Items from reptile expo

Went to a local reptile expo today and ended up picking up some new things (no snakes) - two new hides, a back up CHE, and a cool java wood branch. The hides I already tossed in the dishwasher, the CHE is stored in the closet (can't really disinfect that), but I left the wood in the car, I just need to figure out how to disinfect / ensure no free loaders come in with it. Will a good soak in really hot water and dilute clorhex (followed by a few days in fresh water to rinse) be enough to ensure noting infectious remains?

Unfortunately there were several vendors that had snakes with obvious mites, Respiratory infections, and mouth rot...so making sure nothing came home with me is important. None of the items I got were near the actual snakes, but I want to make extra sure. (already have clothes in washer and showered lol). On a side note - even if it is sad I did get a good look at several cases of RI and mites first hand and the symptoms are VERY obvious, so I guess I learned something new

After soaking the wood bake it off in the oven and you should be good to go. Protip to make it last longer use a water based wood sealant after baking it.

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Yeah I usually bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of hours for wood after a soak. Make sure you put it on a pan so little wood pieces don't fall off haha.

That's what I would normally do - guess I should have mentioned that the wood is about 54 inches long and just a smidgen over 16 inches tall. Its for my T11 to fit diagonally - won't really fit in the oven

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Originally Posted by Crowfingers

Unfortunately there were several vendors that had snakes with obvious mites, Respiratory infections, and mouth rot...so making sure nothing came home with me is important. None of the items I got were near the actual snakes, but I want to make extra sure. (already have clothes in washer and showered lol). On a side note - even if it is sad I did get a good look at several cases of RI and mites first hand and the symptoms are VERY obvious, so I guess I learned something new

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Richmond show? I thought the promoter vetted vendors better than that.

Since the wood piece is so large, you can put it in a large trash bag, spray it liberally with Provent A Mite and let it sit for a few days. After which I'd wash it down with a bleach solution and let it air dry for a week or so.

Baking is the best way to kill anything on a log. Boiling works too as mites and water do not mix but if the wood is not seasoned properly, boiling can have negative consequences. 200-250 for 2-3 hours in an oven will kill anything on that branch.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Richmond show? I thought the promoter vetted vendors better than that.

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Yeah, this year was pretty poor in my opinion. There were one or two good vendors from previous years and the gecko people had decent looking critters, but I'd never see this guy before. He only had maybe 20 snakes and no banner or company name displayed anywhere. He had a butter g stripe that was blowing bubbles and yawing with a ton of mucus in it's mouth on display, I didn't get too close....all of this hatchlings looked an the skinny side to me as well.

I checked the vendor list last night and had only heard of a few people and most were not even listed on fauna, so I think it may be going to mostly local small scale breeders. There were not many morphs (at least not many of the cool ones). Saw maybe 10 pieds, a ton of spiders / bees, a lot of normals, a scattering of albinos, lots of cinnamon's, pastels, enchi combs, and one person had 2 axanthic. Not many colubrids or boa's either. Was really looking forward to seeing some cool morphs - but I also got there 2 hours before it ended, so I may have missed the good stuff.

Maybe you could still soak it in a large container then dry it with space heaters? Although I would do that outside and keep an eye on it so it doesn't catch fire haha.

Thanks, I'm probably going to soak it in a weak bleach solution then in clean water and let it dry really well for a few weeks before adding it. I don't know how long mites can go with out a host, but I may also take it to work with me and give it a week in the deep freezer before cleaning. I do that with the cypress mulch too if I have to get it from a pet store instead of Amazon.