# Gathering leaf litter locally?



## Lunatuck (Apr 15, 2021)

I live in the woods and have tons of trees around. I’m certain that there are no pesticides. So I plan on gathering some leaves for leaf litter, but was hoping for smaller leaves. My Oak leaves tend to be larger. What other species of leaf litter can I collect? How about Weeping Willow? Are there any trees to avoid? I plan on boiling, and drying in the oven because I don’t want to introduce anything into the viv that I can’t account for. 
I live in Northeast PA and am looking for smaller leaves. I have a bag of Magnolia leaves, but want some smaller leaves.


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## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

Seems like you should be able to find birch, maple, ash, elm.... Seems like those leaves should be fine. 

I just bake them. I'm not sure but, seems like boiling would contribute to them breaking down faster but, I don't know for sure.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

I just bake my leaves. Works best for me, but there are lots of ways to skin a cat.

Magnolia leaves can be broken down into smaller pieces, too. Magnolia and live oak leaves last longer in the viv than northern species do, which may or may not be what a person wants out of their leaf litter.


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

I fill a 5 gallon bucket with mostly red oak leaves, boil a pot water, dump the boiling water into bucket, and put the lid on. They steep until they’re cool enough to handle, at which point I spread them out to thoroughly dry. I‘ve never ID’d a pest bug in any of my vivs.

I use the red oak as a base layer before adding the fancy stuff (live oak, magnolia). Any maple or beech that make it in will break down very quickly, so use them sparingly.


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## Lunatuck (Apr 15, 2021)

Thanks for all the answers. Loos like I’ll be gathering some leaves.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

I cant find the information again, maybe Im not searching the terms right but there was something about it not being good to collect and process un-fallen leaves, you know like drying them because of terpenes or something? Because I was liking that idea for a couple reasons.

Off the tree leaves i am meaning.


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

Kmc said:


> I cant find the information again, maybe Im not searching the terms right but there was something about it not being good to collect and process un-fallen leaves, you know like drying them because of terpenes or something? Because I was liking that idea for a couple reasons.
> 
> Off the tree leaves i am meaning.


I don't know about any hazardous compounds, but the chemical makeup of un-fallen leaves is definitely different than the leaves deliberately dropped from trees heading into winter; they decay much faster. 

I saw an ad here once from someone selling magnolia in the summer because they fell some branches. No thanks!


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## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

Kmc said:


> I cant find the information again, maybe Im not searching the terms right but there was something about it not being good to collect and process un-fallen leaves, you know like drying them because of terpenes or something? Because I was liking that idea for a couple reasons.
> 
> Off the tree leaves i am meaning.


There's no harm in drying out green leaves that haven't fallen from the tree, in most cases your isopods and spirngtails will thank you for it, but expect them to dissolve into green mush within hours once they're exposed to warmth and water.
Leaf litter only forms at all because the trees have extracted what nutrients they could before they fell, and as a result they decompose more slowly.
Beech leaves can be nice and small and reasonably long lasting. If you can get them from a beech hedge they are even smaller.
Alder leaves are more nutritious for some isopods than beech or oak.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Thanks Louis and Broseph. Much appreciated!


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## Lunatuck (Apr 15, 2021)

So... I found a bunch of leaves, but now I'm wondering if the same is true for driftwood. I have a few small streams and could possibly collect some hardwood branches from them. Finding driftwood locally is very difficult now, and there's no telling what I'll receive if I order it. I'd probably try to boil it in a huge crawfish pot I have to sterilize.


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## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

Some trees found on the east coast like osage orange and black locus may last a long time in a vivarium. Random hardwood trees rot pretty quickly I have found. I have even had cypress knees that I would have guessed would work great only last like 2 years. 

Have you looked at local fish stores? Mine has big boxes of mopani wood. Reptile shows are good places to find wood and cork too.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

I like cork bark 100 times more than "driftwood" of various sorts for viv use -- it is inexpensive, doesn't rot, is lightweight, has more surface area (inside of rounds), can be bleached and reused, is sustainable, is easy to find for purchase.


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