Wood Pieces for Terrarium

[wonderwhitters]

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! ♥

[JodanOrNoDan]

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.

[dakski]

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.

[wonderwhitters]

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.

[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.



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[wonderwhitters]

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.



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That is GORGEOUS!

[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.

[Bogertophis]

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.

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. It's shaped rather like a snake anyway so he blends with it.

[wonderwhitters]

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! ♥

[Gocntry]

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