Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just picked out several awesome rocks I found when my dad plowed up the ground next door. A few were already surfaced, but a few in the ground. Anyway, I've deep clean scrubbed them all to the point of almost no dirt, frozen them for 2 days, and now I should probably bake them. Has anyone else done this before? How high should I set the oven? How long should they bake? This seems much more cost efficient to me than going to the store and buying a $25-40 rock when I can do it myself. Thanks!
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purrhisswoofmeowblubsqueakneigh

I wouldn't worry too much about baking them. I usually just soak them in bleach and very hot water and scrub them down good. Make sure you completely rinse any bleach water off and then dry them in the sun. I agree, it's pretty silly to pay big bucks for a terrarium rock if you have access to rocks in your yard.

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Lora

what kind of snake do you have that you want to put rocks in with it? i have a jungle carpet python that i took some big branches from the woods by my friends house and brought them home. i scrubed the dirt and bark off them then just rinsed them real well. then i took some prevent-0-mite and sprayed them with that to be sure there were no bugs. also let them set in the sun for a couple days. here in arizona in the summer it's like an oven outside anyway. i wouldn't think you have to worry about mites or anything like that on rocks.

I've got a little snow corn snake. I also have a little baby western hognose, but his tank's nowhere near big enough for a rock just yet! However I'm going to upgrade from the 2.5 gal to the 10 or 20. I realllllllllllly wanna just put him in the 20 gallon high but I've been advised against it until further notice.
Thanks for the advice! Glad to know I don't have to bake anything. Bleach here I come...
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purrhisswoofmeowblubsqueakneigh

Baking your rocks is unneccessary. You've already done the major cleaning simply by washing and scrubbing. You can use a solution of diluted bleach though if you want. The accepted ratio for cleaning is 4 ounces per gallon sprayed on or poured on the surface and allowed to sit for 10 minutes before thoroughly rinsing.
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois

Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois

Set the oven to 350. Add 6 eggs and 1 cup of sifted flour. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Bake for 30 minutes to a golden brown. Of course there are easier ways to get roughage in your diet.

I am teasin ya, It sounds like you have cleaned them very well. I would not worry about baking them.
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Firehouse Herps

Heating rocks to high temperatures can sometimes cause them to explode. I don't believe that you could actually achieve this in a standard 500 degree oven, but I wouldn't test it.

Boiling and bleaching is much easier and safer. Bleach kills 99.9% of germs, and boiling kills nearly all of them also.
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Current Collection:
0.1 Antherystic elaphe guttata guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe vulpina gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Leucistic elaphe obsoleta linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia spilota cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Tiliqua scincoides intermedia - Northern Blue Tongue Skink

Okay maybe "wrong" is not the word I'm looking for. I agree that boiling and bleaching (with a bleach and water solution) is the most efficent way to clean rocks. But since you're already comfortable finding your rocks outdoors, why not bake them outdoors and roast marshmallows too? Can we all come since we answered your post?
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

Trust me it does happen...Dont heat the rocks...just scrub them down with bleach and water and they will be fine....
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.........
0.0.1 Northern BTS (Huffy)
1.1 Ball Pythons (Korban and Leeloo)
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
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0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo(Slinky))

Oh common, you just deprived a poor fool of his Darwin award. JUST KIDDING. Personally when it comes to rocks, I soak them in a bleach water mix over night in a five gallon bucket. Since rocks are so porous sometimes scrubbing them is not enough in my humble opinion.
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