Hemlock or spruce?

[joeybean]

Being that i have an unlimited supply of spruce and hemlock shavings i was curious if it would be safe to use them for substrate?.or am i better off sticking to store bought?

[Jeff_Favelle]

I wouldn't use them. They are still softwoods, so they still have nasty phenols and stuff.

[malaysianbloods]

If you can get aspen go with that.

[joeybean]

Thanx
I'll stick to the store bought aspen

[Bristen]

somebody once said that pine bark would be ok because the bark doesn't have the nasty phenols stuff... anybody know anything about that??

Thanks,
Bristen.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yeah, bark doesn't have any phenols in it as it isn't true wood. Its cork cambium. No vessels, no xylem, no phloem, etc etc.

[Bristen]

hmmm.. I'm confused now, because you weren't sure about pine bark in another thread?? Help??

Bristen.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Its not that I wasn't sure about Pine bark, its that I wasn't suer about YOUR SOURCE for Pine bark. And I wasn't about to make a claim and have an animal die. Not worth it for me to stick my neck out like that, LOL! When you cut a tree, it can fill the cuts with resin. Ever burn a log and have it go up like it had gas poured on it? Yeah, that's the resin. That stuff can pour out onto the bark. I don't know if your stuff might have that on it. I can't see that far from over here in BC.

;)

[Bristen]

ok, then I'm not risking trying the pine bark.. thanks!

Bristen.