Health Risks Associated With Dirty Wood?

[The1nOnlyMatty]

Ok so random question. What exactly are health risks associated with the giving chins dirty wood? I recently was recently notified that the vendor I purchased wood from (not a vendor on this site) has been selling very dirty wood. Upon receipt of the messages I went and checked some of the wood I have purchased and sure enough when simply wiping it the wood is in fact very dirty. I have since thrown any wood bought from that vendor away, but wanted to check and see what health risks that I may need to keep an eye out for in my boys. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. As it stands I have seen no signs of anything wrong. All eating and drinking fine, no changes in activity, and still steadily gaining weight. I will not be purchasing from them again though

 

[Dreamlite]

If they are eating and acting well my only worry would be the possibilities of parasites. Do you know if the wood was baked? If it is then the parasites should be dead.

 

[The1nOnlyMatty]

It was suppose to be. Supposedly it was not scrubbed but was baked...

 

[Brittany]

Possible parasites. Keep an eye on their poop for a little while. As long as the wood is boiled and baked you should be fine. Scrubbing helps to get chunks of dirt and other things off the wood, however if the wood is fairly clean scrubbing really isn't necessary. The high temps of boiling and baking will clean and kill anything that may have been on it. For example; grapevine is very flaky. If you scrub it your going to lose a lot of the bark that the chins love. Unless a piece of grapevine really needs to be scrubbed I'll only boil and bake it.

 

[AZChins]

If it was baked, it's probably not going to hurt any of the chins, as has already been stated. I guess I don't understand - if someone went to the trouble of baking the wood, why wouldn't they make sure it is clean? Is it just the bark rubbing off?

 

[Spoof]

Washing the wood removes the bird poop(parasites), dirt, lichen (if any, these can cause issues) and any residual pesticides or undesirable airborne particles that have landed on the tree.

Baking at a specific temperature is required to export wood, and also required to ship to certain states to control pests as it actually kills the bugs. I believe it has to reach 300 degrees, so whomever was selling was likely just baking it so they could be in compliance. Washing is not required.

 

[AZChins]

I need to look it up...but I think that the wood just needs to hit something like 250°F inside and out for 15 or 20 minutes to kill everything for sure. That includes all insects, parasites and fungal spores.

Anything on the wood on the outside would basically be sterilized if it were baked at 300 or 350° in a short time. So, I don't think that dirt or grime would contain anything harmful...it just doesn't make sense that someone would bake dirty wood since it would probably make a mess or just look really bad.

I'm sure that whatever seller you dealt with probably just made a mistake. Throwing the wood out wasn't necessary, you could wipe any of the dirtiness away, right? Tell the seller about it so that it doesn't happen again, maybe it was just an oversight and mistakingly ended up that way. I've had pieces of wood that I have prepared and found that they weren't scrubbed as well as I would have liked - my chins get them or they have a little something that can be rubbed off. Preparing wood can be a very involved process and sometimes everything doesn't turn out as it should.

 

[Claire D]

I would not use dirty wood or wood I thought had not been properly prepared.

Besides the issues already listed in this thread, you do not know what the 'dirt' consists of and you cannot assume the wood has been properly baked. If the wood has not been properly prepared then you run the risks of illness.

One example - you have no idea how the wood has been stored, let alone prepared:
- Was the 'dirt' a result of incorrect storage after preparation or something which was present before?
- Why wasn't it removed by scrubbing prior to baking?
- Is the 'dirt' mouse/rat/other animal urine or faeces? Feral rats and mice carry disease which can kill chins.
- Is it just soil? How do you know?
- Is it rotten wood which has then been baked?
- How has it been baked? To what temperature and for how long?
- Has the wood become wet or soiled in transit?

Lots of questions .....

Too many uncertainties for me I'm afraid. I would want a refund and I would not use the wood.
For me I have to say, "If there's doubt then don't use it".


Buying prepared wood is based largely on trust and it's very much a 'buyer beware' market. It may be a one-off or a genuine mistake so the seller should be informed and given the chance to investigate what has gone wrong. Depending on the response you get, you may decide to cut your losses or the seller may well refund/replace etc.



Whatever you decide to do, I'd find a well recommended, tried and trusted seller and buy from them. I do believe we have a fair few of them on here.....

 

[The1nOnlyMatty]

Thanks for the advice guys. I did decide to just toss it. Contacted the seller and was told I was lying...

So I just cut my losses and tossed the wood. I have found a few very reputable sellers from a previous thread I posted. Looks like I'll be making the switch. Thank you again everyone.

As of today we're still looking good, no issues with poop, appetites still up. Thanks again.