# Baking wooden toys in the oven



## jempula (Feb 16, 2021)

Hello again!

I know this is very closely related to my other question but since it has been many days, I just wanted to make a separate post for this! So I'm planning on "baking" my wooden toys in the oven just to sanitize them before putting them in the cage (also YAY for us, we already have the Double Critter Nation for our future rats!!). I will mostly do this because I have a natural cork wood log so I just want to be safe and just thought to put my other wooden toys/hides/bridges in as well just in case! 

So the question is, what temperature would be good and safe (don't want to burn down my kitchen or the toys) and for how long should I bake them?
We have a very normal oven (this is kinda hard though because I'm not sure if other countries' normal is different from ours), so no gas or whatever, just a normal heating oven.. I don't know 😅 

I saw a video where wooden toys were baked for 30min in around 93 °C (or around 200 °F) but that seems a bit high for me so I looked into it more and then saw a suggestion of around 65 °C (or around 150 °F) for 2 hours.


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

I put my oven at 150 degrees F for 2 hours. This works well and nothing gets burnt.


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

Also, don't use convection!


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## _dizzy_ (Mar 28, 2018)

I bake branches for my snakes all the time at 200° F for 30-45 minutes after giving them a good scrubbing and have never had an issue with burning. It might be because they're wet when I put them in. I have an electric baking oven(which can second as a house heater XD), which is what I think you're talking about. You can look on info for cleaning and sanitizing wood naturally on reptile forums and such.


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## jempula (Feb 16, 2021)

VivDaRatLuver said:


> I put my oven at 150 degrees F for 2 hours. This works well and nothing gets burnt.


Okay thank you! Do you put them in the oven wet or dry?


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## jempula (Feb 16, 2021)

_dizzy_ said:


> I bake branches for my snakes all the time at 200° F for 30-45 minutes after giving them a good scrubbing and have never had an issue with burning. It might be because they're wet when I put them in. I have an electric baking oven(which can second as a house heater XD), which is what I think you're talking about. You can look on info for cleaning and sanitizing wood naturally on reptile forums and such.


Okay this is good to hear too! Thank you!


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

They are damp. I wash them off with hot water and soap then let them dry a little bit before I put them in the oven. So they aren't soaking wet but they aren't completely dry.


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## jempula (Feb 16, 2021)

VivDaRatLuver said:


> They are damp. I wash them off with hot water and soap then let them dry a little bit before I put them in the oven. So they aren't soaking wet but they aren't completely dry.


Okay perrrfect! 😊


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