Heating Driftwood

[Scott&Nikki]

I just got a piece of driftwood and a piece of dritwood nailed to a stone base. What temp and how long should I heat it for to disinfect it withought burning it?

 

[nevinm]

wood wont egnite from just heat. so i ussually over kill it a little bit. but anything i put in my enclosures i bake at about 450-500 for about 20 mins to a half hour but you can go less then that for a shorter time. just make sure you watch it, just incase some little tiny chance it does some how catch fire.
nevin

 

[William]

Actually it will ignite from heat alone, 640 degrees or something like that...

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Hmm.. well I had it at 375... 5 minutes later my fire alarm is going off. Burnt an entire side of it.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Ok I just looked it over. The wood nailed to the rock had a liquid drip from it. It looks like syrup. What kind of wood could this be and is it ok for my leo?

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

You sure its not some type of glue they used to fix the driftwood to the stone base? I'd be a little sceptical.

I haven't ever baked a piece of driftwood. What I have done is boiled it at a rolling boil for a few minutes. That should work well too for you.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

with drift wood I soak it in bleach and water for 12 hours or more then I rinse the crap out of it then I let it sun dry for a day then I bake it at about 200 for HOURS (guessing 4-8 depending on the wood) checking it a lot.

If you bake it wet you can actually get it hotter without it charing but you have to really watch it since the outer will dry faster then the inner and lower the temps as the outer dries.

With a rock base I take off the base since rock can absorb too much heat and crack or break then put it back on later.

 

[nevinm]

lol. william. your right, i should have been more clear on that. my fault. i also think that the stuff is prob some kind of glue of some sort. i also agree with wendy and getting it wet. i dont know about the bleach thing, i personally wouldnt do it, but if it works for her, adn theres no ill effects then cool. and yeah, sorry, i should have told you about the smoke. there will be ALOT of smoke tipicly. but getting it wet first will work as well

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

Ive never had driftwood smoke when baking it, Ive had it smell like "wood cooking" but never any smoke.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Ok I took some pics. I guess this piece isn't drift wood. Only the other one is. The first two pictures just show the burnt part (the black area). The third picture shows what came out of the branch. Literally out of a crack from inside the wood. The fourth picture shows how it is connected. It is purely screws and no glue.

 

[nevinm]

wendy i do bake it dry as i said. and yeah that looks like glue to me

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

I bake it dry too but it doesn't smoke. You can bake it at higher temps when wet but they have to be reduced as the wood dries from the outer layers.

Anyway, that looks like sap from the wood and what type who knows, its not on the connective area from the rock to the wood so I don't think its glue.

Driftwood is basically any wood washed up in the water or floating in water so depedning on where i came from it could be any kind of wood and its still driftwood.

 

[BluGnat]

It looks like sap/resin? It makes sense that it would become fluid when it's hot.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

That's what I thought. It has to be some kind of sap. So, is it safe to use with my leo?

 

[MichaelJ]

I agree with many of you, but Iwould definitely boil it first for at least 30 mins to get into the depth of the wood , sun dry for at least a day if not two. Then bake at a good temp for about 20 mins at around 350 -450. That should destroy any kind of bacteria. Although if you're seeing sap;it sounds like it still alive and not true driftwood.probably oaky; the most syrupy of general driftwoods. I've used it once personally and hate the prep.

Good luck.

 

[MichaelJ]

I agree with many of you, but Iwould definitely boil it first for at least 30 mins to get into the depth of the wood , sun dry for at least a day if not two. Then bake at a good temp for about 20 mins at around 350 -450. That should destroy any kind of bacteria. Although if you're seeing sap;it sounds like it still alive and not true driftwood.probably oaky; the most syrupy of general driftwoods. I've used it once personally and hate the prep.

Good luck.

 

[MichaelJ]

I agree with many of you, but Iwould definitely boil it first for at least 30 mins to get into the depth of the wood , sun dry for at least a day if not two. Then bake at a good temp for about 20 mins at around 350 -450. That should destroy any kind of bacteria. Although if you're seeing sap;it sounds like it still alive and not true driftwood.probably oaky; the most syrupy of general driftwoods. I've used it once personally and hate the prep.

Good luck.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

At 320 degrees it would take 18 hours for just a pencil. So my 200 for 4 - 8 hours in not quite sterile so 20 minutesat 350 - 450 is not going to do much good.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

So.. what should I do? After 5 minutes at 375 my smoke alarm went off and my entire stove smoked up... not to mention it burned the side.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

IMHO the driftwood is for looks right? Does it really need to be medically sterile for leos?

The burning I think you hda was from sap which would lead me to believe it was afresher wood than your common float up in the water or on the shore driftwood.

Do you want it for looks and if so why?

Do leos need medically sterlile wood since they spend a lot of time underground?