Cleaning River Rock for FBT enclosure?

[tearsmith]

Hi. Little advice please....

I want to use a real interesting river rock I found today in my fire belly toad tank. The rock was submerged and partially in the river mud. What do I need to do to it to clean it? I found it in a local fast moving river. There have been recent rains too so the river is quite clean right now. Do I need to worry about it since I know there's been nothing sprayed on it or anything? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Kreamcheese]

Maybe toss it in the freezer for a day or two? That should kill anything that may be on it.

[froggymatt]

best way i've ever found for cleaning locally found rocks,is by boiling them for at least 15 min. i would guess if this makes them safe for aquariums it should do the same for herps.

[Jimifrog]

I bake any rocks or bricks I bring in from outside to put into my aquariums.

[crazkt]

I bake any rocks or bricks I bring in from outside to put into my aquariums.

I've heard that baking rocks is a very bad idea. The rock may have formed with an air pocket inside and if you bake it, it could explode- ruining your oven. I'm not sure about bricks- if they've been kiln-fired, they should be ok to bake, but you risk them cracking. When I've needed rocks sanitized, I've boiled them for about 20 minutes. And if you need to get rid of any calcium deposits, you can add lemon juice to the hot water as a pre-rinse.