Orchid bark saga

[Bwaterford]

I was thinking about it, yet still have concerns:
1. Besides obvious irritations and respiratory symptoms, pine contains some compounds resulting in liver damage. This is true about pine shavings, haven't found if such compounds are present in bark. There are some warnings about use of pine shavings for rabbits, chickens and reptiles (e.g. at anapsid.org or reptileforums.co.uk) with more or less references to backing studies.
2. Some negative effects need time and fumes concentration to develop and if tortoise is moved outdoors or to the open table then severe damage may not happen at all.
3. It could be dependent on pine tree species. E.g. Douglas fir is in Pinaceae too and likely to have some dangerous compounds (like abietic acid) but content is probably less than in Pinus genus.
4. Most of the toxicity reports are associated with inhaling wood dust - which is less an issue when bark is moistened and stay in high humidity environment.

So I have been reading all these post about orchid bark.....aka Reptile Bark or Fir Bark.....So yesterday I had a bag, and was changing out coco and repti soil for all Fir Bark, AKA Reptile Bark...
It came from the pet store so I'm thinking this is probably best for my little guy, alone putting it in the habitat for maybe 5 minutes then taking it a ll out because of its size and smell it totally set my asthma off......now I either am reactive to Fir Bark which this is OR I am reactive to the possibility of PINE bark that could potentially be mixed in which I know I am definitely reactive to. I think with all the back and forth and possibility the companies vague response or inability to list 100% correctly the total ingredients, I will NOT be using any form of FIR, ORCHID BARK as I do not enjoy asthma attacks and my Redfoot deserves 100 percent clarification for optimum health. I will definitely find a safer option for us both.
Thanks to everyone that chimed in and too the time for research.
It's very much appreciated...

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

So I have been reading all these post about orchid bark.....aka Reptile Bark or Fir Bark.....So yesterday I had a bag, and was changing out coco and repti soil for all Fir Bark, AKA Reptile Bark...
It came from the pet store so I'm thinking this is probably best for my little guy, alone putting it in the habitat for maybe 5 minutes then taking it a ll out because of its size and smell it totally set my asthma off......now I either am reactive to Fir Bark which this is OR I am reactive to the possibility of PINE bark that could potentially be mixed in which I know I am definitely reactive to. I think with all the back and forth and possibility the companies vague response or inability to list 100% correctly the total ingredients, I will NOT be using any form of FIR, ORCHID BARK as I do not enjoy asthma attacks and my Redfoot deserves 100 percent clarification for optimum health. I will definitely find a safer option for us both.
Thanks to everyone that chimed in and too the time for research.
It's very much appreciated...

As far as I’m aware, orchid bark in the US doesn’t have pine, it’s because Douglas fir is native to the US, meaning it’s too expensive to import here, hope that helps

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I have gone through my fair share of substrate problems... I haven't found any reasonably priced bark here in Finland, of which I could be 100% sure that it doesn't have pine. Most of the bark sold is pine bark. Only the exoterra branded bark seems safe enough to buy, but the price would be quite high. For now I am sticking with coco coir, but the one I found otherwise safe contains some long coco fibers which are an impaction risk.

Wanted to add to my earlier comment that I later found out what species of trees are used here in Finland. For orchid bark Pinus pinea is commonly used. For bulk usage garden centers usually sell bark from Pinus sylvesteris.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Wanted to add to my earlier comment that I later found out what species of trees are used here in Finland. For orchid bark Pinus pinea is commonly used. For bulk usage garden centers usually sell bark from Pinus sylvesteris.

Appreciate the information for sure!

With our orchid bark, I now keep the bulk load when it comes to deep clean(I just bag it up and go in to scrub the viv), as long as it’s spot cleaned well each day it can definitely last longer than I originally used to, it does still break down quicker than I imagine the US orchid bark does, but honestly I’m not mad at the consistency anymore, we have a good amount of springtails doing their thing, we loose a little here n there when it comes to spot cleans, so every deep clean I’ll simply put a small top up bag in, works a treat, saves a lot of money