back yard branches

[OliveTheVeiled]

I've been looking for the perfect large branches for my veiled 2X2X4 cage. I had a really hard time finding anything I like that was big enough to fill her cage. I have several large branches from some cut down tree's in my yard. I know I need to worry about parasites but these are way to big to stick in my oven and I dont know what else to do. I'm in Michigan and it's below freezing so do I need to worry about killing bugs??

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I put branches from outside straight into my cages. Especially in freezing temps there won't be too many bugs. As long as it's a healthy looking branch (not full of holes or loose bark) then generally it's pretty safe. You can spray it with dilute bleach and let that sit for at least 15 minutes then rinse if you want to be really cautious.

 

[Olimpia]

Yea I'm with Ferret, I would think that if it's a relatively fresh branch in addition to the temperatures then there's probably not a whole lot alive in it.

I also cut live branches from trees maybe rinse them off a little with water to get the little ants and saw shavings off and put it straight into my cage.

 

[Lancecham]

Ditto to the above. I have been doing that way for over 14 years now.

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

what I did

What I did was I went into my back yard found an awesome branch. I took it inside and soaked it with hot water afted that I put dish soap into a spray bottle and soaked it down a few times, then I let it sit. After it dried out a little bit I put it in the dish washer.first time with dish soap then the second time without, just water. That mjght be a bit extreme but you cant be to sure about bugs......hope this helps.

 

[Psychobunny]

I have a dogwood tree in my back yard and saw limbs off that.
First I spray them with peroxide solution, let them sit for a few minutes, then wash them off a bit with dish soap and a long handle brush.

I do this in my basement because the branches are like 4' long, and water
gets everywhere!! too big to fit in the sink

That's all I do, never had any problems

 

[OliveTheVeiled]

thank you everyone! With a huge wooded area in my back yard it would be dumb to pay for something I could get for free! I just heard I should soak in a black garbage bag of water and bleach for a week if they cant fit in the oven to cook the bugs away but I was afraid to do anything like that. She loves the branches we picked and how her enclosure has turned out, but I dont want to be doing any harm. her last cage ( that she came in) had a full spray foam wall with moss attached and it was a mess! her cage was filled with flying bugs and nasties. I knew that wasnt a key feature I wanted to keep.