Grape Vine Cleaning

[ckuhn003]

I've been using a piece of grape vine in my enclosure that I picked up at a local pet store. I noticed it looking a little 'hairy' in spots which is probably mold. Any suggestions on cleaning it? I've also heard some people seal it. Thanks.

[ckuhn003]

Anybody use Grape Vines in their setup and/or have mold issues. The only thing I could find in this forum is the use of polycrylic to seal the wood but I'm not sure how safe that is for the snake.

[MissterDog]

Never dealt with grapevine wood personally or mold yet but I have used sealant on my wood furnishings. As long as the polycrylic sealant is low voc/non toxic and water based (never oil based)it's fine Minwax is the brand I used

[ckuhn003]

Never dealt with grapevine wood personally or mold yet but I have used sealant on my wood furnishings. As long as the polycrylic sealant is low voc/non toxic and water based (never oil based)it's fine Minwax is the brand I used

Good to know....i'll seek some out at the local hardware store. I wasn't even sure what grapevine wood was until I found it at the local petstore (not knowing that it molds easily).

[MissterDog]

Good to know....i'll seek some out at the local hardware store. I wasn't even sure what grapevine wood was until I found it at the local petstore (not knowing that it molds easily).

This is the one I used. You can also get it in spray can form.

https://www.amazon.com/Minwax-233334..._&dpSrc=detail

Just make sure the wood is fully disinfected before sealing of course :p

[Ax01]

scrub the crap off, clean the grape vine and soak it in a diluted bleach solution or other cleaning solution like F10 or Chlorhexidine. dry and air out.

[ckuhn003]

scrub the crap off, clean the grape vine and soak it in a diluted bleach solution or other cleaning solution like F10 or Chlorhexidine. dry and air out.

Thanks. Sprayed it down w/ Chlorhexidine yesterday.

[honeybee]

Have had this problem with grape vine constantly. I usually just avoid buying it now since all of my animals live in more humid enclosures. Like others have said scrub it off, soak it in diluted bleach and let it dry out completely. I have heard of success with sealants but I don't have any experience myself.

I have grape wood in my bp enclosure right now and I know i'm going to have to take it out and replace it with cork or just plant cover. The stuff is definitely better suited to arid enclosures

[AbsoluteApril]

Similar to what Ax said, depending on how dirty/contaminated it got, scrub it, soak/rinse and F10 to clean if needed.
I use grape vine in my amazon tree boa enclosures and never had mold issues with it. Perhaps it has to do with what substrate it's kept on? Bark, moss, eco earth may hold humidity and let it wick up into the vine perhaps?
I use it with paper substrates and never get mold. I was having mold issues with those half log hides with bark on them in both ATB and BP caging (with paper substrate) so I got rid of all of those.

[ckuhn003]

Similar to what Ax said, depending on how dirty/contaminated it got, scrub it, soak/rinse and F10 to clean if needed.
I use grape vine in my amazon tree boa enclosures and never had mold issues with it. Perhaps it has to do with what substrate it's kept on? Bark, moss, eco earth may hold humidity and let it wick up into the vine perhaps?
I use it with paper substrates and never get mold. I was having mold issues with those half log hides with bark on them in both ATB and BP caging (with paper substrate) so I got rid of all of those.

It never looked too bad but I did notice small instances of gray 'hairy' patches about the size of an ant. I've been using a paper substrate and I've always had high humidity issues 70 - 90s. It's just the nature of my PVC enclosure.