| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 18/12/2009 : 08:28:15
Went stick hunting and found :
The larger one is 3', the smaller one 2'
For better idea of size.
Close-up to show a before/after sanding. The main branch has been sanded by hand, the smaller branch coming off it is still to be sanded.
When the sanding is finished they will sit in 10% bleach in the bath for a few hours and then a thorough rinse with the power shower. Don't think these will fit in the oven, so will be leant against radiators to dry.
Reckon I've saved ~£30 for a short stroll and some sanding 
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Ok, they've had 4 hours submerged in 10% bleach, been rinsed and are now drying:
Can really see the grain now and the colour change.
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New 3' stick in viv:
Some more I've done:
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| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Auld Baldy |
Posted - 26/03/2012 : 20:40:31
I wouldn't risk bringing it into the house with woodworm. Baking and bleaching might kill them off but you can't be absolutely sure. There is also the chance that the core is rotten. More than one person has found that out after de-barking and bleaching.
Best to pick up known fairly recent storm damage or felled branches. |
| the_rhythm73 |
Posted - 26/03/2012 : 20:09:47
This is the first time I've posted in this forum (just reading has been sufficient up to now, so cheers for past help). Having brought a stick for £6 (!) from the pet shop and then reading on here pet shop sticks are just sticks that have been baked (or similar ), I decided to take my boy wood hunting and we found some pretty cool looking wood, however it's pretty dead and looks like it has been for some time, also it has quite a lot of woodworm holes. Will baking it in the oven make it safe for my corns? I've took all the bark off which was pretty easy as it flaked off. Help? &thanks. |
| Ratty |
Posted - 08/03/2012 : 22:20:25
Handy thread,thanks for the tips.
Have been reading up on this for the past hour and appaerntly its best to seal the wood useing polyurethane sealent so that the wood is no longer pourous so cannot harbour bacteria.
Also safe woods to use include,willow, birch, beech, ficus and fruit trees provide non-toxic branches. |
| tehbunneh |
Posted - 01/03/2012 : 11:30:22
It was pretty useful the ol' wallpaper scraper! I mean, I was sat in my bathroom doing it as I have no garden in this flat, so I was sitting on a foot stool, with the wood stood upright, and I just used gravity to help, as well as slotting the scraper in behind the bark and practically flicking it off. I then continued to scrape down the length to remove any soft wood and with a little force any protruding lumps and bumps that might snag, and then soaked. I'll sand it once its dry, and rinse it off again after, before drying once more to put in the viv. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 01/03/2012 : 10:08:44
Nah it's fine got lots of wod, just took forever to do! I used like a stanely knife, a sander and some other power tools but it took forever! Managed to slice my thumb open too, I'll have to rememeber your trick if I ever get any more snakes as they will need some wood :P |
| tehbunneh |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 21:50:17
I used a wallpaper scraper I had from Poundland Stapey XDDD It was really satisfyingly awesome to do!Want me to find you some wood and do it up for you? Lol!! |
| sue2012 |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 19:18:43
we went wood hunting after eading this thred and found some really good bits of wood got it home and spent the rest of the day removing the bard i used a knife and scraped it of the wood then removed any of the softer stuff from under thet till i got to the hard wood sanded it down stuck it in the bath in bleace for 24 hours then showered it of the day after soaked it again in plain water to make sure all bleach was out the wood let it dry now its in the vivs and all my snakes love it must have saved my self a good bit of money lol they are cutting trees down near the school my kids go to was thinking of getting a bit of the trunk doing the same as with the branches and using that in the vivs what u think |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 18:26:02
How on earth did you debark it? |
| tehbunneh |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 17:50:36
It was a pretty easy piece to debark, so now its soaking, then once dry I'll get it sanded down. I found it ridiculously satisfying X3 |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 17:10:30
Good luck on debarking, It was so hard for me to do it, it really knackers your hand. |
| tehbunneh |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 17:05:42
Awwwesome, thanks Stapey, I'mma get on that right now XD It's a massive piece of wood, so I'm gonna snap it first to get it into reasonable sizes that will actually FIT into not only the viv, but my bath XD |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 17:03:41
I got rid of everything until I only got the harder bit figured it would be better that way, kinda got pananoid by the softer bits of wood retaining any bleach though that's why I did it XD The bleach itself will be just fine :) |
| tehbunneh |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 16:53:56
Just a quick clarification, as it wasn't really mentioned on the first page:
When you are initially preparing your wood, do you want to take off all the bark and any soft or damaged wood beneath that to get to the harder 'heart' wood? I have been out and about today to find some wood for my new Amazon Tree Boa, and remembered this tutorial from when I was trying to find bigger free wood for my corns, and managed to find today what looks like a 5+foot piece that I'm going to prepare and cut down a bit to cross over in the viv, but I wanted to make sure I didn't take an unnecessary amount of 'good' wood from it and making it somewhat unstable.
Also, do you use just average everyday bleach for your 10% bleach solution? On top of that, I have some Callington's Mite Spray left over from treating my snakes a while back; is it good practice to give the sticks a bit of a spray down, or should the bleach soaking suffice?
Thanks for any response back! |
| Hanxa |
Posted - 23/02/2012 : 20:25:33
You can use beech chips as substrate, so I doubt beech is toxic... |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 29/01/2012 : 19:13:00
quote:
Originally posted by Spreebok
quote:
Originally posted by CentricMalteser85
Beech isn't toxic to snakes, otherwise they wouldnt use it for vivariums
Do they use beech though? I thought it was just MDF or something along those lines, with a fablon type coating, to give the beech/oak/walnut effects.
Also, would Apple wood be safe for snakes? We have a cooking Apple tree that bends over, and needs branches chopping off every few years, and it's about due ;)
Yeah, they are MDF just coated with a top that is waterproof and in a beech/oak/walnut finish :P
I've heard of many people using apple wood in the past. Think so long as it is a hardwood and the wood has been dried and free of sap and debarked, it should be fine. |
| Spreebok |
Posted - 29/01/2012 : 18:47:07
quote:
Originally posted by CentricMalteser85
Beech isn't toxic to snakes, otherwise they wouldnt use it for vivariums
Do they use beech though? I thought it was just MDF or something along those lines, with a fablon type coating, to give the beech/oak/walnut effects.
Also, would Apple wood be safe for snakes? We have a cooking Apple tree that bends over, and needs branches chopping off every few years, and it's about due ;) |
| NiallP |
Posted - 29/01/2012 : 16:51:29
I agree, this should be a sticky! |
| ScalySituation |
Posted - 29/01/2012 : 14:57:51
Can we sticky this please? :) |
| CentricMalteser85 |
Posted - 29/01/2012 : 14:09:31
Beech isn't toxic to snakes, otherwise they wouldnt use it for vivariums
quote:
Originally posted by DannyBrown91
There are a couple of different woods you shouldnt use. Oak is ok, Pine is deffinitely one of the ones that is poisonous, also possibly beech and cedar, but i cant remember.
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| NiallP |
Posted - 29/01/2012 : 02:14:00
I was wondering, are oak branches safe to use?
And also, if I brought some bamboo, would I still need to treat it like this? |
