Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have read many things about using natural branches in different enclosures but i am curious if anyone here has used branches from the woods for large lizards, monitors, iguanas, etc. if you have have you baked them, froze them, or just used as is.

any help would be great. we are talking about larger pieces than what i can fit in an oven or sink so i am curious

I use quite a bit of natural wood from the forest. I remove loose bark and try not to use rotting wood. We have a lot of wild grapevine here and that makes great perches for lizards and snakes of all sizes. Sometimes I can find pretty nice gnarly looking branches also.

I treat all of my collected wood by placing in a large black plastic garbage bag and add 1-2 cups of chlorine bleach in an old plastic container. Seal the bag and leave to sit in the sun for a couple of days. This is best done in warmer weather. The black plastic acts like a solar collector and temps can get over 180*F. 160*F is all that's needed for pasteurization to kill all bugs and bacteria, molds, fungus etc.. In addition the heat vaporizes the chlorine making chlorine gas so whatever the heat doesn't kill the chlorine will. After 2 days I remove and leave to sit out in the sun another couple days to let it off gas. By then it's safe to use.

Hope this helps,
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
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While it certainly can't hurt to clean/bake/whatever if you feel like it, it is definitely not required. I have been using outdoor materials for decades and never sterilized them. Never had a problem. This has come up before and dozens of people have had similar experience. Never heard of anyone having a problem other than a few benign insects in the cage, or a couple of mushrooms growing if its in a humid viv.

I have used untreated logs before. I rarely do now since most my animals aren't allowed at my vet. They specifically told me to never bring a cobra in their office I can't imagine why? In most cases untreated logs if properly selected could be fine but there are always risks with doing this and I find it easier to spend the little bit of time treating them rather than risking a sick or dead animal.

thank you for the info, i am not sure why they would not want a cobra in their office. makes no sense to me, lol

We had a piece of wood about 2 feet in length and 4 inches wide that was laying in the mud by canal edge. I am in Florida.

I bought it home as it looked like it would sink or would soon enough and I wanted it for a tank.

While on the way home a baby scarlet kingsnake came out so we pulled over and let it go by forest area which has same outlay of place we found it in under other fallen wood.

I have never seen one before hide in wet wood by canal edge with no other cover near by.