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This same message is posted on the ratsnake forum. I'm going to use a climbing branch for one of my snakes, that was previously used for a wild caught obsoleta. I know that to kill the bacteria/parasites, I'm supposed to bake the branch at 350, but for how long? Is it half an hour or an hour?

I tried to bake a piece of cork bark to kill mites and it made such a horrible smell in the kitchen i just tossed it in the trash. it was horrible. it wasn't in the oven for 5 minutes and it was horrible. i don't know about different branches.

You could also freeze it for a couple of days. That should kill anything.

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2.1.10 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, 6 normal, 4 anery )
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
1 fish
1 mouse
3.3 cats

freezing will not kill everything...many many organisms can regularly freeze without a problem but these organisms have problems at temperatures above the boiling point of water. Look outside and how much of that soil do you think is frozen right now but the organisms will still be there in the spring, this is why autoclaves are used to sterilize and not freezers

I baked it for an hour at 350. It smelled like a fireplace for a while, but it wasn't too bad. I wish I had read the freezing idea before I went ahead and baked it, though, because the idea of putting wood in my oven really made me nervous. I kept trying to figure out how I would explain it to the fire department. lol

The trouble with 350 is that it burns faster which kills quicker, but it also burns the wood. A low heat for a longer time serves the same purpose and doesn't scorch the wood. If you have the time to be around the house I would recommend 225 for about 2 hrs, especially if soaked prior. The point is to heat the wood thru completely and allow the heat to penetrate the crevices. I had a half log hide at one time that was given to me, I soaked it in bleach water over night, then set in the oven and cooked it as described above.
One time just for kicks I set my gaboons up on leaves during autumn. The cage looked neat, as opposed to my usual set up of paper and bowl. i couldnt use the oven to sterilize. so I placed the leaves in a micro wave safe dish. I mic'd them for about 2 minutes, stirred them with a utensil, and mic'd them again for another 2min. The leaves or litter have to be dry. Served the same purpose, however with logs and limbs microwaving can be dangerous as pockets of moisture trapped within can EXPLODE.

>>This same message is posted on the ratsnake forum. I'm going to use a climbing branch for one of my snakes, that was previously used for a wild caught obsoleta. I know that to kill the bacteria/parasites, I'm supposed to bake the branch at 350, but for how long? Is it half an hour or an hour?

bleach kills all animal and vegtable and fungal matter.....yes there are 3 Kingdoms now..

little bleach water...then soap and water then rinse well....let stand till bleach smell goes away *(over night)...

......cooking os for rabbits.........ok racoons......mmmmmmmmLOL..

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