# Sanatizing wild collected moss.



## jeffz

Went for a small hike and found some great moss patches I'd like to try in a new Viv. I also found some great moss-covered rocks. 

Just wondering what I can do to get rid of bad bacteria and unwanted hosts like centipedes and other insects without destroying the moss thx.


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## hypostatic

Here ya go:

New England Herpetoculture LLC - Plant Processing Procedure


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## jeffz

I do that to my normal plants just don't know if moss is too sensitive to introduce the bleach solution.


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## p51mustang23

I did a 2 min dip in 10% bleach solution to my NEHERP live moss a week ago and it is doing fine. Supposedly moss is sensitive to bleach dipping, so make sure to saturate with pure water first, then keep the dip short (I did 15 mins for my other plants).


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## nate_88

I was curious of the same thing I hike and see alot of nice moss but to scared to use it it's not worth loosing my frogs 

~N8


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## Pubfiction

With any plant what you want to do is figure out what the harshest treatment you can hit it with is without killing the plant. If you can wild collect this moss then gather enough of it to try to determine this for yourself. Do a battery of bleach concentrations from say 2-15% and do a variety of time from 3-20 minutes. Then throw it in a test vivarium and see which ones survive. 

You want to hit it with the max treatment because this sort of bleach treating is not absolute. You are just playing a game of odds. The longer and higher the concentration the better your odds of killing more of what you don't want. 

Other methods you can try are, drying it out for a while. 
You can culture if for several months in a vivarium. Over time if any pathogens, eggs, or spores happened to need a host they might die. Once again just reducing risk, not eliminating it.


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## MoCarp

I have read a CO2 treatment dry ice kills bugs


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## Enlightened Rogue

I`ve been collecting wild moss for years and never had a problem when cleaned. I`ve found it`s the only moss I can keep alive.
I have wild moss that`s been in a tank for 2 years. Every moss that I bought turned brown and died within a month, although I`m not exactly Mr green thumb either. My tanks are all leaf litter (also gathered myself) anyway because you can`t have enough iso`s.
The moss is there for a little color.


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## Wusserton

I recently collected 3 varieties of moss in the north woods of Wisconsin, I know there are no pesticides being used in this area, all mosses were collected using a clean shovel and directly deposited in 2 gallon ziplock bags and sealed, they are now in my freezer, i noticed a beetle and small spider in one of the bags, I plan on flash freezing them and than cleaning them as you would all other plants, I gathered enough to test bleaching, boiling and just soaking all three, will go with what works best after also putting through a quarantine tank. northern Wisconsin is the source of a lot of sphagnum moss, lots of bogs up there lol moss of all kinds, its cold and damp 6+ months out of the year with temps dropping to -40 sometimes


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## NickMan

Hey folks, I'm relatively new to darts so please excuse my ignorance but I have a question about using wild moss in my viv...

I recently added some moss I had collected here in MN to my viv with frogs and didnt really think twice about introducing any pathogens/parasites due to the vast difference between Peru (I have R. imitator "Varadero") and Minnesota. 
What are the realistic dangers of using temperate mosses in vivs containing tropical animals?

Thanks!

-Nick


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## Wusserton

I decided to never use my wild collected moss in any of my tanks, I just dont want to risk it because a lot of it was on pine and Im not sure if that is wise for PDFs but Im entertaining the idea of experimenting, I froze all my moss initially and than cleaned it by bare root methods with a 24 hour soak and another spraying, than I put some in a cake tin I bought at the grocery store on a bed of sphagnum, my plan is to grow it under these conditions until winter hits and than put my cake pans in the refridge for a week and than transfer it cake pan and all to a freeze for like a month but wrap it in like a garbage bag or something first and after that back to the fridge for another 1-2 weeks to thaw, Im thinking I can trick the dormancy and grow it ...maybe for a plant only viv, or maybe bunches of small moss jars I can place around the house and repeat dormancy as needed ...anyone ever tried this with temperate mosses?


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## Wusserton

Wusserton said:


> I decided to never use my wild collected moss in any of my tanks, I just dont want to risk it because a lot of it was on pine and Im not sure if that is wise for PDFs but Im entertaining the idea of experimenting, I froze all my moss initially and than cleaned it by bare root methods with a 24 hour soak and another spraying, than I put some in a cake tin I bought at the grocery store on a bed of sphagnum, my plan is to grow it under these conditions until winter hits and than put my cake pans in the refridge for a week and than transfer it cake pan and all to a freeze for like a month but wrap it in like a garbage bag or something first and after that back to the fridge for another 1-2 weeks to thaw, Im thinking I can trick the dormancy and grow it ...maybe for a plant only viv, or maybe bunches of small moss jars I can place around the house and repeat dormancy as needed ...anyone ever tried this with temperate mosses?


