How do you disinfect Rotting wood or leaves.

[Notaloka]

I've been wondering this before my millipedes and isopods come in. I have plenty of rotten wood nearby and large leaves. How would I go about disinfecting them. I know boiling is a option or baking. But i'd like a factual answer.

 

[cold blood]

How would I go about disinfecting them

You don't.

 

[Notaloka]

You don't.

So run the risk of introducing a botanical product to my substrate which i have no knowledge on what it's carrying?

 

[cold blood]

So run the risk of introducing a botanical product to my substrate which i have no knowledge on what it's carrying?

Other things aren't a problem, its called nature. These things work in symbiosis....sterilize things for an enclosure and now the first things to colonize have it all to themselves...and boom, population explosion and trouble....usually its mold or mites that find it first.

I have been using wood from outside for a decade, I rinse sometimes, sure, but would never sterilize.

 

[Notaloka]

Other things aren't a problem, its called nature. These things work in symbiosis....sterilize things for an enclosure and now the first things to colonize have it all to themselves...and boom, population explosion and trouble....usually its mold or mites that find it first.

I have been using wood from outside for a decade, I rinse sometimes, sure, but would never sterilize.

Understandable, I'll run some smaller enclosure test before had as my climate is tropical and I dont want to risk mites (I'm getting a package of springtails for the mold just incase) Thanks for the insight.

 

[mantisfan101]

Depends on what the ourpose of the leaves are for as suggested by coldblood, but I just put leaves in individual plastic zibloc bags, make aure that they’re tightly locked, and run it under hot water from my sink’s faucet. Heating dry leaves in an oven risks burning them. Although a bit more tedious this is the most thorough way in my opinion to do it. Take care not to burn yourself though, but this is what works best ime. If you’re not going to use them right away I would recommend tying them up in a big garbage bag and leave them im the garage or something. Make sure that they are dry and after a few months or so all organisms should have dried out since they reauire more humid environments. However there is a chance of some stowaways being present and if the bag rips open some other stuff like centipedes or whatnot can crawl in.

Also I should note I use leaves to feed my beetle larvae(D. Tityus and my zophobas morio) so stowayas like click beetle larvae, earthworms, spiders, and ants are an no bueno.

 

[Lucashank]

You don't.

I agree with cold blood. Brush off the wood, maybe rinse the leaves if you want. The recommended solutions for disinfecting wood are pretty ridiculous in my opinion and likely won't even work adequately.

 

[The Snark]

Other things aren't a problem, its called nature. These things work in symbiosis....sterilize things for an enclosure and now the first things to colonize have it all to themselves...and boom, population explosion and trouble....usually its mold or mites that find it first.

So you have detritus sterilized in your environment into which you will introduce non sterile animals. Let's just rephrase that: So you have agar sitting in an incubator and you introduce............

Life will find a way. Sterile = no beneficial organisms to aid in control of undesireable organisms.

 

[Polenth]

I bake leaves for half an hour and wood for about an hour per inch thickness. I don't do it to disinfect it, but to remove livestock. I bake mine at the same temperature I'd use for cupcakes. It doesn't need to be that hot when the target is to cook the critters.

Things like scavenging mites, fruit flies and fungus gnats aren't dangerous and you will get them regardless of what you do to the leaves. Springtails will tend to outcompete them, but you'll always likely have some of the other little critters. This isn't really a problem, because they all act as cleanup crew and won't hurt your pets.

I haven't had issues with undesirable microorganisms colonising the baked wood and leaves. The substrate in my enclosures has a diverse microorganism community, so that takes over any new stuff quickly. I seeded my initial tanks with some worm castings and organic compost, in addition to the coco fibre. I use samples from existing tanks to seed new tank substrate. So the risk of something bad floating in and getting going before the substrate microorganisms isn't too likely.

The question to ask is how much you're trying to mimic the ecosystem outside. In my case, I'm not looking to observe natural predator and parasite interactions. I don't want to end up with random hybrids because two closely related species ended up in the same tank together. I do want the microorganisms and things like springtails. So the baking is a compromise, as it removes some things I want (meaning I have to add them back) but removes some problems that would be harder to deal with later (like woodlice, centipedes and parasites). You have to decide what balance you're looking to achieve.

 

[MasterOogway]

I freeze stuff (wood, leaves, etc) at -40 for 3 or 4 days before I add it into bins, but more just because it makes me feel better I think. I highly doubt I'm getting rid of all the harmful 'hitchhikers' that may come in with stuff.

 

[Vanisher]

The only danger ftom taking things in the nature and use in terrariums is the potential risk of toxic substances! Say you take some leaf from an area where they have sprayed for insectextramination or something like that!? Other than that you never have to sterilize! Sterilizing is more bad than good! The wild where tarantulas lives are not sterile!

 

[Vanisher]

Sometimes when i was out of substrate i dug up some soil in the woods or took some soil from my fathets compost bin! I have never had any problems!

 

[MasterOogway]

For me, I'm more concerned with getting predatory worms/grubs/critters frozen since most of the leaf litter and punky wood I'm collecting is for myriapods and beetle grubs. Grubs in particular are super sensitive to the various hitchhikers that tend to come in with substrate materials. I'm also always *absolutely* positive that where I'm collecting from is pesticide/herbicide free. Fortunately working at a zoo, we're super adverse to those chemicals on grounds which makes my job easier .

 

[Notaloka]

I'

I've been wondering this before my millipedes and isopods come in. I have plenty of rotten wood nearby and large leaves. How would I go about disinfecting them. I know boiling is a option or baking. But i'd like a factual answer.

I've collected some wood in not sure if it's suitable, but it wasn't in a heavy humid area. It's been in a wood pile from a year and a half, it breaks down with my hand easily. Also I have tons of palm seeds, very dried palm leaves, leaf litter, tamarind shells, dried mango seeds around. I'd like to know if these can be used to benefit further the microfauna.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Boiling works best for me.

 

[mantisfan101]

I'

I've collected some wood in not sure if it's suitable, but it wasn't in a heavy humid area. It's been in a wood pile from a year and a half, it breaks down with my hand easily. Also I have tons of palm seeds, very dried palm leaves, leaf litter, tamarind shells, dried mango seeds around. I'd like to know if these can be used to benefit further the microfauna.

Make sure that it's hardwood and not coniferous since they secrete a resin that's poisonous to insects and invertebrates. I don't know how it would work for millipedes or isopods though.

 

[Notaloka]

Make sure that it's hardwood and not coniferous since they secrete a resin that's poisonous to insects and invertebrates. I don't know how it would work for millipedes or isopods though.

It's definitely not pine, but im not sure what you mean by hard wood ( sorry for the lack of knowledge)

 

[Notaloka]

Make sure that it's hardwood and not coniferous since they secrete a resin that's poisonous to insects and invertebrates. I don't know how it would work for millipedes or isopods though.

Never mind I got. Definitely not a softwood. The trees around here are all hardwood.