Driftwood Question

[tatacalderon1989]

So its time to change from a 10 gallon tank to a 20 gallon tank for our ball Python. I wanna add a sythetic driftwood for her to climb. Is there anything I should avoid that could harm her. Im not even sure if the one im interested in is fake wood or real wood. But im getting it from PetMountain so what should i get or not get??

[1nstinct]

I would save your money and go to the beach or woods and get your own wood. All you have to do disinfect it. With bleach and water and the black bag trick.

[tatacalderon1989]

Whats the black bag trick??

[1nstinct]

Place wood in big black garbage bag, add 1cup bleach to one gallon water until wood is fully covered, let sit in the hot sun for 2-3 days. This gives the bleach time to seep into the wood and kill anything that might be living inside it. After 2-3 days remove wood dump bleach/water mix and replace bag. Fill new bag with wood up with hot tap water. Replace hot tap water 2 times a day for 3-4 days. The replacing of the hot tap water more often helps dilute the bleach quicker. The black bag help get the temp inside the bag up to over 110 degrees(on a 90degree day). I use hot tap water so it helps increase the temp inside the bag quicker. Just remember to close up the bag. For a really big peice of wood you can use a garbage can and the big black bag like I did(I'll post a pic of my carpet python cage with her wood piece when I get home from work).
Sorry if there is a lot of typos or run on sentences I'm on my phone since I'm at work.

[Capray]

I think it's where you put the wood in a bag to suffocate all insects/termites on it.
Also you can bake it in the oven.

[M&H]

You can bake drift wood in the oven but know it smokes and smells awful! You certainly need the windows open, and after baking the drift wood put the oven on self cleaning or all your food will taste like driftwood smoke.

[grizzjr1]

I would just like to add on to the question because I am a noob myself, but can you boil the wood in a kettle for a while if it can fit? Just wondering if that would be sufficient or if bleach is necessary.

[tatacalderon1989]

haha so i went out lookiing for wood. I dont live near the beach. Umm no luck. I might try it once i find it. But in the mean time i found a good deal for the driftwood. Its definitly big enough for her and only 5 bucks. I just want to make sure that if i do decide to buy it, it wont hurt her. It just looks like regular wood. And since its being sold specially for reptiles/snakes im assuming its already been cured. Just dont want any chemicals to hurt her. But i'll keep looking for wood.

[kitedemon]

Heat treating is fine. boiling baking do the same job. Bleach is quite toxic to reptiles make sure it is fully washed off and no oder remains. Bleach in also sensitive to uv so drying it in the sun also helps. I have friends whom bake the driftwood in BBQs this eliminates the smell.

[TXpythons]

Appropriately treated driftwood will be fine for a tank when it comes to aesthetics, but ball pythons are terrestrial and not arboreal. They really prefer to stay on the ground and hidden. If there is the right heat, humidity, and hide in the enclosure you will not see them moving around much unless they are hungry. I would suggest investing in improving the husbandry of the enclosure before moving to aesthetics and driftwood. Other than that, have fun! I used to have an enclosure with a pair of impala horns in it for the shock factor hahaha