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Starting Member
 
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Last Login: 11/16/2009 6:26:00 AM
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| I am interested in using wood and rocks that I found outside in my leopard gecko's terrarium. Has anyone used these items 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, and my husband has to support my hobby. I can't keep spending fifteen dollars or more on things at the pet store.
1 albino reverse stripe leopard gecko Yoshi 1 silver miniature poodle Midnight
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 11/5/2009 12:47:03 PM
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Bleach is good for sterilizing wood. Just mix four ounces of bleach per gallon of water and let is soak for an hour or up to two and a half hours. This allows the bleach to kill microbes in the wood. After bleaching, allow the wood to dry in the sun for 5 days. That way, the bleach would have dissapated...
You can also bake the wood in an oven. But you have to reach a temp of 485 degrees to destroy the microscopic pest in wood. After reaching that temp, the wood is unusable. Best bet is to bleach it.
My herps:
2.3.0. Leopard geckos
(High Yellow X Albino), named Kirby
(Tangerine Tornado), named Esmerelda
(Rainwater Patternless Albino), named Kiwi
(Regular Jungle), named Pongo rescued
(?), named Maria rescued
1.0.0. Red Eye Tree Frog
(Heterozygous Xantic), named Rufus
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New Member
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Last Login: 11/17/2009 8:34:12 AM
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| I read in e book one time to cook @230 degrees for about 2 hrs. will kill everything, then I scrub clean. I have done this for snakes & lizard setupswith no problems.
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There is no need to sterilize anything. Thats silly.
Jsin. - 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.'
- Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 11/16/2009 6:26:00 AM
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Thanks everybody!
1 albino reverse stripe leopard gecko Yoshi 1 silver miniature poodle Midnight
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jsinhardcore (10/29/2009)
There is no need to sterilize anything. Thats silly.
I hope that was a joke......
I have baked wood at 250 degrees for a some time (can't remember exactly) and it never gave me problems. I prefer not to use bleach on wood because it can soak in deep to some woods and may not necessarily come out easily. You also will want to look into what type of wood you are using... some can be toxic to reptiles, as everyone should know things like pine and cedar are definite no no's.
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| No it was not. Its silly and makes no sense. Reptiles have existed for millions of years in environments that are far from sterile. Personally I worry more about bringing ants in the house. Wash it off and throw it in. Nobody sterilize anything for the wild ones and they do just fine. Now let me ask a question. What "nasties" do you think a Pakistani leopard gecko will catch from soil and wood from the U.S.A. ? Keeping in mind how almost all internal and external parasites as well as virus and bacterium are species specific.
Jsin. - 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.'
- Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
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Mites are not species specific and their favorite resting places waiting for something to come by ARE wood and soil. Reptiles like lizards that lick everything they touch could easily pick up parasitic bacteria that is resting on the wood waiting for it's intended host and when parasites get into something that isn't what they are made for they tend to cause far worse problems than they would in the animal they were waiting for. Take a look at toxocara and it's effect on humans.
There may also be other small insects or insect eggs within the wood that could cause harm to the reptile.
And the part about knowing what type of wood it is....still important.
in other words...do not just hose it off and throw it in....
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| Your reasoning is incorrect and yes most species of reptile mites are VERY species/genus specific just not the common petshop snake mites (Hirstiella) which is willing to suck off of any legless ectotherm it seems. There is more risk in bringing home some thing nasty to your herps via touching animals at a herp show and shaking venders hands then by using natural furnishings from ones own back yard. In almost 2 decades of of keeping herps the only problems I EVER encountered is reproductive issues that have nothing to do with dirt and wood. Like i said 17 years of keeping ,breeding, not sterilizing anything prove this. Next thing people will be talking about giving their pets colds or visa versa. As far as toxocariasis. A person needs to eat dog crap to get it and i dont see anyone picking a rock up with crap on it and just putting it in a cage anyway.Obviously if your getting wood or soil from a sewage plant, or a radioactive spill site then please sterilize it first or better yet dont use it. Besides toxocariasis effects dogs, cats and people none of which are reptiles (The subjecdt at hand).
Jsin. - 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.'
- Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
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When you see setups like these, housing prize animals do you think we actually sterilize all this stuff? Some keepers dig up and use TONS of dirt for their animals forever with no health issues what so ever. Me, Im lucky I only have half a ton of dirt in my living room.  
Jsin.
- 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.'
- Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
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