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Question About Varnish and Rocks

Jupiter

Jupiter

New member
Hello, me again, getting my corn when I get paid, so excited! The last week or so ive been getting things from outside and cleaning them for use in my viv, Ill try to post pics when I get my corn, and was just wondering 2 things: The best way to clean rocks, Ive washed them with a bleach/water solution and now intend to boil them, however 2 of them are too big to be boiled, so should I bake them, like i have the logs or? Also, is it a bad idea to use finishing varnish on my logs and rocks? Not sure what its called, but my dad used to make Birdhouses as a hobby, and he would varnish them after, to make their natural color really pop, HOWEVER it does have a bit of a smell when you first apply it, then after a while of air drying it goes away. So how to clean rocks, and if I let it dry in the sun for several days, is it ok to use wood finishing varnish on my logs and rocks? Thanks once again!
 
I use natural slate and I don't varnish. The snakes all have at least one decent piece in there viv as a hard smooth surface for feeding and I have witnessed them using the stone to help shed. Varnish may take all the edges they use to shed and smooth them out to much. In other words I would just back and use.
 
I don't think you have to worry about boiling the rocks now that you've cleaned them thoroughly with bleach. The only thing you'll want to make sure of is that the rocks and logs have no sharp edges.
 
Id avoid baking the rocks. Too high of a temp and they could explode, or so I've heard/been told. As already mentioned, since you've already done a bleach cleaning and I'm assuming a decent rinse and dry they should be more than fine.

As for varnish... It *could* be used but you would definitely want to add multiple coats of a poly-urethane sealant/finish. I'm not sure if the varnish (or any varnishes) are toxic post curing, but I wouldn't take my chances on it. The extra sealant will help make sure any oils or such don't get absorbed by your snakey.
 
Yup yup and yup. The only question I have is about the logs, are they found pieces or driftwood or purchased from a petstore?

Some wood, especially pines or cedars, have oils that can be deadly to corns. Also, if the wood is freshly cut and still live it can produce resin or mold. This recently happened to a member, their wood molded on the backside and they didn't notice it for a while.

Go with driftwood (boil or bake), and cholla skeleton is a great shed starter.
 
Thank you all for the tips, it is a sycamore log that has been cut, and dead for quite some time, but well kept and not rotten at all, I scrapped the bark, cleaned it with a bleach dilute and baked it for a long while in the oven, that was all about 3 weeks ago or so and it's still doing fine, not producing any resin (I don't know if sycamores are even resinous :p) and no mold/smell. I've decided not to add anything to the rocks that are too big to boil, just cleaned them very well several times now. Once again, thanks for all the help!


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