Queen palm tree wood

waswondering

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One of my Queen palm trees has just died, I was just wondering if I could grind up some of the wood put it in the oven for a little while and use it as beding for some of my sulcata hatchlings?
 

Maro2Bear

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One of my Queen palm trees has just died, I was just wondering if I could grind up some of the wood put it in the oven for a little while and use it as beding for some of my sulcata hatchlings?

Probably. You might not even need to bake it. @Tom might have first hand info on using palms like this.
 

Tom

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One of my Queen palm trees has just died, I was just wondering if I could grind up some of the wood put it in the oven for a little while and use it as beding for some of my sulcata hatchlings?
I've never heard of anyone doing that, and I don't know if it is safe or not. I recall reading that some palms at least are toxic? Its likely that there would be some accidental ingestion if you ground it up and used it as substrate.

You have the machinery to grind it into small enough pieces?

I've used dead palms as logs and basking branches in reptile enclosures with no issues, but there is/was no danger of any pieces being eaten that way.
 

turtlesteve

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Queen palms are not toxic, but I can’t imagine any practical way of making bedding out of one.
 

Maro2Bear

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Queen palms are not toxic, but I can’t imagine any practical way of making bedding out of one.

I have a nice tree/limb shredder that makes nice work of limbs up to about 3 inches or so. I make great home-made mulch. Great for those Fall leaves & Spring pruning! And downed trees!
 

waswondering

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I've never heard of anyone doing that, and I don't know if it is safe or not. I recall reading that some palms at least are toxic? Its likely that there would be some accidental ingestion if you ground it up and used it as substrate.

You have the machinery to grind it into small enough pieces?

I've used dead palms as logs and basking branches in reptile enclosures with no issues, but there is/was no danger of any pieces being eaten that way.
I've looked it up and can't find anything on the if the wood is toxic, do you know where you might have read it?
 

turtlesteve

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Palm trees are commonly eaten in many tropical countries. The “heart” of the palm (technically the developing leaves from the apical meristem) is edible, the fruit is edible, and the nuts are edible, for many species. There are a few toxic species but queen palms are fine. Technically I have never seen a reference that the wood specifically is non toxic, but try finding that data for any wood.

The native palmetto species were eaten historically, they were called “swamp cabbage”.

Here is one reference, I know I have seen others.

 

waswondering

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Palm trees are commonly eaten in many tropical countries. The “heart” of the palm (technically the developing leaves from the apical meristem) is edible, the fruit is edible, and the nuts are edible, for many species. There are a few toxic species but queen palms are fine. Technically I have never seen a reference that the wood specifically is non toxic, but try finding that data for any wood.

The native palmetto species were eaten historically, they were called “swamp cabbage”.

Here is one reference, I know I have seen others.

Thank you for the information. I think I'll test it with a few babys at first then if it goes well after a while I'll update everyone on this thread.
 

turtlesteve

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I have a nice tree/limb shredder that makes nice work of limbs up to about 3 inches or so. I make great home-made mulch. Great for those Fall leaves & Spring pruning! And downed trees!

Queen palms don’t have branches ;)
I guess a stump grinder would do it.

Thank you for the information. I think I'll test it with a few babys at first then if it goes well after a while I'll update everyone on this thread.

Well, good luck & keep us posted. One potential downside is that the wood could mold or decompose more quickly if moist, in comparison to fir or cypress.
 
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