Hi, I want to add some decoration to my vivarium and after doing some research i have seen quite a few websites & a couple of books with information on using natural wood.

Basically from what i gather, you have to.....

boil the wood sevral times in boiling water
then leave to soak for 24-48 hours,
oven bake the wood until dry.

Anyone ever done this before, i was going to give it a go but wanted some views on it.

Thanks.

Yes, my friend did this with wood she found in the woods. She told me she just put it in the oven(I'm not sure on how much degrees or how long) and she hasnt had any problems with it.
I would boil it first like your planning to, to be on the safe side.

I have a piece of bark and a stick in my tank from out in "the woods" and I haven't had any issues. I didn't boil it but did fill my sink with HOT water and let it soak for a bit. I thank baked it for about half an hour at 300 degrees F. Just keep and eye on it to make sure that it doesn't catch on fire! Here is a picture of my setup.

You don't need to boil and bake it.
If the peice is small enough for boiling then that's that, if it's too big only baking.

And "hot" water will never do anything for properly taking care of any parisites.

I know that hot water won't kill parasites, but I think that it more than likely got any small insects holding on to the wood to let go and hopefully be washed away with the water. The baking was then to kill any small parasites, bacteria or viruses (hopefully). If nothing else, baking the already boiled piece of wood will speed up the drying process. Send us some pics once you've got the new stuff in place, assuming you decide to do it.

Either way boil, bake or both, please do post pics :]

For my first viv setup I found a stick and boiled it. I have since stopped using natural wood and stick to the fake bendable sticks from the pet store. As my snake has gotten fatter, the sticks I could possibly find in my own backyard wouldn't hold him haha