Wood Pieces for Terrarium

Hey guys! I will be getting my AP T10 PVC enclosure in a handful of months. I am wanting to start finding some beautiful wood pieces to include in the enclosure. Something i can wedge firmly in place for Poe to climb on, but also some others that act as barriers/clutter/hidden spaces for him to explore and enjoy. Where are some of your favorite places to find nice wood pieces for your terrariums? I would prefer purchasing, over finding pieces in the wild and sanitizing them, as i'm paranoid of bringing critters/disease into his enclosure. Thank you in advance! ♥

I would try to stay away from real wood and try to something natural looking made from plastic. Real wood can be very hard to keep clean.

I use wood in my Rhacodactylus enclosures (arboreal tree geckos/lizards), but it's a royal pain. You have to get it from a good source, you need to clean it weekly with F10, a brush, and then rinse with water and let dry, etc. Therefore, you need spares as well. I do no use wood in any other enclosure because it's difficult to keep clean, must be replaced yearly (and that's expensive), and there are risks of bringing something with it.

I would look for PVC tubing or fake wood from a pet store, etc. It doesn't look as good, but it's more sanitary and easier to keep clean.

That's just me. I imagine others will disagree.

That entirely makes sense. I wonder where I can find some good looking fake wood that is plastic. The pet store pieces looked pretty awful from what I've found so far.

I got ghostwood from NE herp for my enclosures and it works great! I haven’t had any mold issues however if they get too moist or hot they can discolor depending on substrate. Old photo but here is my boa enclosure.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6418460ee2.jpg


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Originally Posted by MarkL1561

I got ghostwood from NE herp for my enclosures and it works great! I haven’t had any mold issues however if they get too moist or hot they can discolor depending on substrate. Old photo but here is my boa enclosure.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...6418460ee2.jpg


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That is GORGEOUS!

I've always used wood I've found outside. I just bake it for about 2-3 hours at 250°. Kills any parasites and can't look more naturalistic than that.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

I've always used wood I've found outside. I just bake it for about 2-3 hours at 250°. Kills any parasites and can't look more naturalistic than that.

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And if you're worried about keeping it clean (or anything left inside or on it?) you can also coat it with a no-VOC waterproofing that dries clear to seal it from moisture too.

I only use real branches from nature: I sun-bake them for a while (no way to fit in my oven); I also spray them a couple times with diluted chlorhexidine (as used to clean my cages), repeatedly & let that sun-dry too. The only thing I've ever gotten from a branch is a wood-boring beetle that eats nothing but the branch anyway, so if you see a little pile of mysterious fine powdered wood, that's what it is, & it cannot hurt the snake. They'd probably be destroyed by baking the smaller branches, but in my case, they can hide deep enough in the branch to survive the sun & disinfectant.

My favorite wood is a huge & curvaceous branch that I dragged home from paddling a kayak down a nearby river...too beautiful to resist...my biggest rat snake often snoozes on it. :snake: It's shaped rather like a snake anyway so he blends with it.

Can't beat the price of finding it in nature I guess as well! Maybe I'll take y'all up on the baking idea if I can find pieces that'll fit in my oven properly! Or sanitize them as said above. I'm such a sucker for my terrariums looking as natural as possible, but I agree the upkeep/costs of real pieces could also be a downfall.

This is all such great advice/ideas. Thank you so much. Y'all are great! ♥

I've gotten fake plants and things from Chewy, they are cheaper than the pet stores around here

https://www.chewy.com/s?rh=c%3A1025%2Cc%3A1032

I've also roamed around the crafts stores like Michaels and A.C. Moore (closed down here) too