rocks and branches for vivs

[boblibarn]

noticed some people haave rocks in thier vivs are these specially bought or common garden ones and if they are what did you use to clean them,also got some logs for my viv for my new bd but dont know how to identify the type they are to make sure they are safe (got them from the woods near me in telford if that helps?)

[mr stroudy]

to be safe strip the bark off make sure there is no sap (some sap is dangerous) and pour boiling water over it all and leave it for 24 hrs before puting in and if still in doubt post some pics up. rocks are fine just boil them or use disinfectent

[Shiori]

Same advice i use for all things like this, boiling water, bleach, then in the dishwasher or failing that under a hot shower to rinse and blast any pests out of it.
You can get some fantastic rocks at garden centres for larger animals, the one for our monitor is almost too heavy to lift and looks like a mini mountain in his viv but he loves it and it only cost £15. Either that or just go for a walk and see what you find, be careful though as some places like protected beaches dont like people taking rocks away with them.
The branches you can get anywhere, like previous post just remove bark then treat, i believe oak is one of the best. Even better if you can get to a beach and get some driftwood.

[April Snowflake]

I've bought some of the rocks I use and all of the wooden items. Though I've also collected some lovely rocks whilst out walking which are great.

To clean them I have used Trigene in the past though currently use a reptile disinfectant(about £2.99) which I feel is adequate for normal circumstances. I scrub them(hot water), then spray them with the disinfectant and scrub it again and after wiping dry they are ready.

[Shiori]

Reptile disenfectant wont kill everything that could be on the rocks, also hot water will not kill all microbes. It should really be boiling.
Not lecturing but if im putting anything from the outside in my tanks i want to be certian that there can be nothing damaging on them.

[April Snowflake]

Sorry I wasn't clear enough, was trying to keep it short... the hot water I use is out of the kettle so would be hot enough. I use a long handled brush to scrub most of my things this way including bowls/dishes. But I don't think boiling/hot water is always enough and so use something along side which needs to be gentle enough for use with the reptiles, but strong enough to be effective against viruses, pathogens and bacteria.

If I collect anything from outdoors I always use Trigene, basically as we covered it at college and used it at the zoos(quarantine areas also) and kennels I've had work experience at last year. I've also used Virkon on other animals housing, etc but wouldn't use it for reptiles at the same strengths as I find its very strong(last time I used it I had to disinfect a shed at a farm with a spray gun and had to be covered from head to toe(personal protective equipment) as well as use a mask as it can cause breathing probs if inhaled and is an irritant). Personally I won't use anything with them that poses an irritant threat, which includes bleach, jeyes fluid, etc because of what I've been taught.

Most reptile disinfectants are effective against many viruses and bacteria and they should be adequate for normal use which require no extra cleaning, like the regular cleaning of vivs, bowls, etc.

TriGene for me is great and recommended by zoos, vets etc and I can use it with all my animals.

Just my view and sharing

[Shiori]

Cool, where do you get trigene? I havnt heard of it before. I use a bleach solution simply because i know that it will kill everything and i always put in the dishwasher afterwards on a rinse cycle to get rid of the residue, as well as usually leaving it to dry for 12 or so hours. Not only that but i have a paranoia about mites and know that they wont survive a bleaching!. But if there is something better i would like to swap over, i dont particularly like using bleach as i know it isnt great for the animals.
Ive used virkon and jeyes fluid before and that both are evil, we keep horses as well and use them to clean the stables, wouldnt dream of putting that anywhere near a reptile. Could barely stand the fumes myself.
Thanks for elaborating, and sharing the tip, sorry didnt quite get the full picture before

[April Snowflake]

I used to use Jeyes Fluid when I had horses years back and yeah the fumes are bad! I tried it in my rabbitry about 10 years ago and had to look for something different as it was too much for me to cope with never mind the rabbits!
There are some sellers of TriGene on eBay.
Do a search on yahoo for others too.
Its seems expensive but if you get concentrate it works out cheap really and you can get fragranced too if you prefer.
Have a look when you get a mo at medichem.com for more details and see what you think. Theres some good information there... was just looking at the online purchase bit there(medichem.co.uk... there is a pet section and a vivaria disinfectant trigger spray for £4.25 before vat. Its pre-diluted. I've not looked into that one before but may be better as a regular spray for me in between, instead of the one I currently use ... though it may be normal TriGene diluted to a weaker solution, might contact them and ask about that one.

I know what you mean about bleach, I used to use loads around my house but don't anymore, only the toilet gets it!

Sorry about the shortness of my earlier post, its hard to get across online sometimes, I know that and 'tis my fault as I didn't want to bore anyone with an essay cos I can talk forever

Again these are just my opinions and I think we can never learn enough about any creature, and the ways to keep them in optimum health will improve and change as time progresses, meanwhile I think we all do our best for our furry, feathery, slimey and scaley friends

[boblibarn]

thanks for all the advice ,spent ages this afternoon stripping the bark getting mybeardie on friday so would it be best to boil the log on wednesday and leaving it to dry for 24 hours?

[Lizard Loft]

Ive just redone my emeralds swift viv, made it bio-active, i added some rocks i found in the garden, i just boiled them and left them for a few hours, and with logs i do the same except leave them 4 24hours.

i would boil the logs and leave them for 24hours as soon as you can, that way they will be full dry for when your beardie arrives, and you can play around with where you want it in the viv

but its up to you lol