



My 2 cents - take it or leave it.



Donn

[ Hide Replies ]

• Disinfecting wood? - dd5, Tue Aug 26 14:04:23 2003
• RE: Disinfecting wood? - mrk442, Tue Aug 26 14:53:49 2003
• To disinfect or not? - edwardsatc, Tue Aug 26 15:33:47 2003
• RE: To disinfect or not? - dd5, Tue Aug 26 17:12:46 2003
• Clarification - edwardsatc, Wed Aug 27 15:14:12 2003