Branch thickness?

Mad Dog Murphy

Established Member
Hi all, gathered some branches from a broken oak limp and have them currently soaking in bath ready to debark and steralise,
question Is this, what diameter branch would suit juvenile upto adult male veiled as I’ve been told too thick can damage there feet..
I was thinking 1 or 2” ?
any suggestions on sterilising be good too, was going to soak 4-1 bleach but read conflicting things.
many thanks
 
Imo, no need to remove bark and sterilize. Using a plastic bristle brush and some soapy water (dish soap) I give a little scrub to remove bird poop, dirt and whatever is loose, rinse really well with the garden hose and dry in the sun. Some of my branches still have lichen on them and I like how it looks. I also use a variety of diameters - from thicker than my fat little sausage thumb to super skinny. It gives an opportunity for your cham to exercise all those foot muscles. I haven’t heard of anything being too thick damaging feet.
 
You want multiple thicknesses for your branches. This will give different gripping surfaces. I did not go larger than an inch and a half thick on mine though. But I have some smaller as well from 1/4 of an inch up.

I would not soak in bleach personally. I did not debark mine. The bark will help them hold up to the consistent moisture. I just gave mine a good wash then rinsed really well. Then let them dry out in the sun.
 
Imo, no need to remove bark and sterilize. Using a plastic bristle brush and some soapy water (dish soap) I give a little scrub to remove bird poop, dirt and whatever is loose, rinse really well with the garden hose and dry in the sun. Some of my branches still have lichen on them and I like how it looks. I also use a variety of diameters - from thicker than my fat little sausage thumb to super skinny. It gives an opportunity for your cham to exercise all those foot muscles. I haven’t heard of anything being too thick damaging feet.
Great thank you for the advice, I wasn’t keen on bleaching and keeping the bark will look nice and save me unnecessary work.
 
You want multiple thicknesses for your branches. This will give different gripping surfaces. I did not go larger than an inch and a half thick on mine though. But I have some smaller as well from 1/4 of an inch up.

I would not soak in bleach personally. I did not debark mine. The bark will help them hold up to the consistent moisture. I just gave mine a good wash then rinsed really well. Then let them dry out in the sun.
Ok great thanks , I’ll have to go back out source a few smaller ones to mix things up a little, but at least I will save time now not having to bleach everything 😁
 
I use a lot of different sizes for enrichment and exercise
IMG_20230505_115332.jpg
 
Lovely dense Foliage which is nice to see, is that a golden pothos? I’ve just bought one, only small but I’m hoping a jungle dawn light will help it along
 
Lucky you, wouldn’t last long here with our temperatures, I’m still waiting on summer to come so I can get my dose of D3
 
I used window screen frame on the outside attached to frame, stainless steel bolts to act like a spacer and 1\2 inch cpvc with holes drilled into for connecting to screen frame with stainless screws and attaching branches with zip ties
 

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