Branches

[Brax]

I had an idea and I wanted to run it by everyone to see if there might be health issues that I'm not considering. It started when I saw the branches they sell for birds to climb and perch on at the pet store. The rats might love this. Since I cannot afford one of these at the moment I thought maybe I could get a nice branch from outside and put it in the deep freezer for, say, a day to kill any organisms on it.

Thoughts?

 

[jorats]

I don't know if freezing would kill all the bugs but what about putting it in the oven for a bit? I'd have to do more research to see if cooking the branch is feasible. But I bet the ratties are going to love it.

 

[Godmother]

I bet they would love it. They would chew it, climb on it, sit on it. Don't forget to post photos. Hope that the freezer and/or the oven does the trick.

 

[minnow]

You'd have to be sure that the branch came from a non-toxic source as the rats *will* chew on it, and there are many kinds of wood that are poisonous.

 

[Brax]

Good call, Minnow. It's been a long time since I've tried to ID trees.

Jo, I'll have to see about cooking it.

 

[Moon]

I think fruit trees are recommended for this sort of thing.

 

[Godmother]

Apple tree branches would be safe. They sell apple twigs for small rodents, and mine love 'em.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

I think I might have actually heard something about needing to boil them (or I may just be crazy lol) but definately go with fruit tree branches.

 

[minnow]

But not fruit tree branches from trees that bear fruit with pits, I believe. So apple = good, cherry = bad.

 

[MomRat]

there are some good comments in these threads:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17348
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4058

See also:
http://www.practical-pet-care.com/archi ... 1520592397
and
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/chinchil ... awoods.htm

ratguide.com only briefly comments on/recommends the ones sold for bird cages. I would still freeze those, though... don't know what they picked up in the store or in shipping.

Petsmart.com, (bleh) in discussing branches for birds, says "Also, tree branches should come from trees that have not been treated with chemicals. Branches from sycamore, elder, ash, manzanita, ficus, oak, or fruit trees are acceptable. Manzanita branch perches are commercially available and are a good choice" The chemicals thing is really good to note, because MANY people who keep fruit trees spray them with some sort of insecticide, because they are so weak against buggies.

According to woodweb.com =) wood is sterilized from being heated to 130 degrees fahrenheit and held at that temperature until it is that heat all the way through for half an hour. Don't catch your oven on fire, though. =)

There's also some stuff out there on herp forums about soaking stuff in bleach and letting it sit in the sun for a week to kill everything/let the bleach evaporate.

I think the conclusion is, there's no hard and fast rule as to what is safe. =/ My boys seem pretty happy gnawing on their plastic hidey boxes and cardboard. =)

 

[Brax]

MumRat, thank you for all the helpful links.

I realized that there are very few trees around here that I might be allowed to take from and know aren't sprayed. The best candidate is the crab apple tree next to my building because none of the landlords have ever cared enough to protect it chemically from bugs in my 4 years, or to take much care of the surrounding area for that matter. So if I decide to do this and can find the right branch, I'll put it in the oven (assuming the oven is even big enough). Given my options I'll probably end up waiting to buy one from the pet shop.

 

[Bamboo]

There are several ways that you could prepare branches to make them pet-safe. As long as it doesn't have pesticides on it or is obviously infested with something, you could just bang it out and put it in the cage. However, especially with the risk of fleas or other parasites, freezing for minimum 24hrs but ideally 48hrs would be recommeded. If you really wanted to cook it you could, but be very careful with which kind of wood it is...sometimes, cooking it can sometimes create fumes that would actually be worse then anything that would be living in the wood (I think this mostly applies to cedar and pine which shouldn't be used anyway, but there may be other types of wood that react similarly) If you have a 'safe' type of wood and you really want to cook it, do so with low heat (200-250 degrees F) for an hour or 2, but no longer. Always have your fire extingusher ready when cooking wood!! If it starts to smell bad or smoke, take it out right away!

I've heard people say to soak wood in bleach, but I don't agree with that because I don't see how you would be able to get all the bleach out. Pressure washing or just a good scrub-down would be more advisable.

Personally, I only use fallen branches that have been sitting on relatively dry ground. I then peel the bark off, bang it out and stick it in the freezer for 48 hrs (If it's dirty, I would scrub it and let it air dry for a day or two before freezing it). Admittedly, I've never used branches for rats, but I've never had any problems this way. If you have access to it, I've found that Elm is awesome for use in enclosures/cages :thumbup: