I'd say avoid fresh sappy wood in any case.
I salvage old lanscaping company dumps for the knotted twisted trunks and root systems that have been torn out for re-landscaping.


There is usually no way to identify what species these were, but they probably include evergreens, box, yew and whatever else you see in the landscaping around commercial properties parks and municipal buildings.

I bring promising pieces home, hose and scrub them down, and put them in my garden until they resemble driftwood. (Little or no bark left, no greenness or sappiness, no herbacious or piney odor. Once they,ve aged enough, I scrub them down again and then boil them in water or bake them in the oven for at least 30 minutes. (More if trunks are thick, you want to heat the wood all the way thru to kill insects.) Boiling, scrubbing then baking gets you a nice clean dry piece for your viv.

If while boiling or baking I notice resins seeping or a strong sappy odor in the water, I'll assume I've jumped the gun and put them out to weather and dry some more. Before placement, check for sharp edges, points and cracks that might pinch. Prune off dangerous bits then file or sand any rough edges.

I can't swear salvaged wood like this is perfectly safe, but it is the same shrubbery I find garters living in in my area, and weathering and cleaning it until it's unidentifiable as anything but old wood should also remove and dilute to irrelevance any irritating substances.

Willow contains salycylic acid- the active ingredient in asprin. Willow bark tea is good for aches and pains. I have not heard about cautions when working with this wood and I have often seen Curly willow branches used in reptile and animal displays in zoos. Salix matsudana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia