Should smelly piece of wood be removed from the terrarium?

[Mr Leopard]

Hi,

I don't know what the species of wood it is, but it had been lying on the forest floor long enough to be completely de-barked and smooth.

The smell isn't bad, it's actually rather pleasant (it's very reminiscent of BBQ chips), but it does mean there is a relatively high concentration of some gas I don't know in the terrarium.

[LilyPad]

Did you prep it prior to putting it in the tank? I always soak and bake any wood pieces I've found myself to make sure they do not bring in anything I don't want in the vivarium. I also always make sure I know what kind of wood I'm using in my tanks.

However, if the smell isn't bad, I don't think it should be an issue. If it's a nice *earthy* smell, you're probably fine.

[irThumper]

You want to make sure to avoid wood like cedar and pine though. It smells like BBQ? Perhaps it's hickory... not a clue if that is safe for amphibians or not :/

[elly]

Could be cedar or mesquite? I wouldn't risk the oils harming the amphibians if it was kept in a damp environment.

[Krispy]

Mixed with some natural decay, scrub it, air dry, bake it... 250-75. 10 maybe 15 minutes.

Viola!

We do it once a month during major tank cleaning. Keeps it fresh and tidy.

[Mr Leopard]

I'd be very surprised if they're soft wood, but not all hardwoods are safe. I was counting partially on someone else's idea that if it's been sitting on the forest floor long enough to be completely de-barked and smooth, the harmful substances have probably leached out of it. That said, since it still smells (particularly that much), that means there is a substance in it that's off-gassing.

I think you may be right, irThumper. It could be hickory. I've never identified any in that specific area, but there are some in an other section of the forest. It's a very smoky smell. It's been a while since I've eaten any hickory smoked anything, so I can't really compare, but that's the only tree I've ever heard of whose wood has a smoky smell.

I baked the pieces for twice as long as I've read was recommended, but I think I'll replace them with something else. My gray tree frog isn't using them anyway.

By the way, how do you create shelter in your branches? My frog stays at the bottom of her terrarium and I think that's because there's more shelter there. I'm planning on hanging the plants on the new branches I'll put in, but I don't know if that will be enough.