# Rotting wood help



## Elias Harper (Nov 15, 2017)

So for millipedes and such that eat rotting wood, where would I go about getting it and how would I prepare it so it's safe. Can I just go into the woods and find some rotting wood and break it down or do I have to do something to it?


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## mickiem (Nov 15, 2017)

Anyplace that does not treat with biocides is safe.  Most city parks are sprayed on a regular basis, but natural areas are not.  You want it to be in a proper state of decay...  It should be crumbly or you should be able to shred it with your fingers.  If it is real black, it probably is inedible.  The best litmus test for this is to pick wood that has isopods and others living in it already.

The next step will be widely debated.    Some people don't treat it at all and with good reason.  I opt to treat mine - with good reason.  Even I am debating myself on this!    I usually put the wood through my little wood chipper and soak it in water for a day.  I drain the water and let it dry a little and even if I don't think something is moving in it, I bake it for two hours at 250°.  I will let others tell you their good reasons for not baking.  I am just afraid of nematodes and other unseen creatures lurking about my sweet millipedes.  That's the way I do things!

Reactions: Helpful 1


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## Elias Harper (Nov 15, 2017)

mickiem said:


> Anyplace that does not treat with biocides is safe.  Most city parks are sprayed on a regular basis, but natural areas are not.  You want it to be in a proper state of decay...  It should be crumbly or you should be able to shred it with your fingers.  If it is real black, it probably is inedible.  The best litmus test for this is to pick wood that has isopods and others living in it already.
> 
> The next step will be widely debated.    Some people don't treat it at all and with good reason.  I opt to treat mine - with good reason.  Even I am debating myself on this!    I usually put the wood through my little wood shipper and soak it in water for a day.  I drain the water and let it dry a little and even if I don't think something is moving in it, I bake it at two hours at 250°.  I will let others tell you their good reasons for not baking.  I am just afraid of nematodes and other unseen creatures lurking about my sweet millipedes.  That's the was I do things!


Does baking it get rid of nutrients


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## mickiem (Nov 15, 2017)

Not at a low temp for a short time.  I'm sure some nutrients will be lost, but much better (to me) than losing a millipede when a monster crawls out of the substrate.


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## LawnShrimp (Nov 16, 2017)

The best kind of wood is white and crumbly and comes from broadleaf trees such as oak, maple, or fruit trees. It should look like this: (picture from a beetle breeding site)

	
	
		
		
	


	




If the wood is dark orange or really any other color than white or pale yellow, it is probably conifer wood and most millipedes cannot digest it. If it is too hard to pull apart with your fingers, then it is too fresh and hard for millipedes to bite apart. Often, branchwood and thin limbs of the tree fall because they have rotted properly and even though they are small, they are easier to find than a whole rotten stump. While such branches can often be found in cities and towns because of planted trees, I agree that pesticides are not worth the risk and a trip to a local forest would be better. Besides, you could find edible stumps and logs there as well.

If you find millipedes, isopods, or better yet, beetle larvae in the wood, it probably is very tasty to pet millipedes as well. I found a huge log lying side ways and kicked it lightly. The bark on the bottom fell away entirely and several Narceus fell out. I collected a great deal of white wood that day as well as several millipedes.


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## desmess3000 (Nov 16, 2017)

LawnShrimp said:


> The best kind of wood is white and crumbly and comes from broadleaf trees such as oak, maple, or fruit trees. It should look like this: (picture from a beetle breeding site)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The best dreams I have are of this 
I have yet to find and millipedes in my local forests unfortunately...and trust me it's not from a lack of trying


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## mickiem (Nov 16, 2017)

LawnShrimp said:


> The best kind of wood is white and crumbly and comes from broadleaf trees such as oak, maple, or fruit trees. It should look like this: (picture from a beetle breeding site)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Great collecting day!  When I use my wood chipper to chip my wood, I use logs and cut them to a size the chipper can handle. I thought I would save a step and use smaller branches but then the ratio of bark is too high.  It wouldn’t make as much edible wood.  So I risk life and limb on the bandsaw cutting into neat 3'X1.75"X1.75" pieces so I can please the royal pedes.


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## LawnShrimp (Nov 17, 2017)

desmess3000 said:


> The best dreams I have are of this
> I have yet to find and millipedes in my local forests unfortunately...and trust me it's not from a lack of trying


For some reasons I have the same problems. I live 15 minutes away from huge forests where Narceus should be common. However, there are no trees with the properly rotting wood. I have only found deciduous wood that is yellow, wet and smells odd, and is more pulpy than dry and fluffy. A few hours away, there are several locations I have caught Narceus, and every time there has been at least one tree that has been properly white-rotten. Maybe this is because there is the species of fungus that causes white rot only travels in a certain pattern or can only exist in undisturbed locations, and the millipedes only survive where it does.


