# Sanitizing hardwoods/dead leaves for roach/millipede substrate.



## Camden (Dec 31, 2014)

I tried doing a search on the forum as I'm sure this question has been asked before, but how would one go about sanitizing dead hardwood pieces and dead leaves for substrate? All answers are appreciated.
I used to be heavily into keeping roaches/millipedes and bought the pre-mixed "bug substrate" from bugsincyberspace, but I plan on ordering my roaches elsewhere and would rather order from one place. (not that bugsincyberspace is a bad place to order from.)
Anyways, any help would be great.


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## The Snark (Dec 31, 2014)

Well, you are going to get the usual answers. Mostly, do you even need to sterilize, and just use this material or that material. 

The bottom line is what animals are you trying to protect from what organisms? Millipedes love crud, as bioactive as you can get it. Same with most roaches. 

As for getting rid of ALL organisms, that means killing spores. Killing spores can only be done, ONLY, by using a non residual poison such as Ethylene Oxide or using an autoclave. So maybe it would be easier for you to decide what organisms you want to get rid of and what you can live with?


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## Camden (Dec 31, 2014)

I was mainly thinking about mites and what not that could do damage to the bugs, I've heard of people putting it in the freezer for a while, i'm sure that would get rid of anything that I don't want.


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## xTimx (Dec 31, 2014)

Like all my driftwood/hardwood answers, an effective way of killing off organism in the wood, is to boil it.   or if you can get lucky,  autoclave the wood and infact that would be much preferred over boiling it.  you gotta get heat to the center of the wood to kill off everything, just in case something decided to burrow deep down.     some people opt to put the wood into a tub with 10% bleach mixture but thats iffy as well too.  you can also put the wood into an oven at 250F for at least a half hr. but keep an eye on it since it can start fires.   i hope this helps you.  i hold no responsibility for your injuries or destroyed homes in the process haha.

EDIT: with the dead leaves, i just boiled mine in a pot of water.  cheers

Reactions: Like 1


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## The Snark (Dec 31, 2014)

Camden said:


> I was mainly thinking about mites and what not that could do damage to the bugs, I've heard of people putting it in the freezer for a while, i'm sure that would get rid of anything that I don't want.


Freezing won't kill many kinds of species eggs.


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## Camden (Dec 31, 2014)

in which case, I'll boil it or microwave it. I think thats what peter (bugsincyberspace) does. Thank you both for the help.


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## Cavedweller (Dec 31, 2014)

I spread mine on baking sheets, pour a little water on it, cover with foil (shiny side down), and bake mine at 200F for 2-3 hours.


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## Tongue Flicker (Jan 1, 2015)

I'd normally just rinse, scrub well, rinse again, pour recently boiling water into it, hang dry overnight then waterlog the wood for a day then dry it out again then use. I do have the luxury of time, per se. 

As for the hitchikers, well pedes eat majority of wood living mold species. Mites? Well some pedes live their enire lives in a symbiotic (semi-parasitic yet healthy) relationship with mites and will die without them. 

Like snark said, they love crud. That's their job


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## viper69 (Jan 1, 2015)

I heat up to 300-350 degrees I also microwave them as well


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## The Snark (Jan 1, 2015)

Don't rely on microwaving as the heat is so unevenly distributed. If you have to use microwaving, wet or better yet soak the material to be sterilized. The steam generated distributes the heat and does the killing job.


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## viper69 (Jan 1, 2015)

The Snark said:


> Don't rely on microwaving as the heat is so unevenly distributed. If you have to use microwaving, wet or better yet soak the material to be sterilized. The steam generated distributes the heat and does the killing job.



I don't rely on microwaves for heat per se. I use it for the reason it works, by causing water molecules to get stimulated, and hopefully whatever little buggers are there pop, just like popcorn. I know what a maser is jeez.


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## The Snark (Jan 1, 2015)

viper69 said:


> I don't rely on microwaves for heat per se. I use it for the reason it works, by causing water molecules to get stimulated, and hopefully whatever little buggers are there pop, just like popcorn. I know what a maser is jeez.


No offense intended. I was referring to the scatter of microwaves in the average oven. There are numerous locations where the radiation doesn't strike at all and relies on either moving the target around as the turntables, or the heat conductivity within the target. There are a couple of videos on youtube which show the 'polka-dot' scatter and some nicely weird science experiments where the focal locations and misses can be mathematically calculated.


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## viper69 (Jan 1, 2015)

The Snark said:


> No offense intended. I was referring to the scatter of microwaves in the average oven. There are numerous locations where the radiation doesn't strike at all and relies on either moving the target around as the turntables, or the heat conductivity within the target. There are a couple of videos on youtube which show the 'polka-dot' scatter and some nicely weird science experiments where the focal locations and misses can be mathematically calculated.



No problema my man. Actually I remember one time years ago, I heated up a slice of pizza with a microwave on those turntables, it worked fine. Heated up 2, and exactly what you described happened, I didn't know at the time it wasn't a uniform spread of radiation. I'll look up the vids, thanks!


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## Tenevanica (Jun 5, 2015)

I always soak my leaves in boiling water for 10 minutes. I've never had any trouble with nematodes or bacteria after boiling leaves. Mold is always a problem but can be controlled in the usual ways.


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## mickiem (Sep 5, 2016)

(I just saw this was an old post - hope it is ok to resurrect it)

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Keeping an animal in captivity presents different challenges than one left in the wild.  Animals typically live longer in captivity because we are able to manipulate the balance in their smaller world.  That said....

If my leaves are not already well rotted, I soak them in a large plastic tub for about 24 hours.  I put them in a cardboard box to dry (it generally takes another day and I shake or stir them a few times them as they are drying).  After that, or if I start with well rotted leaves, I put them in a 200˚ oven for 2 hours.  I use either glass or pottery vessels with lids to be on the safe side.  For wood pieces, I soak them in water also.  Usually overnight.  Then I wrap them in aluminum foil (shiny side out) and bake them for 2-3 hours depending on the size.  I let them cool in the foil in the oven.

You may think this is overkill, but I prefer to be on the safe side.  I know environments can sour quickly and I would rather be safe than sorry.  I kept delicate amphibians for many years, where life hangs in the balance!

This is what is working for me.  My next project is fermenting wood.  Sounds like fun!


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