So I have had debates about how important disinfecting sticks is in the past but wanted to see what others think. I used to think I had to but for the past year or so, that has changed. I really don’t do any cleaning of stuff from outside except for leaves or the occasional bucket of dirt. To me, if you ever bring your animals outside for more than 2 minutes then why worry? If anything would happen, it would be while they were out there. To me, I just do a thorough look over and if I see any ants it goes back. If I see isopods or anything, they just get brushed off and I do a second look over to make sure there is nothing else. And that is all I really do. Plus, if you are doing a bio enclosure, what difference does it make? If a singular isopod makes it into your enclosure nothing is going to happen.
That is just my take and I want to see what everyone else’s views are!
I mean, I do it because I sell most of my driftwood, and I want to make sure that its safe. Mostly it’s for peace of mind I think because the chance of anything going wrong goes down by a lot.
My thoughts on it is basically that out in the wild it’s a huge space. Anything brought indoors is going to be in that small space for repeated exposure. And I wouldn’t want to do that with things like potential snake fungal disease or Parasites.
Even in an enclosed system if you introduce the wrong bacteria you can end up with issues. Aquariums are a great visual for that when it comes down to things like cyanobacteria or fish handler’s disease.
I haven’t gone and collected anything for myself, but typically do do a light disinfecting of anything I’ve purchased to place into habitats.
If anything… Maybe having worked fish tanks for so long was why i get picky about it. Lol
Now, I do take my animals outside so I’m not as worried about things like bacteria. I will say, I do disinfect any wood solely because of insects. Sure, if you get a piece with an isopod or something it’s not a big deal, but there are things like termites, carpenter ants, spider egg sacs, woodboring beetles, carpenter bees, etc that I absolutely do not want getting in my home/enclosures. For that reason I usually bake anything I intend to use inside.
Many many moons ago, it was said that everything you put in needs to be cleaned and to never put anything from outside into an enclosure. And it was mostly for the reasons everyone listed. But times have changed and more information has come out. The same goes with letting your Reptiles wonder outside. But this one not a lot of people followed.
I dont use anything as i changed to racks. I can see both sides. If you are someone who let’s them out, then not baking things shouldn’t be an issue. If you are the one that believes you should not let them outside, then baking is probably your best option. I dont see a harm in baking items. If you have something dry, clean, and not rotting, you are probably safe from it having anything dangerous. You could just bag it for a few days to see if anything does come out. That would be what i would do, if i still used these items. I think baking is overkill, unless you sell them. But that is a different situation all together.
