Real wood and rocks?

[leogecko88]

I am interested in using wood and rocks that I found outside in my leopard gecko's terrarium. Has anyone used these before? How can I properly sterilize them before use?

The reason I ask is because I want to add more climbing areas to Yoshi's enclosure. I don't have a job, so my husband has to support my hobby. I can't keep spending fifteen dollars or more on things at the pet store.

 

[maximusx6910]

I have before, but i don't know. She didn't like climbing on them, and you have to get the bark off. (thats if what your using has bark on it) but what do you want put in there minus the rocks? You can use rocks, but like you said you need to steralize. Possibly soap and water? Or first you could use alcohol? ethanol? first just to kill the germs, then use soap. so you don't have that all over the rock when you put it in the tank.

 

[Srt14292]

Yes you can but you must be sure they harbour no parasites when you put them in the tank, so soak them in bleach for about 10 hours, then let it air dry for a week.
This should suffice but if you see any bugs around the wood or coming out of it after the bleach repeat the process.

 

[sammer021486]

Try to avoid pines or other aromatic woods. A simple wash of the stones in either a bleach or vinegar solution, then a quick bake in the oven can make sure that they are germ free.

Apple seems to be a very popular tree to place in terrariums. Drift wood from the beach is also good, even if it is a pine, all the saps will have been removed from being in the water. A good soak in the bleach or vinegar solution then a good bake after the wood has thoroughly dried will make sure that there are no germs or pests.

 

[Jama]

A vet of my local pet store told me to put the rocks on the oven for like 40/45 minutes. that will kill pretty much everything. I was about to try out.
Also another way is to wash it in a bleach and let them dry for a couple of days in the outside. Never did it though.

 

[gothra]

You can scrub everything with soap and water first, then bake or boil them for disinfecting. I personally prefer baking the wood and boiling the rocks.

 

[leogecko88]

Thanks for the help everybody!