sterilizing moss

[8 leg wonder]

Does any one know the best way for doing this? I would like to make my centipede enclosures more naturalistic, but I don't want to introduce anything that might be harmful to my pedes. Would boiling the moss work?

 

[8 leg wonder]

I'm also wondering if boiling would kill the moss?

 

[fusion121]

I'm also wondering if boiling would kill the moss?

moss being a living thing, most things that will kill pathogens (microwaving, boiling etc.) will kill it, a pesticide would kill pathogens, but then it it'll probably kill the pedes too. Your best bet is probably just to wash it well with water and hope for the best. I've used in scorpion cages with no real problems.

 

[8 leg wonder]

I've used it in my emperor scorp tanks but I found that I brought weird mites and little fly like bugs that I didn't have before

 

[J Morningstar]

I don't reccomend it. It will get weird nastys in your tank. I would try to buy it from a place like Black Jungle Terrarium supply and ask what are the chances of mites and such.
Cooking it does kill it but it still looks somewhat okay just brown.

 

[fusion121]

I've used it in my emperor scorp tanks but I found that I brought weird mites and little fly like bugs that I didn't have before

Yeah you do seem to get little bugs from it, but I never saw them harm the scorpion in anyway, I suspect they wouldn't hurt a pede either, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Navaros]

What I have always done with plants, moss' and aquatics, is make a VERY salty solution and soak them in it for a while then rinse them very well with fresh water. The saltier the water the better. It usually kills pretty much everything living in the moss.

 

[fusion121]

What I have always done with plants, moss' and aquatics, is make a VERY salty solution and soak them in it for a while then rinse them very well with fresh water. The saltier the water the better. It usually kills pretty much everything living in the moss.

very good idea, and the moss shows no adverse effects?

 

[8 leg wonder]

What I have always done with plants, moss' and aquatics, is make a VERY salty solution and soak them in it for a while then rinse them very well with fresh water. The saltier the water the better. It usually kills pretty much everything living in the moss.

SALT,cool idea, I'll give it a try!!!!

 

[Navaros]

Well I used to use this for raising fish fry so I don't think there are any adverse effects, as long as you wash it very well. I'm sure if you leave it under the salt water too long it will start to burn, Id say do it for about 10-15 minutes or until you think it's done. You should see little bugs float to the top because the salt, on top of killing the bugs, makes their corpses buoyant. Be sure to completely submerge it and I can't emphasize it enough; rinse. I have used this method on plants like Java Moss and a lot of other aquatic/semi-aquatic plants.