Found Wood/moss outside for invert enclosure, tips for disinfection?

[lNSECTOID]

Ive boiled the plain wood bark i have found twice and thoroughly rinsed with cold water. after, i am asking if i can use moss and a stick with green lichen in it too, obviously i cannot boil these, so i stuck them in a water bottle with water and a bit of vinegar. will these be usable after a good soaking and rinse? i will be keeping my millipede and isopods in this enclosure. thanks for any replies.

 

[viper69]

Disinfect- that won’t get rid of bacteria, if that’s your goal?

 

[lNSECTOID]

Disinfect- that won’t get rid of bacteria, if that’s your goal?

disinfect as to get rid of parasites from outside, i got these from outside in london, uk so not sure if theyre safe, will boiling them make them safe for the milipede and isopods? also can i keep the lichen stick? i have soaked it in vinegar water to kill off any parasites

 

[viper69]

Lichen is fine

I’ve never gone through all that for home collected items- just baked them in an oven

 

[lNSECTOID]

Lichen is fine

I’ve never gone through all that for home collected items- just baked them in an oven

thanks, i will bake them next time, i just want to make sure my inverts are fine

 

[Isopods others]

For moss Submerge in water for 24 hours nasties ( excluding bacteria) need to breather eventually so will either die or float to the top

 

[Smotzer]

Did you collect them from a more industrial/commercial/resedential area? If so you probably don't want to use them at all. If you collected them from the woods away from all that then in my belief there is no disinfecting you need to do. Baking will not sanitize anything at all, just reculture with new varieties and less competition. I honestly don't sanitize any outside collected woods or mosses and Ive never had a problem, if your inverts eat the moss in anyway destroying the bacteria is not a good think as that can be part of what helps break things down and provide natural biome as well. "Sanitizing" in a home is a fallacy. But that's just my method and stance on this subject and its never been a problem for me.

What animals are you using this stuff for?

 

[lNSECTOID]

Did you collect them from a more industrial/commercial/resedential area? If so you probably don't want to use them at all. If you collected them from the woods away from all that then in my belief there is no disinfecting you need to do. Baking will not sanitize anything at all, just reculture with new varieties and less competition. I honestly don't sanitize any outside collected woods or mosses and Ive never had a problem, if your inverts eat the moss in anyway destroying the bacteria is not a good think as that can be part of what helps break things down and provide natural biome as well. "Sanitizing" in a home is a fallacy. But that's just my method and stance on this subject and its never been a problem for me.

What animals are you using this stuff for?

thanks for the big response, yes i collected them from a residential area. i boiled them but if it is best i can buy cork bark online, i have these for isopods and millipedes.

 

[Smotzer]

thanks for the big response, yes i collected them from a residential area. i boiled them but if it is best i can buy cork bark online, i have these for isopods and millipedes.

I would only use wood from a non residential area as it could have chemical containments such as pesticides on them.

 

[Stylopidae]

Yeah, you're doing fine. My sterlization protocol is to bake them in an oven at 350*F for 2 hours and I've never had a problem with disease.

 

[MoranDisciple]

Ive boiled the plain wood bark i have found twice and thoroughly rinsed with cold water. after, i am asking if i can use moss and a stick with green lichen in it too, obviously i cannot boil these, so i stuck them in a water bottle with water and a bit of vinegar. will these be usable after a good soaking and rinse? i will be keeping my millipede and isopods in this enclosure. thanks for any replies.

Personally I’ve collected almost all my enrichment items and isopod cleaner crews. (A. vulgare) Never bothered with disinfection as there are countless beneficial bacteria/springtails that I would be eliminating, never had a single issue with disease.

 

[Introvertebrate]

I made a hide out of bark from the front yard. I never did anything to it. So far so good. The dart frog guys talk about pressure cookers. Apparently oven heat alone won't kill everything. But how much wood can you fit in a pressure cooker?