Here is my link to what Im doing http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/201257-wild-moss.html


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## NickMan

Well, Im not sure if they came from some leaf litter I purchased or the moss I used but I now have slugs in my system. 

Some fresh leaf litter was added a month ago and the moss was added over 4 months ago. I don't think it was a matter of me not seeing them initially because I pulled 5 in one day and really keep a close eye on things since the viv is on my desk at work. Its possible that hatching was delayed significantly and that they were just so tiny at first I missed them but 5 in one day and then only 2 over the last 2 weeks has me a little perplexed.

It looks like it can take 3-4 weeks for a slug egg to hatch but the size variation has been significant so I am leaning towards the moss.


Lesson Learned!


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## NickMan

Wusserton said:


> I decided to never use my wild collected moss in any of my tanks, I just dont want to risk it because a lot of it was on pine and Im not sure if that is wise for PDFs but Im entertaining the idea of experimenting, I froze all my moss initially and than cleaned it by bare root methods with a 24 hour soak and another spraying, than I put some in a cake tin I bought at the grocery store on a bed of sphagnum, my plan is to grow it under these conditions until winter hits and than put my cake pans in the refridge for a week and than transfer it cake pan and all to a freeze for like a month but wrap it in like a garbage bag or something first and after that back to the fridge for another 1-2 weeks to thaw, Im thinking I can trick the dormancy and grow it ...maybe for a plant only viv, or maybe bunches of small moss jars I can place around the house and repeat dormancy as needed ...anyone ever tried this with temperate mosses?



For what its worth, slugs overwinter here in the Frozen North. I wouldn't think freezing would be enough to kill anything adapted to this climate.


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## Wusserton

NickMan said:


> For what its worth, slugs overwinter here in the Frozen North. I wouldn't think freezing would be enough to kill anything adapted to this climate.


Yeah Im not using it in any tanks of mine but am considering using it in small terrariums around the house, the stuff in my cake tins really took off and is spreading so to say temperate moss cant be used because it wont adapt to a tropical climate is probably inaccurate








The first two are on a mixed media and the 2nd is on pure spaghnum and this last one is in a small jar like Im talking about but I just started it so its just now starting to take off


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## planted-tnk-guy

Wusserton said:


> Yeah Im not using it in any tanks of mine but am considering using it in small terrariums around the house, the stuff in my cake tins really took off and is spreading so to say temperate moss cant be used because it wont adapt to a tropical climate is probably inaccurate
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> The first two are on a mixed media and the 2nd is on pure spaghnum and this last one is in a small jar like Im talking about but I just started it so its just now starting to take off


I wouldnt say it doesn't adapt to tropical conditions, the problem is most, not all temperate moss will live for a year or two then slowly pitter off unless it gets a rest period. In Oregon the rest is generally a dry summer period that is needed. There are numerous mosses and lichen tho and it is always worth a try. Even if it only live a year or two it's free so no harm no foul. As for slugs and snails well no matter how careful you are one slip up and you end up with eggs then snails and slugs. There are quite a few small slugs and snails that actually eat mostly decomposing matter so not all of them are the end of the world to your plants. The frogs could very well eat some too I'm sure my frogs relish grindle worms that are living in a culture in the tank. I take a bantam chicken egg and poke a pinhole in the end and set the hole close to the soil level. Once the egg starts to decompose inside the worms take over the egg till the inside is fee of white and yoke and there is never a smell either. The luecs sit there and snack all day long on them and it couldn't be any easier as any side dish for them.


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## planted-tnk-guy

Sorry about reposting your pics my bad!!


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## Wusserton

planted-tnk-guy said:


> I wouldnt say it doesn't adapt to tropical conditions, the problem is most, not all temperate moss will live for a year or two then slowly pitter off unless it gets a rest period. In Oregon the rest is generally a dry summer period that is needed. There are numerous mosses and lichen tho and it is always worth a try. Even if it only live a year or two it's free so no harm no foul. As for slugs and snails well no matter how careful you are one slip up and you end up with eggs then snails and slugs. There are quite a few small slugs and snails that actually eat mostly decomposing matter so not all of them are the end of the world to your plants. The frogs could very well eat some too I'm sure my frogs relish grindle worms that are living in a culture in the tank. I take a bantam chicken egg and poke a pinhole in the end and set the hole close to the soil level. Once the egg starts to decompose inside the worms take over the egg till the inside is fee of white and yoke and there is never a smell either. The luecs sit there and snack all day long on them and it couldn't be any easier as any side dish for them.


Lol thats really cool the egg side dish suprise, Im sure they love it! a fat frog is a happy frog for sure lol


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## Judy S

oh I LIKE that.....


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