# preparing wood from outside for vivariums



## dragonbait92

hey guys ive collected a few branches from a nearby wood and intend on putting them in my beardies viv however none of them will fit in the oven and ive heard a few things about bleach contaminating the wood to the point that the smell just wont go away. no room in the freezer either if anyone could tell me how to 100% safely do this id be very appreciative


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## tozhan

Scrub the wood down to remove bark (and the creepy crawlies under it) then wash with with disinfectant and stick it in the oven for 30 mins at 200C. Also sand any rough bits that might impale an unsuspecting gecko.


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## tozhan

oh i see its for a beardie. same rules though


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## damien1010

bath, hot as possible water , whiz it in ,leave,dry through out, slam it in the viv jobo doneo, ive done this for years never had one probem


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## bigboidae

what I do for really big logs is get a spray bottle with a really strong bleach solution spray logs till their well soaked then rap the logs in cling film till their totally covered then leave for a few days. unrap scrub n rinse well job done. any smell of bleach will disappear within a few hours, never had a problem.


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## sharpstrain

i give mine a scrub in the shower. rinse in boiling water, spray with ardap, leave in a dry room to dry out for a couple of weeks, rinse again with boiling water and chuck it in = never had a single problem and have done this about 100 times


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## dragonbait92

All really good advice guys I've scrubbed them off wanted to keep a bit if bark on them for look and shedding couldn't shut the oven door but managed to have them hangin out and did this with one half baking and the other hanging out then turned them aroun for an hour hope this will be ok cheers for the replies guys


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## dragonbait92

i just see no point in buying logs for 20-30 pound when there are so much better materials out there and an extensive supply too just think that some people are a bit lazy or worried about the mites or what not lol


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## chalky76

All as above. You could even do several of the above in fact. Can I just check have you made sure all the branches you've collected are nontoxic as you haven't identified the species of tree they came from?


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## Iguanaquinn

This is the best way to do it!

I do it and I always recommend it..... Loads of others have started to use it too......

Would not even consider any other way.

Treating Wood -               BambooZoo


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## Debbie1962

> Can I just check have you made sure all the branches you've collected are nontoxic as you haven't identified the species of tree they came from?


Was just thinking that myself.


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## dragonbait92

Some tree surgeons came around the back off the houses about a week ago and felled an oak so I have used a few branches from that


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## Trissai

probably gonna get hanged for this  Mine go straight in, ive never had any problems. Mine has a nice covering of moss on and is growing way better than any moss ive ever gotten from dartfrog.


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## dragonbait92

TRISSAI where do you get your supplies from ?? isit CRC ?


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## tozhan

Im in Cardiff and use CRC. They are very good with geckos but they are more of a snake setup i think.


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## Trissai

dragonbait92 said:


> TRISSAI where do you get your supplies from ?? isit CRC ?


General supplies come from surrey pet supplies and forum classifieds, some viv Dec from dartfrog and local garden centres. Big bits of wood etc come from the forest of Dean. I don't live in cardiff any more, need to update that to fod/London


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## Ron Magpie

Trissai said:


> probably gonna get hanged for this  Mine go straight in, ive never had any problems. Mine has a nice covering of moss on and is growing way better than any moss ive ever gotten from dartfrog.


Same as. Never had any problems.


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## Mike_Lyddon

That's good to hear, I found some amazing wood today, it's actually the really thick gnarly twisted ivy off a tree that had been cut down, but likewise don't have the space in the freezer of an oven big enough to cook it.
What I am planning to do though, is to give a really good jetwashing and scrubbing with a stiff brush, then will boil it all (that I can do lol) for about an hour, before leaving it all to dry in the airing cupboard.
I know a lot of people advocate using it, but I am far from comfortable with the idea of spraying bleach all over something I am going to put into my vivarium, irrespective of how long it's soaked for afterwards


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