Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wanna redecorate my cage now and im gonna go look for some branches now.. I was wondering, what should i do to clean it before i put it in the cage??

Thanks

I suggest hosing branches with water and scrubbing them, maybe letting them dry in sunlight for the UV, and then putting them in the oven on low (200 degrees?) for an hour or so. Since wood is so porous, I would avoid using any chemical cleaners like bleach.

-Joan

Any time I get a new piece of decoration/wood I always clean it before putting it into my tanks. You never know what is traveling on it! Even stuff bought from the pet shop. What I usually do is soak the wood in boiling water until the water cools off enough that I can put my hand in it without getting burned. I use a rock or something 2 hold the wood under. Then I put my oven to a temp of 225 degrees. Any mites/ticks or anything else will not survive those temps. I'll bake it in the oven for about 40 mins making sure the thing don't burn. I'll then wet the wood again and place it in the tank. I have never had any problems with this method. I do suggest pulling off the bark if there is any on the wood. A lot of insects hang out inside or under the bark.