| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sue2012 |
Posted - 20/02/2012 : 13:48:26
we went wood hunting today and found a few trees choped down in to smal bits would they be ok in a viv they are the trunk of the tree i wanted to use them in the viv to make anouther platform for the snakes to sleep on and climb on i plan on removing all the bark and soaking them in some hot water with bleach then letting them dry out befor they go in my vivs x |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sue2012 |
Posted - 20/02/2012 : 17:25:19
looking forward to cleaning the bath ummmmmmmmmmmmmm no lol but well worth it to shee my snakes enjoying the new toys. was going to do a resoak onece i have cut it down to the sizes i need :) |
| Auld Baldy |
Posted - 20/02/2012 : 16:43:56
It's a good idea to upturn the trunk and give it another 24 hour fresh bleaching if it is on the large side.
I bet your looking forward to scrubbing out the bath afterwards.  |
| sue2012 |
Posted - 20/02/2012 : 16:35:42
this is what i have done glade im getting it right i had god knows what on top of all mine holding it all under water all night and all yeaterday them bits are drying out in the airing cubered now and i now have the big trunk bit in soaking in bleach plan is to cut it down in to 3 so i have more for snakeys to climbe on |
| Auld Baldy |
Posted - 20/02/2012 : 15:50:28
Take the bark off first. A good glug of bleach into the bath with enough water to cover the logs and branches. Leave soaking for 24 hours then rinse well with clean water. A garden hose is good if you have one, otherwise several soaks, rinses and changes in the bath will do.
Let it dry off for at least a week then trim, sand cut to size for the viv.
Reasons for this order are that by stripping the bark first you will not only remove most of the creepies, lichen, fungus and muck from the logs but allow the bleach to reach any wood boring larvae and kill them more effectively. After cutting and sanding leave the logs in a dry place for at least a month to really dry out. I have a stack 'maturing' for 3 months now. I'll give them a final sand down and varnish ... soon. 
This is what I had for starters:
http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20455
Remember that some woods such as cedar and pine must not be used as they contains toxins which can kill snakes. So identify the wood first. |
| sue2012 |
Posted - 20/02/2012 : 14:29:57
cool ty for this i only used a small amout of bleach in my big branches that i got as this is what i had seen posted in the forum befor the branches are at the moment soaking in plain hot water to remove the bleach lol |
| mikejlunt |
Posted - 20/02/2012 : 14:02:28
I've done this before, I soaked it in boiling water overnight and then left it to dry and it was perfectly fine to use.
As for bleach, I couldn't say whether it was a good idea or not, but I didn't use bleach and it was fine for me. Just make sure to sand down the surface of the branches in case there are any sharp points that could catch your snake. |
