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Boiling/baking beach wood

Spirit

Spirit

New member
I'd rather use my oven (too big to boil, and too many little "stumps"), but before I do, what's the general guidelines?

Should I wet the wood first (I'm thinking yes to prevent fire)?
What temp should I use?
How long do I bake for?

I think that's it... if there's something I should know (like the condition of the wood - bark, burnt areas, how smooth does it have to be -I don't want to worry about my snake getting a splinter- etc - anything that may be harmful to the snake), please include in your reply.

Thanks in advance. :)
 
Also rocks. Not like cement rocks, but more like those weird brick looking things you find on the beach (not sure how to describe those)? Do the same rules apply (I can put everything in the oven at once)? Again, thanks.
 
Rocks you can put in the oven on a cookie sheet at about 250 for about 30 minutes to an hour. This will kill any bacteria or parasites on the rock.

The wood, you would be better off boiling it as this will give you an easier time that trying to bake wood. But, if you want to bake it, I would say to soak it in water, fully submerged, for about a day and then bake it at 150 until it is dry. Then if you don't think that was long enough, soak it again, and back it again.
 
Very good. I'm soaking it now in a mild bleach/hot water solution. I'll soak for maybe 30 minutes, then soak in fresh hot water (no bleach) and when it cools, dump and resoak again (repeat several times) then bake tomorrow. That should be good enough to rince away the bleach, no?

BTW, the wood I chose was very light. I had to weight them all down, and lemme tell you... what a pain in the butt THAT was. I'd just get them weighted down, then one would pop to the surface, which of course would cause the rest to do the same. :laugh:
 
I wet my drift wood thoroughly then stick in the oven at around 275°F for 20-25 minutes. I repeat the process 3 or 4 times.
 
A cycle through the diswasher on its hottest setting wouldn't hurt, then bake it dry!
 
FWIW: When I was doing homebrewing, and I did a lot of home brewing, the accepted method of bleaching was to use cold water. It keeps the active ingredients active. Heat drives them off, so you rinse hot.
 
I didn't know that about bleach and cold water. I mixed the bleach with hot, soaked for 30 mins, then rinced and soaked until the water turned cool (repeated this process several times), then let it soak overnight. Putting it in the oven now.

I hope that's good enough... I'm a weeeeeeee bit concerned.

Dishwasher... why did I not think of that? LOL Next time. ;)
 
Don't be too concerned...Just don't let the wood get too dry in your oven so that it catches fire. We don't want to loose a member on here.
 
hahaha! It's not me you need to worry about, it's my roommate. He's smoked us out one too many times. He asked me last night if I wanted him to put the wood in the oven for me before he left for work this morning (because it was soaking in the sink). A quick "NOTHANKYOU!" shut that nonsense up real fast. Yeah right, I want Smokey McBurnmyhousedown to put wood in my oven at 6am... :laugh:

Its' in there at 200 right now (and looking dry already!! *shock*)

While I'm thinking about it, someone brought me a ceramic tile last night to place over my UTH. Is that all I do? Just place it on the glass under the substrate? I have other questions regarding turning the heat lamp off and UTH on (I've discovered both at the same time is WAY too high), but that's for another thread (or should I ask here?).
 
spirit said:
While I'm thinking about it, someone brought me a ceramic tile last night to place over my UTH. Is that all I do? Just place it on the glass under the substrate? I have other questions regarding turning the heat lamp off and UTH on (I've discovered both at the same time is WAY too high), but that's for another thread (or should I ask here?).
Click to expand...

You can ask it here. Might as well. Yes, you put the tile right on top of the UTH and under the substrate. The tile should be too heavy for your snake to get under thus keeping him off the heat. The best way to control your light and UTH to turn on and off independently is to get light timers...one for each item that you want to control. And set them for the time that you want them set for. The other way is to spen money on a Thermostat that will regulate temps by controlling the amount of current to both the lamp and UTH. I have a thread on here some where that explains how the thermostats for. I wll find it and post it on here for you.

Here is the thread. The information that I am talking about is on the last page. here you go
 
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Okay. My concern regarding the heatlamp/UTH is this.

My tank is 25G and since I can't have the heat lamp over the UTH, I have it slightly towards the middle. If I lay my thermometer under the lamp, it reads 85 (70-75 on the cool side)... but if I put it on the UTH... 100. UTH is now unplugged. If I turn OFF the heat lamp, the thermostat reads 80-85 on the UTH, 70 on the cool side. Here's my problem though. I only left the light off for a couple hours so I know in the colder seasons, that temp (on the cold side) is going to drop significantly.

