Safe wood and/or rocks for Syrians

[Clairep4]

I'm in the process of setting up my hamster enclosure and want it to have a natural feel. In my garden I have several apple trees but also a huge oak tree which drops fairly large pieces of wood now and then, and I'm wondering if I either freeze, or bake a piece at 100°, will it be safe?

I also have some good size rocks/stones (which again I'd sterilise), would these be OK to use?

[alpacassei]

Apple wood is safe, not too sure about oak though. Stones are safe as long as they dont have any sharp edges.

Freezing will kill any bugs on the wood but it wont kill bacteria so you’ll need to bake or boil it still. Stones can be scrubbed clean using a pet safe disinfectant, dont heat them in any way sinces theres a small chance they could contain natural air pockets which would cause the stone to explode as the pressure builds up from being heated

[Black_Inky_Eyes]

Isn't leaving stones in boiling water with soap okay though?

[SKB_Hamsters]

I personally prefer instead of using rocks is to use half of a coconut shell - with or without the husk - they look like rocks but are a lot safer especially when using deep bedding and hamsters who like tunnelling.

With the wood - Apple wood is fine but with oak I would be cautious as unsure whether different varieties are safe or not. I usually like to freeze all wooden items to kill any bug eggs first then clean them in boiling hot water to discontent. Although make sure the wood is taken from tree where no pesticides or chemical fertilisers have been used as these make the wood unsafe regardless as can linger in or on wood.

Black Inky Eyes, Placing stones in hot water is fine with disinfectant- as long as they aren’t in the water when they are being heated.