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Ok I freaked out!

leftycrane

leftycrane

New member
So I went in to check on my sunglow motley female today because she has been due to shed lately. I was very pleased to go and find a beautiful complete shed. I reached in to remove the shed...and I see movement. I have a piece of driftwood in there that she loves to climb on. And sitting on it, is a huuuuuuge cockroach! I freaked out! It ran INTO the driftwood, where it has apparently been living quite contentedly. I have no idea how it got in there or when, but I removed the wood of course and theres all this roach poo in there so Im assuming it didnt appear in there last night. I felt awful! I dont think the roach would have hurt my corn, but theyre so disgusting and I dont want her to get sick or anything. Has anyone had this or anything similar happen before? I live in Florida, and roaches are a given in any home, but to see it in there next to my beautiful girl upset me! I feel dirty. Im going to clean her tank tonight when I get home...but do you have any advice or words of comfort? Haha. I want to get her another piece of wood this weekend at our expo, but I worry about this happening again. UGH so gross!
 
It happens - and especially in Florida. No need to get a new piece of wood, though - instead give it a good soak in boiling water, then spray with cleanser of your choice (dilute bleach, etc.). Once the cleanser has evaporated and no smell remains, give it a good bake in your oven at around 250 degrees to kill any last critters - an hour should do it, and after it cools it's fine to return to the tank. Of course, if you are so skeeved that you'll never recover, just get a new piece of wood...:)
 
Living in Florida, I sympathize...I have broken my hand TWICE in the last year smacking roaches, because they INFURIATE me. I have monthly pest control, but I had the guy come in and treat the inside of the house last time.
 
Yea I have pest control too, and it still happens. So soak it...then bake it and its fine? Ill see how I feel after I do that haha. I might be too freaked out, but otherwise its spend $15 on a piece of wood :) Thanks for your help, I appreciate it and the fact that other people hate them as much as me
 
leftycrane said:
Yea I have pest control too, and it still happens. So soak it...then bake it and its fine? Ill see how I feel after I do that haha. I might be too freaked out, but otherwise its spend $15 on a piece of wood :) Thanks for your help, I appreciate it and the fact that other people hate them as much as me
Click to expand...

I like boil, cleaner, bake, and if you are unsure you can bake the wood for a while longer, so long as the temp is not above that 250 F mark. Don't want you starting fires in your oven... :angry01:
 
No, when my wife Jamie worked at the aquarium and they needed logs, rocks, etc. for exhibits, the protocol was to place the item in the walk in freezer for a certain period of time to get rid of parasites, etc. The protocol did not include any cleaners, sprays, etc. - just simply freezing. The staff veterinarian said that freezing removes parasites, etc. that may come from external sources.
 
I had a problem with mites getting pieces of wood.Thats why i keep my tanks simple: newspaper substrate and any kind of FREE little boxes I can get my hands on for my snakes to hide under.
 
I would rinse the wood thoroughly after spraying with anything like bleach, but other than that I think the advice you've been given here is good. I don't know that the bleach residue would be enough to be harmful...just one of those better safe than sorry things. I'm probably just overly cautious because my first experiences with sterilizing drift wood was for aquarium use, and in that case, any bleach residue could be deadly.
 
I took my driftwood pieces and boiled them in a big pot of water with about a capful of bleach for about 30 minutes, then baked them at 250 for about 30 more minutes. Let cool, then serve. I mean put them back in the viv.

Do this with any new natural additions, including rocks. With plastic/silk plants I wash dip in diluted bleach solution then rinse thoroughly with hot water.
 
I had a unwanted worm thing once appear in a piece of cork. Since that, If it will fit in a pot, I boil it for about 20 minutes. If it wont, I bake it. I usually wrap it in aluminum foil, so that it wont brown.

-braingarble
 
I would like to say if you are baking rocks make sure they are completely dry (or room temp if they were in the freezer) before putting them in the oven. They can explode.
 
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