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How to Clean Driftwood for a Terrarium

Driftwood is an attractive and practical addition to terrariums, especially those containing animal life. A single piece of driftwood can provide additional territory to explore, hiding places for reclusive animals and surface area for plant growth. While most store-bought driftwood is relatively clean and can be introduced into a terrarium almost immediately, found driftwood should be sterilized to prevent it from bringing parasites or disease into the terrarium. Sterilizing a piece of driftwood is a simple matter of removing debris from its surface and giving the wood a hot bath to kill hitchhiking bacteria.

Things You'll Need

Scrub brush
Large metal pot
Stovetop oven
Bathtub
Bricks or large rocks

Instructions

- 1
  Choose a piece of driftwood that's not heavily decayed or contaminated with foreign material. Check the dimensions of your terrarium to make sure that the driftwood can fit inside.
- 2
  Check the surface of the driftwood to ensure that it's free of insect life. Use a scrub brush to remove any dirt or debris. Rinse loose particles from the wood with running water. Scrape off any moss that may be present.
- 3
  Place small pieces of driftwood in a large metal pot and boil them for at least two hours to sterilize them. Allow them to air-dry before placing them in the terrarium.
- 4
  Place pieces of driftwood that are too large to boil on the stove in a bathtub, and pour several pots of boiling water over them. Submerge the wood in hot bathwater for a day or two (weigh the wood down with rocks or bricks if it floats) and replace the water every several hours to remove leeched pollutants and tannins. Allow the driftwood to air-dry before placing it in the terrarium.

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