Sterilize wood

SwarmLordS

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 19, 2023
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2
Hi everyone, it's my first time opening a topic here so I hope not to make a mess.
I'm also from Italy so my english is kinda crappy, i also hope you can understand what I write.

Anyway, i took some bark from the woods I live in (they were already fall off the tree, so i just picked them up from the soil) and it has a lot of moss and lichens growing upon it. I want to use it as landscape and decorations for my terrariums,("empty" ones with just plants, or for phasmids) but since it's decomposing I want to sterilize it.
I've seen people using soapy water and bleach to sterilize wood, but I don't want to kill mosses and lichens since they're very natural-looking.
I thought about using just boiling water to get rid of insects, since I saw some beetles and other little pests, but I don't know if it's enough.
Do you have any ideas or experience in this?
Thank you a lot.
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
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Aug 8, 2005
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I've seen people using soapy water and bleach to sterilize wood, but I don't want to kill mosses and lichens since they're very natural-looking.
You mean you want to kill the animals on the material but not the organisms. So you want a method that is able to tell the difference between the two. The only method that comes to mind is immersion in nitrogen gas for an extended period of time. Plants and most organisms tolerate it but the animals eventually die off. But this will not kill some eggs and repeat immersions will probably be in order.
Your English is quite acceptable. Welcome to AB.

@HooahArmy Any thoughts? EO or autoclave being out, along with any pesticides or toxic agents that may embed into the material.
 
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Wolfram1

Arachnoprince
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1,292
My question for you:
What harm could the animals do that potentially live on said bark? Or do you just want to keep them from getting in your living space?

Personally i just use most things 'as is' / 'the way i found them' if i like the look.

On a sidenote, the mosses but especially the lichens are not going to survive long in terrariums without special care/conditions.

Welcome.
 

Introvertebrate

Arachnoprince
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..............On a sidenote, the mosses but especially the lichens are not going to survive long in terrariums without special care/conditions..............
I wonder if there's a way to 'fix' all that in place, like a clear flat coat of Krylon. Eventually the moss will turn brown so maybe touch it up with some 'Jungle Green'?
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
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I wonder if there's a way to 'fix' all that in place, like a clear flat coat of Krylon.
Take a trip over to the fine art restoration world. They have several gazillion adhesives and protective coatings. Plus a hundred years of well documented practices to preserve what with what with what longevity along with how to remove many of the old and all of the modern day fixatives.
 
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MuziMuz

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 8, 2021
Messages
3
How I treat my pieces of wood with Lichen's, is I rinse it a few times - to get rid of 'obvious' hitchhikers. Then I let it soak in a weak bleach solution for 15 minutes, then rinse it again and then let t soak in a plain water for 30-60 minutes.

I follow a similar procedure for my vivarium plants as well.
 

Westicles

Arachnobaron
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Dec 9, 2018
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520
Not saying I'm wrong or right, but I've been doing this for 20+ yrs and haven't had any issue for collected branches for my snakes. I scrape them off with a putty knife, scrub with a Dawn and water mixture at least twice, let air dry for a while and seal with a wood sealant, then let that set for a while depending on the weather. Again, I've never had a single issue. I do want to add this, I'm not sterilizing anything!!! Just cleaning the branches up.
 
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