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## AvLteralice (Nov 17, 2017)

I live in the city, in the heart of the city to be exact and its very difficult to gather dead/rotten wood. I travel 2hrs by land and by sea to an island with a lot of fruit tree plantation and forest, there I gather all I can, as much as I can supplies for my millies. I'm a newbie to this hobby so I just follow steps like boiling/microwave the dead wood I collected before I introduced it to the tank. since I live in asia we dont have same deciduous wood such as oak, beech etc. I just use dead/rotten fruit tree barks and gather some Catappa leaf litter. It's difficult to find wood pellets here or should I say it's not yet introduced to the market(online order is a different story), I really want to try that sawdust ferment using flour and yeast, maybe millies would like it. I saw a video about fresh cut log fermentation using mushroom spawn for beetle breeding, I think its'a a good idea but it take some time to decay the log, the way that log decayed looks like my millies would be happy to eat the log haha. I gather information and try it for myself, it's kinda fun.. but real talk - it's really hard to gather dead/rotten wood. Happy dead wood hunting.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## emplosion (Nov 20, 2017)

The forests around my home are protected so I cannot collect unless I drive for 10 - 15 minutes. I've been using fermented Traeger pellets for about a year as a supplement for when I cannot go collect. Works really well in the winter.


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## desmess3000 (Nov 20, 2017)

emplosion said:


> The forests around my home are protected so I cannot collect unless I drive for 10 - 15 minutes. I've been using fermented Traeger pellets for about a year as a supplement for when I cannot go collect. Works really well in the winter.


Wow thanks for the tip...this stuff seems awsome.

How do you go about fermenting yours?


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## emplosion (Nov 20, 2017)

desmess3000 said:


> Wow thanks for the tip...this stuff seems awsome.
> 
> How do you go about fermenting yours?



There's a lot of great information on the boards, I started mine after seeing a thread that mentioning http://invertebratedude.blogspot.com/2015/10/making-rotten-wood.html. Now I don't exclusively use just this wood dust. I also have leaf litter that I have collected when I'm able. And a nice bag of actual wood I've found that I use too. This is more or less for use in mixing with substrate and sprinkling on top of your current substrate. I do this because I'm not able to have as much real wood as I'd like, but it seems to be working. I also suggest doing your own research as well. What you're looking for is beetle larvae substrate, flake soil or Kinshi


How I do it: (spoiler  for formatting and ease of thread reading)



Spoiler



Supplies:
Shoebox Sized Plastic Tub
Measuring Cup
Wood Pellets
Drill or hot knife


Wood / Pellet Choice:
The brand of pellets don't really matter. I currently use Traeger Oak Pellets because it is what is available to me. What you want are 100% hardwood pellets. These are usually used for smoking food in pellet grills. You also want to make sure they have no additives or pesticides. Traeger for instance has different hardwood types like hickory and cherry, but neither of these work because they don't actually use the wood from those trees. They are oak with hickory / cherry oil in them to flavor the pellets. They don't workbecause of the flavoring oil. This is something you will have to research to see which pellets you need to use. If you live in the states most hardware stores have Traeger brand pellets

I also wouldn't use regular lumber sawdust as lumber is typically treated with pesticides.

Directions:
I'll be honest I don't have exact measures for a lot of this...
-Use the drill / hot knife to put some vent holes in your container. I put 8 small holes. Fermentation releases gasses I've seen conflicting arguments on whether or not to vent the container. I've been venting mine, but I've seen a lot of evidence that points to not doing this as well. Try both and pick.
-Add 1 cup of your chosen pellets to the container.
-Simmer some water and pour it slowly over the pellets until they expand. You want a them to soak up all the water and break apart. You may have to use a spoon to mix them up to get them to break apart. You want about peanut butter consistency. You don't want it to look soaked, but you also don't want it dry.
-Leave the lid off and let the water evaporate until you basically have saw dust. This takes a few days.
- Mix in your flour 1 part flour to 10parts sawdust. So if you have 5 liters of wood you'll use .5 liters of flour.
- I then mix in 2 packets of active dry yeast.
-Simmer more water and pour it into your mixture, and mix until you again have a peanut butter consistency.
-Close the lid and leave it sit. In a dark closet. It'll take a month or two to finish fermenting. Check on it every few weeks to see if the container it is still warm to the touch, and mist it with warm purified water if it looks to be drying out.
-After it has cooled you are all done.

Reactions: Like 3 | Disagree 1 | Helpful 1


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## desmess3000 (Nov 21, 2017)

Awsome thanks for the write up.


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## mickiem (Nov 22, 2017)

emplosion said:


> There's a lot of great information on the boards, I started mine after seeing a thread that mentioning http://invertebratedude.blogspot.com/2015/10/making-rotten-wood.html. Now I don't exclusively use just this wood dust. I also have leaf litter that I have collected when I'm able. And a nice bag of actual wood I've found that I use too. This is more or less for use in mixing with substrate and sprinkling on top of your current substrate. I do this because I'm not able to have as much real wood as I'd like, but it seems to be working. I also suggest doing your own research as well. What you're looking for is beetle larvae substrate, flake soil or Kinshi
> 
> 
> How I do it: (spoiler  for formatting and ease of thread reading)
> ...


That’s some great detail in your spoiler. Thanks!


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