Preparing freshwater driftwood for Bandit

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Bandit8844

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Hello all! Love the site. I am new to bearded dragons. My daughter (12 yrs old) wanted one really badly so I got her one for Christmas from Petsmart ( I know..... I have since learned a breeder would have been best). Bandit is not about 7-8 months old depending on age we got him at. He was about 4" when we brought him home. He has done very well and seems to be thriving. He is now about 10" long and we decided to move him to a larger tank. He is now in a 55 gallon tank. He was in a 20. Anyway, my daughter is in love with him and we want to make sure we are taking care of him the best we can like we do with all of our animals. We wanted to give him some more basking options etc and everything we found we either didn't like or was WAY WAY too expensive for us to afford. Well we were at a local river in Ohio and my daughter found some really great driftwood pieces and she wants to put them in the tank. The price is definitely right! I did some research and have found some posts about salt water driftwood and I just want to see if there is anything more or less I need to do with this freshwater driftwood? I cleaned it off really well and then pressure washed it. It sat out all day in the sun and is pretty dry from what I can tell. Its about 3.5' long and feels like a feather its so light. My plan now is to bake it in the oven at 250 for an hour or so...... I am just terrified to bring something in the tank that could make Bandit sick or worse....... Any suggestions or precautions you guys have?? Thanks for any advice!
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
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I use driftwood too, it's great =). Just a good rinse to get the particles off (you did this and then some with the pressure washer) followed by a bake on low (250 is fine) for about 45 minutes should do the trick. The baking will sanitize the wood for you. I hope Bandit enjoys the new basking spots!
 

Bandit8844

New member
Original Poster
Thanks! Its all baked now and I have used a small piece of tile and screwed the driftwood to the tile square to hold the driftwood in place so it wont roll or anything. We'll see how he likes it.
 

Bandit8844

New member
Original Poster
The new driftwood is in and Bandit seems to good with it. About 10 seconds after putting it in her starting climbing on it. My daughter is thrilled. Were going to build a rock cave under ti next to help support it, as well as give a place to hide if he wants.
82974-9416606291.jpg
 
So sorry I am just now seeing this for some reason. The background is not what it seems... i wish it was something I built, but its just a fish tank paper background taped on the outside back of the tank.
 
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