# Curing driftwood of parasites?



## subtera745 (Sep 30, 2013)

I received a piece of driftwood from a friend who keeps snakes, it would look amazing in my new terrarium. However, the snake was infected with parasites. I have baked the wood twice, for five minutes at 350 degrees, let it sit on the porch overnight, then baked it for ten minutes at 350. It is currently on the porch in a tub of water soaking so that all tannins and whatnot are leeched out.

Would my baking have killed off all parasites? I have no idea what they are, or what type of wood I have.


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## thumbnail (Sep 18, 2005)

I would say you did more then enough to take care of any bad parasites that could have existed on it. I collect sea driftwood alot on trips and I do what you do with the soaking, but I soak for 2 days drain and soak again. After another few days I take it out and if I am mounting the piece I let it dry outside for a few days. Now if I am just setting it in the tank wet to start mounting stuff to it I just let that last soak be treated with a good dechlorinater.


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## subtera745 (Sep 30, 2013)

Alright sweet, I had read other places that you'd have to boil it, but I'm glad to know that's not the case as I have no pot big enough.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Baking it for short periods like that will do very little to reduce any organisms that may have worked their way deeper into the core. There have been some discussions recently on the subject, and one person "in the know" would tell you that no amount of baking or heat treating outside of an autoclave will do anything worthwhile. 

Also, I don't know exactly what you think letting it sit on your porch overnight would accomplish. I guess if you live in a really dangerous neighborhood some of the parasites may be stabbed or shot?

I for one would *NEVER* try to reuse a piece of wood that has already been housed with animals, especially those that are known to be harboring parasites.


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## thumbnail (Sep 18, 2005)

are we talking about snake mites as the parasites or something else.


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## subtera745 (Sep 30, 2013)

I honestly just assumed that high temperatures would kill any parasites. Thereby rendering it safe. The reason it's outside is to minimize access to my house for the parasites.

All I know about them is that the belly of the Western Diamondback was crawling with them. I don't think mites crawl in the belly of their host. More likely something intestinal.


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

Baking tactics require time, since you know there were parasites your safest option is to make a bonfire. But if you are willing to take risk you need to cook it for longer periods of time. 

300F overnight would be better. If you happen to have a pressure cooker that is big enough to hold the piece of wood that would be a good option as well. 

It would also be a good idea to find out exactly what parasite had infected the snake. Because there may be information on what temperature and conditions that parasite can withstand. And it may very well be this parasite would not infect frogs and the risk would be no higher than putting any other piece of wood in the vivarium.


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## thumbnail (Sep 18, 2005)

if it were mites the above would have been way more then enough. The leaving it outside to dry out was so you don't get water drainage in the house, but I guess leaving it in the sink would be fine also for that. Direct sunlight tends to do better though then being inside for a good dry out period. As for internal parasites I still am not too worried about the transfer of them to your frogs after an extended period of letting said driftwood to dry out for an extended period of time. I just do not believe that the parasite even in cyst form would be able to be still living after weeks or even a month of total drying out after a few good boilings or soaks.


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## mykoe817 (Apr 16, 2014)

What about freezing the piece of driftwood? I would imagine a couple of days in the freezer is sufficient. Dry it out as much as possible and freeze it.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

subtera745 said:


> I honestly just assumed that high temperatures would kill any parasites. Thereby rendering it safe..


Some coccidian parasites are resistant to dry heat and those lengths of time are not sufficient to reach a temperature that would kill even some of the parasites. If the wood is not heated to temperature all the way through, then your not doing anything. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

mykoe817 said:


> What about freezing the piece of driftwood? I would imagine a couple of days in the freezer is sufficient. Dry it out as much as possible and freeze it.


No........... not sufficient. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## evannave (Jan 23, 2009)

You might find a pottery studio or call a community college that teaches pottery they often have kilns that can get much hotter and fit almost anything in them. I had a large piece of driftwood that I sterilized that way and it cost me a six pack of beer.


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

evannave said:


> You might find a pottery studio or call a community college that teaches pottery they often have kilns that can get much hotter and fit almost anything in them. I had a large piece of driftwood that I sterilized that way and it cost me a six pack of beer.


Thats not a bad idea.... I will have to remember that 

IMHO, if you KNOW that it was exposed to parasites, then don't use it. I just don't see it being worth the risk.

John


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

The oven can get plenty hot enough. If you put it in a kiln that will go hotter you will probably just burn the wood or turn it into charcoal.


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## evannave (Jan 23, 2009)

Most of the kiln have settings but you would definitely want to be careful not to got too high.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

evannave said:


> Most of the kiln have settings but you would definitely want to be careful not to got too high.


As long as you keep it below 250 C it should be fine... In fact depending on the water content it can take hours to days for it even get above 100 C.

Some comments 

Ed


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## subtera745 (Sep 30, 2013)

I decided against using the piece, and will discard the styrofoam tote it was in as well. I don't want to take a risk with infecting anything. Thanks everyone!


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## zbaker (Jan 28, 2021)

subtera745 said:


> I received a piece of driftwood from a friend who keeps snakes, it would look amazing in my new terrarium. However, the snake was infected with parasites. I have baked the wood twice, for five minutes at 350 degrees, let it sit on the porch overnight, then baked it for ten minutes at 350. It is currently on the porch in a tub of water soaking so that all tannins and whatnot are leeched out.
> 
> Would my baking have killed off all parasites? I have no idea what they are, or what type of wood I have.


You need to bake it at 200-250 for 2-3 hours and 350 for 1/2 an hour then let it cool off then your done


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