So how do I keep the temps in the tank at a good temperature, without using the heat lamp? The glass might stay warmish on the cool side (maybe), but with no heat lamp, everything else is going to be very cold to the touch. But with the heat lamp, the UTH reads WAY too hot... understand?

It can get pretty cold in here in the winter and we rarely turn the heat on. It's 52 in here right now and 48 outside (if that gives you an idea), and we're still a few months away from the snowy season... The tile will help with Max not burning himself on the glass, but I'm concerned about the overall tank temperatures in the colder weather.

Thank link helped a bit... thanks for that.

Edit: I'm using one of those little $6 reptile (I think t-rex) thermometers that look like a compass, and laying it flat on the substrate. It's accurate, but it's for sure not the best.
 
(from that other thread)

Vinman said:
I dont use any heat for my corns email me your phone # and I will call you up with some ideas to heat your corn safely. I been breeding corns since 1985.
Click to expand...

What? Oh, this is soooooo :-offtopic
 
Hello, my name is Spirit and I'm not too bright.

Celsius or Fahrenheit?? I thought 300F would be too hot (had it at 200), but upon checking the wood just now (one hour later and still VERY damp), up goes the heat (a bit). :laugh:
 
Spirit said:
Hello, my name is Spirit and I'm not too bright.

Celsius or Fahrenheit?? I thought 300F would be too hot (had it at 200), but upon checking the wood just now (one hour later and still VERY damp), up goes the heat (a bit). :laugh:
Click to expand...


interesting. I would suggest that you go to either Radio Shack...if you have one, or another type of electronics store and get a digital thermometer with an indoor and outdoor option. This will give you better reading than the one that you are currently using.

The Thermostat will help you in regulating the temps while using both UTH and heat lamp. I know what temps are like in the area of the world as I lived 20 miles south of the Candian border in NY. So, I would suggest that you use some kind of heat for this. Something else that you could do is keep a space heater running close to the viv and that will help with ambient air.

One other thing to tell you. With your UTH, it would be a good idea to get a rehostat or a dimmer switch and hook it up in your UTH cord. This way, you can directly control the amount of heat from the UTH and change it when needed. This will allow you to use your heat lamp at full power, and you just adjust your dimmer control on the UTH to get the appropriate temps.

If only I still lived in NY, I would take a couple of days and a weekend and help you out personally in setting this up.
 
pcar said:
One other thing to tell you. With your UTH, it would be a good idea to get a rehostat or a dimmer switch and hook it up in your UTH cord. This way, you can directly control the amount of heat from the UTH and change it when needed. This will allow you to use your heat lamp at full power, and you just adjust your dimmer control on the UTH to get the appropriate temps.
Click to expand...

Actually I've been looking for a dimmer (unsuccessfully) for the heat lamp. The bulb is 100W (easier to cool down than heat up), so I've been adjusting it by hanging it above the tank and raising/lowering it as needed. Good idea to have one for both though (when I find one that doesn't cost $30, that is).

I will head over to radio shack someday soon and look into the digital therm. I have one now, but it's not digital and I'm actually using it anyway (in my living room).

That's so sweet of you to offer to help me get this figured out. I get confuddled by the simplest things, but give me something overly complicated and I'll have it mastered in minutes. Well, except all the damn corn names/morphs. lol
 
The dimmer that you want to look for can be found at any hardware store. All you will want is a Wall switch that encludes a Dimmer. If you have a home depot or Lowes there, you can probably get one with a box for around 10 bucks USA.

And, you are welcome for the offer. I want to go back to NY sometime in the near future for a visit. If I have time, and you haven't said "enough stop talking to me" I will try and make it up that way.
 
pcar said:
The dimmer that you want to look for can be found at any hardware store. All you will want is a Wall switch that encludes a Dimmer. If you have a home depot or Lowes there, you can probably get one with a box for around 10 bucks USA.
Click to expand...

You would think... :headbang: But why would I want a wall switch? I want one that I can splice onto the cord of my light, or one that plugs into the wall, then I plug my light into it (like an extention cord). $30 for the extention cord style one, dude (and no luck on the "cord" dimmer).

pcar said:
And, you are welcome for the offer. I want to go back to NY sometime in the near future for a visit. If I have time, and you haven't said "enough stop talking to me" I will try and make it up that way.
Click to expand...

I appreciate it (and would love to meet you), but NY is, well... VERY far from Vancouver. LOL
 
Spirit said:
I appreciate it (and would love to meet you), but NY is, well... VERY far from Vancouver. LOL
Click to expand...


Guess I will have to check my Geography again. Hold on a sec...Wow...Guess I was totally off :poke: :punch: :headbang: . But it is ok...I lived in Spokane Washington for a couple of years too, and still have friends there...And, I need to go back and do some Fishing. Will let you know if I make it out that way.
 
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