Disinfecting wood- interesting quote..and confusion

[flyingSquirrel]

I was looking at some old threads on this forum and I came across an interesting quote from the all-knowing Ed

"As an aside, boiling or baking or both are not adequate methods of dealing of disinfecting or sterilizing wood or bark. You have to be able to get the core temperature of the material hot enough to guarantee that all pockets and crevices are heated sufficiently and this is very difficult using the above methods."

The thing that surprises me is that it seems like 99.99% of advice for disinfecting wood is to boil and/or bake it. The reason I wanted to post this new thread about it is that I would like to know if Ed or anybody else can elaborate on the above quote, and recommend any methods for really disinfecting wood. OR if in fact they think it's even necessary..what's the point of boiling/baking if it doesn't completely work? What are we trying to remove by boiling/baking?

[bobrez]

I got one, I found this long thin piece of driftwood on the river, so i cut it in half and soaked it in a 50gal bucket with other pieces of wood i found. I put a bag of pool shock in and circulated the water let it soak for 2 days. After that it sat drying in the sun for a week, then i baked all my wood in the oven at 350 for a hour and left it in overnight.

A week later it was time to go in the viv, i cut the pieces to fit and while placing them in GIANT RED ANTS started poring out of the center of the stick, about 10 of them. This stick diameter was less than an inch, i was amazed they survived, so i snatched them up in a cup...... and fed emm to my frogs. The End lol

[Pumilo]

The only thing that can truly work is an autoclave. Boiling and baking is pretty much considered better than nothing as most of us do not have access to an autoclave.

[Froggyplush]

well i scrub the wood down first spray with bleach alot let it dry then i boiled havnt baked it yet waiting for wife to go out of town

[curlykid]

so are we just better off scrubbing it down and soaking it in bleach?

[parkanz2]

Originally Posted by curlykid

so are we just better off scrubbing it down and soaking it in bleach?

I think I'm more comfortable with a vinegar solution... bleach scares me a little.

[B-NICE]

i've soaked in bleach and baked. I found a nice pice of wood yesterday, a tree branch it has so much accent.

[mordoria]

ARGH! Get over the bleach. It still will not soak in deep enough and will NEVER rinse out. You wil not be able to get rid of 100% of the "nasties". Watch your frogs and get them tested yearly or 2. Thats the best way to make sure your frogs stay healthy.

[Pumilo]

Originally Posted by parkanz2

I think I'm more comfortable with a vinegar solution... bleach scares me a little.

GOOD! Bleach should scare you! It should only be used on non-porous items like rocks.
We can also soak plants in a 5% to 10% bleach solution for 5 or 10 minutes. Make sure they are full hydrated first and rinse, rinse rinse.

[Ed]

Originally Posted by parkanz2

I think I'm more comfortable with a vinegar solution... bleach scares me a little.

The problems with scrubbing with vinegar or bleach or any other disinfectant (and how they work is extremely varied for example vinegar to operate at it's most effective action requires 3 hours exposure at 75 F ( 24 C) (and it takes much longer the cooler it is) is that all of the protecting organics have to be removed so the disifectant can contact the organism. This is impossible with pieces of wood, cork or other organics that have cracks and crevices as the disinfectant can't penetrate into those areas to gain contact with the organisms. As was noted above, even extended periods may not reach organisms in the center of relatively narrow pieces.

The same can be said with boiling/baking. Neither of those is likely to reach the center of the piece of wood or any deep crevices or cracks (or areas protected by damp organics) and in the mean time, the boiling/baking process is going to be destroying the structural elements of the wood/bark potentially reducing it's life in the enclosure (particularly leaf litter). (It also needs to be noted, never ever bake rocks or other materials with pockets where pressure can build and cause it to explode (even bamboo is a risk)).

Materials like cork bark purchased either directly from the importer or second hand from pet stores or terrarium suppliers should not need any treatment as the load had to be fumigated under pressure before importation into the US. The gases used in those treatments are able to penetrate deeply into the material which renders them safe. Unless the pieces were used in a tank at the store or stored outside, they are safe for immediate use. This also includes any other imported woods.

Basically these methods are a panacea of sorts as it makes you feel like your doing something to prevent unwanted organisms from moving into the tank.

Chytrid and a number of other organisms are very sensitive to drying, so an extended drying period post washing tends to eliminate the vast majority of pest species. I tend to gather enough leaves in the fall that it allows me to let them dry for 6 months or more which is certainly long enough to eliminate the vast majority of unwanted organisms. The same can be said for collected pieces of wood, if they are allowed to fully dry then they are at little risk of bringing in unwanted organisms.

The few times, I've found unwanted animals in my enclosures, I was able to trace them back to plant I had obtained. Now I quarantine all plants and ideally only use cuttings when adding plants although some of the orchids I want will require extra precautions to prevent unwanted additions.

Ed