How can I add "grip" to wood?

[samthechamman]

Hey guys, I am currently building a new terrarium for my male veiled cham.
I found a great piece of wood that I would like to somehow work into the new cage.

It was quite damp so i stripped off all of the bark (it was practically rotten and already falling off), and baked the wood in the oven for a couple hours on a relatively low temp to kill any bugs or parasites.

The problem now is that I have this great wooden centre piece with pretty much no bark for my chameleon to grasp on. I have been tossing around some ideas like finding some bark that is in better shape, baking it, and siliconing it onto the wood (using a non-toxic silicone of course), or maybe getting a bag of wood chips and doing something similar like i mentioned above.

This seems somewhat tedious however and I would like to minimize the amount of chemicals in my chameleons terrarium. Any ideas here folks?

 

[chameeeleon]

Maybe you could use a knife to give it a texture, just cut little lines into the branch... maybe... I dunno

 

[Muddyfeet]

have you tried it yet? may not even be a issue..
it may "seem smooth" but you may be surprised it really is not..

the diameter seems to be some of the biggest issues with grip, not texture.. at least with adult chams.. If it is really big, then yes texture for the nails to catch and hold becomes a issue.. but it may not be..

but if you need to add texture.. big diameter where the foot cannot just wrap and hold.. just whack it against some rocks, or dent it.. or heck use a chain.. got a dog? play fetch for a bit.. .. Lots of easy cheap and low effort to add some "distressing to a pice of wood" I would repeat the bake if you use the dogs.. LOL..

 

[Mike Fisher]

Scratch it up with 40 grit sandpaper.

 

[Devokid]

You could stick some skate board grip tape on there. That would give him all kinds of traction.

 

[samthechamman]

The diameter is a little under 6 inches I would say, so I know he won't be able to wrap those little hands around it. I think that I'll try the sandpaper and knife method to add some grooves and see how it goes!

 

[Psychobunny]

Scratch it up with 40 grit sandpaper.

This is what I do with dowl rods. They are too slipery!

 

[Carlton]

An alligator rasp type wood file would rough up the surface and do it faster than sandpaper probably. If the wood is relatively soft (such as pine) the cham's claw tips can probably still grip it, but if its a hardwood like oak not as easily.