Baking a wood pie

[Jenn_06]

to answer your ? 30min at 250 to 300 sounds good just stay close by...

[shaunyboy]

i usually bleach mine.its big lumps that dont fit in the oven.i fill the bath with cold water add some bleach then scrub with a scrubbing brush.i leave to soak for 6 to 8 hours (i wieght it down with a couple of bricks to keep it submerged).i then drain the water out shower it down with the shower head.i then fill the bath up with clean cold water and let it soak overnight (wieghted down again).i then place the branches in the airing cuboard until dry.most legnths are 4 to 6ft long so my oven aint up to it.
cheers shaun

[percey39]

Originally Posted by .: Laura :.

I should probably take percey wood hunting with me as a body guard since it's just rained and it's pretty warm so there are good adder possibilities :P

I dunno why people always want me there when they want wood!!!!! lol
In all seriousness though i dont bake mine or bleach it as long as it has no bark or termites, spiders and ants on it i have found it to be fine. I usually cut fresh hardwood ( lol ) at my mates joint as he has heaps of nice pretty tree branchs. Remember these are snakes that naturally live in the wild. I am of the belief the we bubble wrap our babies a little too much.
If you wish to bleach or bake go for it as it will be safer, but i have never had any problems. Be careful bleaching though and make sure you re soak it in fresh water and dry it properly before putting in the tank.

[percey39]

Oh and Laura if you pay for my flights i will be more than happy to come over and travel round europe to play with adders and other snakes lol

[emseeKAY]

i've heard to bake it for about an hour at 300f to be safe, but then i guess that depends on your oven as well i'd bleach it for good measure and let it dry for a week after as well though lol

[Kmef07]

i've heard that 2-3 hours at 200 degrees is safe from starting a fire. It will also kill anything that might be in the wood. But i would worry about 300 degrees. There is nothing worse than having your wood catch fire.

[emseeKAY]

Originally Posted by Kmef07

i've heard that 2-3 hours at 200 degrees is safe from starting a fire. It will also kill anything that might be in the wood. But i would worry about 300 degrees. There is nothing worse than having your wood catch fire.

thats what i meant 200 lmao that could have gone horribly wrong haha

[ShiroDX]

Originally Posted by Kmef07

There is nothing worse than having your wood catch fire.

You don't know the half of it.

Found some very nice pieces of driftwood by the lakeshore.

Decided to bake them in my BBQ (Uhh Huh) for a bit.

I took some precautions. I lined the grill with some aluminum foil, shinny side down.

It was working great for a while, I could tell it was heating up nicely.

Tried to rush the process a bit and like a bone head I raised the temp a bit.

Well I turned my back on it for just a min and "Flame On!" My beautiful pieces of wood went up in smoke

Lesson learned

[Da Beast]

i cut fresh branches and Peel the bark of if it is ruff <like alders, for the arbutus i just let dry cause it has nice smooth bark. but ya 300 for 30 would work

[infernalis]

Well I screwed up.... Seems like the thread to put this in.

I wash my reptile bark and coconut (when I am broke) and then while it is still wet I bake it in the oven until the steam is rolling out, then I stir it up and bake it some more.

Well I had a batch in and forgot about it.

It was black and smoking when I smelled it.

The idea is that by baking the substrate while wet it steams out and kills everything that may remain alive in the material.

By keeping it wet, it never burns up, unless of course you forget it for about 30 minutes too long.

[.: Laura :.]

I've just recently moved on to using coconut husk, lovely substrate and looks much more attractive. Nice for burrowing too.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by .: Laura :.

I've just recently moved on to using coconut husk, lovely substrate and looks much more attractive. Nice for burrowing too.

Good stuff, hardly ever molds (you gotta really neglect it to get it moldy) absorbs smells, easy to spot clean..... and cheap!

[.: Laura :.]

Not that cheap over here :P like 1kg is about £7 whereas aspen chips/shavings are around half the price, most definately don't mind paying more.

How're you Wayne? Has been a bit of a while again

[infernalis]

Going good, School started back up so the kiddies are gone all day, Liking that,.

[belovedboas]

hahahahha I'm crackin up I usually leave it for about 20 mins on about 300...30 mins would be good....just keep checking on it..you don't want it to burn!!!