Wood/branches - How long does it last?

[MissterDog]

I know a lot of people use logs and branches in their set up, and I'm wondering what is the general lifespan before it's time to replace or toss wood out? I've been warned about bacteria build up and rotting, can anything be done to help prevent that? I've seen people baking, boiling or freezing their wood before putting it in their enclosure but not much on general clean up.

Can anyone give me a run down on this and how long wood can be good for?

[redshepherd]

I'm not an expert on wood, but the longevity/safeness depends on the type of wood you want to use, and also depends on if you use a sealant.

I've only used manzanita and grape wood (the curvy kind found at pet stores) and they last a long time and work fine.

Bacteria buildup and rotting will occur quickly with softwoods.

[MissterDog]

I'm not an expert on wood, but the longevity/safeness depends on the type of wood you want to use, and also depends on if you use a sealant.

I've only used manzanita and grape wood (the curvy kind found at pet stores) and they last a long time and work fine.

Bacteria buildup and rotting will occur quickly with softwoods.

I was actually wondering about sealants! Is that something you would recommend doing? Or for the woods you mentioned that's not needed? I'm unfamiliar with types of wood myself so I'm not sure how to properly identify woods. Most of the time when I go to pet stores the descriptions are just "natural wood" but occasionally I do see things labeled as driftwood( is that considered soft wood?) or grape wood.

How long have you had your woods for and how do you usually clean them?

[JodanOrNoDan]

You do not want anything porous in the enclosure that you don't want to throw away if it gets defecated on. All wood is porous. The only way around it is to seal it and then coat it with a safe varnish or something similar. It is a lot simpler to use some fake stuff that looks real and can be easily cleaned.

[redshepherd]

I was actually wondering about sealants! Is that something you would recommend doing? Or for the woods you mentioned that's not needed? I'm unfamiliar with types of wood myself so I'm not sure how to properly identify woods. Most of the time when I go to pet stores the descriptions are just "natural wood" but occasionally I do see things labeled as driftwood( is that considered soft wood?) or grape wood.

How long have you had your woods for and how do you usually clean them?

Driftwoods are hardwoods, so they would work! Most of the petco driftwoods are mopani or malaysian driftwood.

Sorry, I have sandblasted manzanita and grapewood, not fresh off the plant or anything. The manzanita I used to use in my aquariums, and I'm pretty sure has no sealant, but no idea if the grapewood has sealant...

[MissterDog]

You do not want anything porous in the enclosure that you don't want to throw away if it gets defecated on. All wood is porous. The only way around it is to seal it and then coat it with a safe varnish or something similar. It is a lot simpler to use some fake stuff that looks real and can be easily cleaned.

Good to know! Are there any sealant and varnish you would recommend? At the moment I have a water based Minwax polycrylic sealer so I'm hoping that will work. Not sure what to look for in varnishes.