is this harmful to my cham?

whysoez420

New Member
i went out to the forest near my house and got some branches/sticks off trees.
today i started washing them off. i used my shower to wash them since i don't have access to a hose and left them in the tub to dry. i looked at them about 15 minutes later and of course they are still wet but im noticing some sort of green gunge on them. there is a pic below of a small piece i broke off. please help me out.

 
Can't really tell from that pic. What species is the tree? It could either be newer bark, lichen or moss. If the stuff doesn't start peeling off when it is entirely dry it's probably OK. Remove any oozing sap. If it gets flaky and loose just scrub off the loose areas with a brush.
 
In my humble opionion try baking your limbs first in your oven 200 degree's for about 5 hours. You do need to monitor it as to not cause any accidental fires.

It will dry up the sap, kill bugs "parasites" and age the wood.

And this green goo. Im getting old i guess i cant realy see it in your picture, maybe after baking it, this green stuff will powder up and come off.
 
In my humble opionion try baking your limbs first in your oven 200 degree's for about 5 hours. You do need to monitor it as to not cause any accidental fires.

Holy cow, 5 hours? I've always read people recommend 20-30 minutes at 350* and this always struck me as enough if all you want to do is disinfect and kill off any insects.

OP | I personally don't remove any lichen from my branches, I think it looks nice and never hurts anyone. Any sliminess or sap I would definitely clean up, however. I personally avoid trees that are sappy just to avoid the mess. That way I can cut, rinse, and put in my cages.
 
Holy cow, 5 hours? I've always read people recommend 20-30 minutes at 350* and this always struck me as enough if all you want to do is disinfect and kill off any insects.

OP | I personally don't remove any lichen from my branches, I think it looks nice and never hurts anyone. Any sliminess or sap I would definitely clean up, however. I personally avoid trees that are sappy just to avoid the mess. That way I can cut, rinse, and put in my cages.

I normally boil to disinfect and kill off nasties, the longer at a lower temp is good to age or dry the sap. I don't think 200 f is enough to kill off fungal spores but is great to dry green wood out quickly.
 
leave them to dry in direct sun if you can. If concerned, you could pour boiling water straight from the kettle \stove pot onto branches. and\or scrub with some white vinegar.
 
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