"real" driftwood

G

George

Guest
I live in Southern NJ, in the Pine Barrens, And took a nice piece of driftwood out of a ceder creek near my house for my geckos tank. The wood has been drying out in sun for 3 days now, and I was just wondering if there are any possible threats to my leos, as apposed to going to ******** and buying their "driftwood creations".
 

GECKO DUDE

Gecko Fool
Messages
128
Location
Iowa
parasites and bacteria but you can put it on a cookie sheet then put it in the oven for 15 minutes at 150 degrees fahrenheit. Thats what i did anyways for my beardie tank and absolutely no problems
 

gecko breeder

New Member
Messages
452
Location
NJ
ya thats not good unless you put it in the oven but i still would not take any chances, my last albino gecko was doing great and healthy then i found something that i knew he would like and i even put the log in the oven and everything was great untill his eyes were closed shut and his skin was basicly getting chewed away and i later found out it was parisites, its not safe in my eyes
 

GeckoGathering

GrizLaru
Messages
4,323
Location
Indiana
Safe Decor?

Yeah, kinda touchy risking it.
I know the feeling on certain things that
nature has dropped in front of our eyes.
Cool Driftwood especially.
Here is some tips, if you just have to use it.

If you can, boil it. Nothing living can survive boiling water. Boil it for 10 to 15 minutes.

Most pieces are too big for any pot.
The alternative to boiling is to put the wood in your bathtub and pour boiling water on the wood. Both sides of the wood and on any crevices.

A less time-consuming method is to spray the driftwood with a bleach solution. A 10% bleach-to-water solution will kill anything on the wood. It is very important to rinse the wood thoroughly after the bleach treatment until it doesn't smell like bleach anymore.

A somewhat less reliable method is to just leave the driftwood in the sun for a week or two. Just drying it out will kill most of the living organisms.

IMHO I would both boil and do the bleach, if I couldn't
live with out using it.
Take care. HJ


 
G

George

Guest
I may decide to use the bleach an boil, or i may not use it at all, just is a shame since I think its so neat looking, hah :]
 

gothra

Happy Gecko Family
Messages
3,790
Location
HK
You can scrub it really well with soap and water, then as others have mentioned, bake it for 20-30 minutes until its almost dried. If you have a large enough pot, you can boil it too.

If you decide to use bleach, make sure you rinse thoroughly, and let it air out for at least a few days.
 

fuzzylogix

Carpe Diem
Messages
2,115
Location
Dallas, TX
how about boiling wather in the bathtub, with chlorhexadine solution. soak overnight. let dry in the sun for a few hours. then bake.
 

Neo.Reptiliac

New Member
Messages
901
for my drift wood I use a huge cooler, put bleach water in it, let it soak in that for about a week. I use a heavy rock to hold down the wood. Then after I get it out I rinse it off really well and dry it in the oven.
 

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