can someone please give me the exact steps to boiling rocks? im going to put some in my russian tortoise enclosure. 
boiling rocks
- Thread starter austinSOLO
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why?
Are you wanting to disenfect them before putting in the enclosure? My russian lives outside... so nothing boiled there!
if that is what you want to do.. just get a large pot, place rocks in, cover with water and boil.
Are you wanting to disenfect them before putting in the enclosure? My russian lives outside... so nothing boiled there!
if that is what you want to do.. just get a large pot, place rocks in, cover with water and boil.
Are you referring to gravel type rock or are you speaking of the bigger river rocks? I do not know why I even asked that? hmmm...the process is the same, just bigger or smaller stock pot
Stock pot appropriate for amount of rocks
Add water to around 4 inches above the level of the rocks
I would boil for about an hour
May I ask why you are going to boil your rocks?
Are they store bought?
Or are they collected from outdoors?
Stock pot appropriate for amount of rocks
Add water to around 4 inches above the level of the rocks
I would boil for about an hour
May I ask why you are going to boil your rocks?
Are they store bought?
Or are they collected from outdoors?
If its gravel , then i would advise against using it.. your tort might eat it..
Boiling would be fine, or you could just put the rocks outside on the driveway, etc., and pour boiling water from a teapot all over them.
I just wash mine off with the hose and let them sit outside for awhile.
It is nice to have them clean for the inside enclosure, at least at the start!
I just wash mine off with the hose and let them sit outside for awhile.
It is nice to have them clean for the inside enclosure, at least at the start!
im going to use them indoors around the basking spot and i wanted to use like smaller rocks, maybe a inch or two across, not very big.
I would not boil them. Boiled rocks can explode and actually cause serious injury, or kill you. You can't tell if there is a pocket of air inside a rock or not. Too dangerous.
Just scrub with a very mild bleach solution (like a capfull of bleach to a half gallon of water) rinse very well, and allow to air dry.
Although, as others have pointed out - my tortoises spend every summer outside. I don't do anything to disenfect the soil or rocks in their enclosures. It really isn't all that necessary.
Just scrub with a very mild bleach solution (like a capfull of bleach to a half gallon of water) rinse very well, and allow to air dry.
Although, as others have pointed out - my tortoises spend every summer outside. I don't do anything to disenfect the soil or rocks in their enclosures. It really isn't all that necessary.
I think that I would use bigger river rock type size....the smaller ones can get ingested and that proves really bad.....IMHO
Good point, Kristina, about something weird happening if you boil them.
I think if the size of the rock is bigger than the tort's head?
I think if the size of the rock is bigger than the tort's head?
A BIG DITTO for Kristina's answer- heating some kinds of rock is a really bad idea!
All you really need to do is to rinse off the dist and loose soil. You can wash/scrub off the dirt if it bothers you. If you feel a need for something more, you can disinfect by spraying or soaking them a bit in a mild bleach solution, or even by leaving them in full sun for a while.
I really cannot think of a major reason to get that aggressive, however.
All you really need to do is to rinse off the dist and loose soil. You can wash/scrub off the dirt if it bothers you. If you feel a need for something more, you can disinfect by spraying or soaking them a bit in a mild bleach solution, or even by leaving them in full sun for a while.
I really cannot think of a major reason to get that aggressive, however.
okay, thanks guys. but the rocks aren;t big enough to be digested. i will just use a small amount of bleach and hand clean all of them
I think it is great you are taking such care with your tort's enclosure!
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Not sure that it matters much about the boiling....others seem to agree
The size of the rocks you are using also sounds good, the only thing that I
would worry about is the rocks getting to warm if they cover the entire
basking area.....otherwise sounds like you are doing some good research!!
The size of the rocks you are using also sounds good, the only thing that I
would worry about is the rocks getting to warm if they cover the entire
basking area.....otherwise sounds like you are doing some good research!!
thank you, i will try to upload pics sometime next week, just look out on the wall for a post by me with pics
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