small sticks! danger?

[pssh]

Sure!

I think it was beneficial to the OP.

 

[Trace]

In my 20+ years of reptile keeping, not once have I boiled or baked or bleached any sticks or leaves brought in from outside. Not once have any of my chameleons both arboreal and terrestrial caught anything from said natural decorations.

So, I'm curious. Considering the stick is long dead, what kind of parasites and nasties would be hiding in it?

 

[Zeke20]

In my 20+ years of reptile keeping, not once have I boiled or baked or bleached any sticks or leaves brought in from outside. Not once have any of my chameleons both arboreal and terrestrial caught anything from said natural decorations.

So, I'm curious. Considering the stick is long dead, what kind of parasites and nasties would be hiding in it?

I think it is more of an "extra precaution". Just because the stick is dead, doesn't mean there can't be anything living in it. It does reduce the chance, but I am sure there is still a slight chance. I don't happen to know exactly what may be living in it though, but if you have had success with no treatment at all it does releave some worries on this end.

 

[pssh]

It may not be in the stick itself, but there can be gross stuff on the stick or moist things that attract the nasties that hide on them. It would really depend on the area you come from, the climate, and other various things, but I'm sure there are bacteria and other things on them. There can also be parasites that can affect you on the sticks. if the stick has come in contact with raccoon poop you could get a parasite that eats away at your brain if it entered your body some how. Babies have become partially brain dead or mentally retarded from said parasite (cant remember the name) and I dont want to risk it for anyone!

I dont know much about lizard parasites, but the same concept applies.

 

[Trace]

Holy poo! I've been tempting fate all these years. Luck is with me, maybe I'll go buy a lottery ticket this afternoon.

It may not be in the stick itself, but there can be gross stuff on the stick or moist things that attract the nasties that hide on them.

But if the stick is dead, what could be living on it? Be specific; name some 'gross stuff' and 'moist things' that we need to be aware of.

 

[Bio123]

The idea is to get all the tannins (natural acids) out of the wood, so that the humid and breeze filled chameleon environment won't have mold. Mold can be hard to see on bark. Therefore, boiling and drying your wood repeatedly kill germs and it even makes the branches sturdier.

 

[pssh]

Raccoon poop parasites! Again, not familiar with the actual parasites, but if something decided to relieve itself on it, like a lizard, and it had parasites, the parasites could/would live there for as long as they could. And if you picked it up in that window and didn't clean them it could travel to your lizards. However, Cleaning them in just precautionary... If you dont want to you dont have to. I admit, its easier for us to catch parasites from said sticks than a lizard, but the chance is still there.

Sorry I can't actually give you any names for the lizard. Baylisascaris procyonis. B. procyonis is a type of roundworm that infests the intestines of raccoons, but if they entered a human, the find the brain and feast on it. It is more commonly seen in young children because of the whole crawling thing and sticking things in their mouths randomly, but if you had a poop stick and you didn't clean it and ate... you could become infested.

Its not something that happens like everyday, but it is still a very real possibility.

 

[OOOst16]

well i got the stick from southern ohio....cinci to be acurate...so i dono what kind of exotic things could be on the stick. he seems fine ty for all the imput though. i baked it...i had it in his cage unbaked for 1 week...i cleaned it with soap and water then though. but just baked it today...it was only a 18 in stick roghly