Can you make wood that has molded safe for chinchillas?

[bchins]

I had prepared a ton of wood (elm, ash, apple, etc), all sticks and twigs for my chinchillas, and then went to get some for them one day and EVERY bag had some mold in it. Is there ANY way to make this wood safe for chinchillas? Thanks in advance!

 

[tunes]

Nope. Once it has mold in it, you'd never be able to trust that the spores were all gone. At least, I wouldn't trust it. You must not have dried it well enough before you put it away.

 

[Jenn]

Unfortunately you'll have to throw them all away.

When baking wood, after it has been cleaned and boiled, make sure you bake it long enough that the wood becomes all wrinkly. Otherwise it does mold if you don't bake all the moisture out of it.

 

[bchins]

Okay, that's what I was assuming- once its moldy, it can't be trusted...The problem was is that I put the wood into a plastic bag with the top open. I probably didn't bake it long enough. For my perches I have been baking them at 300 degrees on convection bake for 4hrs+. I was just trying to make sure that I wasn't wasting it by throwing it all away. Thanks for helping!

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

Put some uncooked rice into the bags after the wood is cooked and cooled to prevent moisture/mold. I would store it in paper bags. As you have found out plastic bags don't breath much even when they are opened. Sorry your hard work was wasted.

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

I'm going to ask, since this has been asked of me, and I'm curious to know, well here is my rubber neck on a platter! If someone buys unprocessed wood, and it comes to them with the fuzzy white stuff, is it still as toxic as say the darker green mold that might be on wood that has already been processed? Or as stated, mold is mold? Just curious about others, and those that process wood, and what they deem safe vs unsafe.