Tank Sticks? Cleaning???

Ok, i recently got a stick, i think it was some kind of Vine, well i cleaned the vine (i thought), well a couple of days later i saw some wood dust in the bottom of the cage... i was like what the h3ll is that? So i took the stick out and there was a rather large bug in the stick!!! I killed the bug with HOT water, i mean REALLY HOT WATER! With in a week or Two there was more dust and Ka the hatchling that was in the tank, past on to a better place.
So my question to you guys, if you buy a stick or something to put in your tank how do you go by cleaning it, with out adding harmful chemicals, such as bleach or something along those lines that could be harmful to snakes? Please hope so if i happen to buy another stick in the near future, how would i properly clean the stick or anything like that?

Boil and/or bake it.

It sounds almost like it had termites... They do give off toxic chemicals when breeding (well, if CSI was correct)...

I always bake anything like that to ensure it's fully dried out and clear of any sort of bug or parasite.

I soak in bleach and water and rinse REAL good. I only use branches for my beardies and they get cricket junk all over them. BP's don't need sticks it's more for you.

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Originally Posted by Kaaa

I killed the bug with HOT water, i mean REALLY HOT WATER! With in a week or Two there was more dust and Ka the hatchling that was in the tank, past on to a better place.

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Im sorry, did you mean that your hatchling has died? Thats incredibly sad to hear. Sorry for your loss.
Most times when putting any sort of natural decor in your tub, it should either be baked for an hour or so[350 deg], or bleached and rinsed WELL.
Hope things turn out better next time.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Im sorry, did you mean that your hatchling has died? Thats incredibly sad to hear. Sorry for your loss.
Most times when putting any sort of natural decor in your tub, it should either be baked for an hour or so[350 deg], or bleached and rinsed WELL.
Hope things turn out better next time.

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Yea he died, i put the stick in there and he would sit on the stick for hours under his light and just chill, but he was very active. Thanks for the advise, i will defently do that for anything i put in the tank, THANKS EVERYONE!

i find that nuking them works well too,bout 5 mins will do it, just make sure theres no water trapped inside it! if it can survive 5 mins of microwave i'd like to see it :rockon:

Sorry to hear about your lost, but dont give up!

I would try next time just to use pvc pipes and torch it. Looks awesome.

Basically torch a section and twist the pipe to get a desired look. Wash it and your done. I saw it on a arboreal site.