Are these things safe to use in my T's enclosure?

[RutgerH]

Hey everyone. I'm now rearranging my B Hamorii's enclosure. I got her a selfmade background and have a little more substrate now. To change things up I was thinking of glueing some fake leaves on top of the hide, and putting some leaf litter on the substrate.

I do have some new fake leaves that I can use, however they don't really fit the enclosure. But, I also have some fake leaves that are perfect, but have been in my bearded dragons enclosure for a good two years. I recently took them out cause she tried to eat them. Can it do harm to my T if I put this into her enclosure? If so, will it help if I put them in the freezer for a day? Or should I never, no matter the circumstances, put them into her enclosure?

Also, I want to put some leaf litter in this time. When I worked in a reptile shop last year, the owner told me to grab some outside to put in the milipede enclosures. Can I also do this for my T's? Or can they still have bacteria or other things that could harm them? Unfortunately I can't buy them in the store atm.

Last, I still got some snake shed from my ball python from around a month ago. I sometimes see pictures of people using them, so I assume this is safe to use aswell?

Thanks for reading!

 

[moricollins]

You can use the fake leaves from the bearded dragon enclosure, but I would wash them under hot water first.

Leaf litter could also be safe, I would wash (rinse well, manually remove anything that is on the leaves) and boil the leaves to make sure they're safe.

 

[ActinideMom]

Would using UV light (like the kind you buy at a pet store) to sterilize things - including coconut substrait) be a good idea? My daughter is a biochem major & researcher at UCSD - I was going to ask her to ask if we could test this by taking coconut fibre and trying to culture it (to check for bacterial growth) before and after exposing it to UV light i.e. to see if it would mitigate potential bacteria and or mold growth. I haven’t done a literature search yet but will if folks here think it might be helpful info. Thoughts?

 

[RutgerH]

You can use the fake leaves from the bearded dragon enclosure, but I would wash them under hot water first.

Leaf litter could also be safe, I would wash (rinse well, manually remove anything that is on the leaves) and boil the leaves to make sure they're safe.

Thank you! So just to be 100%; My beardie has tried to eat some of the leaves, but I don't think he ever pooped over them because it was attached ok the gla

Would using UV light (like the kind you buy at a pet store) to sterilize things - including coconut substrait) be a good idea? My daughter is a biochem major & researcher at UCSD - I was going to ask her to ask if we could test this by taking coconut fibre and trying to culture it (to check for bacterial growth) before and after exposing it to UV light i.e. to see if it would mitigate potential bacteria and or mold growth. I haven’t done a literature search yet but will if folks here think it might be helpful info. Thoughts?

Hmmm I honestly have no idea. Only thing I know is that the fake leaves from my beardie have been under a uvb-lamp for 2 years haha.

 

[viper69]

Would using UV light (like the kind you buy at a pet store) to sterilize things - including coconut substrait) be a good idea? My daughter is a biochem major & researcher at UCSD - I was going to ask her to ask if we could test this by taking coconut fibre and trying to culture it (to check for bacterial growth) before and after exposing it to UV light i.e. to see if it would mitigate potential bacteria and or mold growth. I haven’t done a literature search yet but will if folks here think it might be helpful info. Thoughts?

I've never used a UV lamp. What has given you the crazy idea that this is necessary?

You are overthinking this A LOT. Also, spores float around, what makes you think you will prevent mold and bacteria from entering ANYTHING in your home except a sealed glass jar.

Are you a germophobe?

Don't waste your daughter's time on this, she needs to study.