Hi,i have just brought some large pieces of driftwood or bogwood & would like to know what i can coat them in that is safe for reptiles.Reason im asking is that i had some before in an enclosure.Which got damp rot all the way through it.I admit, it was quite close to a drip system,but ive seen them in fish tanks before.Sorry going on abit now,so any help would be much appreciated.

i think u can cook it under the overn at the highest setting and that will kill verything on it.

I have some bogwood i bought from pets at home.

Its kept in a dry environment but i just washed it in a disinfectant solution and baked it for 20 mins, stopping before it turns into charcoal , and then stuck it in... its been fine.

Everytime i clean out the viv i re-wash and re-bake it, you should try that too.

I don't think varnish is necessary

Thanks for those replies,Just 1 thing! ive actually brought yacht varnish & want to know if it would hurt to use it on the wood as added protection.

People use that stuff on the inside of their vivs to seal it so i don't think it will cause any harm once dry

Although... some people have real issues with the amount of smell it gives off which can apparently last for several weeks. There's been a thread on it recently.

HERE

I would also like to know - done the bake & disinfect thing but it's a real pain in the arse when you've got loads to do! I think if you can find a suitable varnish it would be much easier as you can disinfect the log just by cleaning it

Thats just lazy

Heat the oven while disinfecting, stick in the oven... check the forums ... and then ta daaa!

You might as well buy plastic decoration

Yeah thats fine when you don't have much but when you've got 5+ vivs all with bits of wood of different shapes and sizes it takes much longer as they can take up to 3/4 batches. Also when heating in an oven IMO it is better to cook the wood on lower temp for longer so that it is not just the outside that is blasted with heat. Think beef but harder to cook the inside. Anyway, it's not lazy, just looking fo a better & easier way of keeping my vivs clean

Another thing is that i have a couple of pieces that are way to big for the oven.So have to find some other way to treat