Bamboo Discovery

[Silverdusk]

Whenever I join a forum, I always like contributing. Hopefully, this will be a first of many to come. A lot of you may already know this, but I thought I'd share.

In my keeping of herps over the years, I've used many types of wood, but never bamboo. I always steam the wood with a steamer, lightly bleach it and then bake it in the oven . This practically ensures there are no living micro organisms or mold, etc left alive.

So,today I prepped and baked my bamboo. To my discovery it naturally shellacs itself when baked. Quite cool! It literally gets a glossy sheen finish that also repels water.

I simply baked the bamboo at 325 for 10 mins. I hope this will prove helpful to someone out there.

[Kale Stallaert]

Indeed it did, thank you.

[Naz&Taz]

Very nice find, I've been using bamboo since day one but bleached it rather than baked. Thanks for the heads up I can save myself the trouble of buying new 5 foot sections to cut down every month

[mondogenerator]

thanks muchly i will be trying that trick very soon as i have some bamboo ive been meaning to try and fit in my viv for some time now..now all i have to do is find some more LARGE diameter bamboo for other bits instead of the thin stuff ive got!

[babydragons]

where did you get the bamboo?? im more than certain that your not talking about the little pieces of bamboo that i see all over in the Chinese food places

[Zookeeper Gabe]

Originally Posted by babydragons

where did you get the bamboo?? im more than certain that your not talking about the little pieces of bamboo that i see all over in the Chinese food places

That is lucky bamboo and isn't actually the same genus and is actually toxic to pets.
Dracaena sanderiana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Silverdusk]

No no .. I'm talking the larger stuff that they make fishing poles and scaffolding out of. It grows all over the place here in Va. Beach.

[babydragons]

oh damn! Im glad i found out it was toxic. i saw a tank somewhere with the lucky bamboo in it. they were using it to help with the humidity and i was thinking about giving it a try