# Driftwood and eBay.



## Guest (Oct 20, 2005)

This _should _ be my last topic of the day.

EBay has tons of sellers who are selling "terrarium safe"/"aquarium safe" driftwood. Since the pet stores in my area have little to no wood available, eBay seems like the best way for me to pick out pieces that I like.

Is there anything in particular to look for to see if the wood is safe or not? Most sellers don't know what kind of wood they have; they just find their pieces in or around the water and auction them off.

I tried ordering pieces from an online terrarium supply dealer, but what I received wasn't exactly what I was looking for. They don't show individual pictures, just a stock photo.

If anyone knows of a good online dealer other than eBay who posts pics of the driftwood for sale, I'm all ears.


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## frogman824 (Aug 10, 2005)

http://www.blackjungle.com sells wood thats safe for aquariums, it's more on the expensive side though. They have pictures of what the wood looks like, look under wood for wet habitats. 

Mike


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2005)

where are you located?


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

If you are located near the Rockies or Sierras, or even some desert areas, you may be able to collect your own. (In the East, you may be able to obtain some Osage Orange, which is excellent.) You want something dense that doesn't deteriorate. Cypress knee (the roots of swamp cypress sp.) is both non-toxic and resists rot. In the West you can find Mountain Mahogany or Manzanita. These are not "drift wood" per se, and are actually more shrubs than trees, but branches and roots are very dense and resiliant, so make very nice vivarium additions.


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2005)

I live in Maryland, and there are a few places I can look I suppose. There's a wildlife refuge about 1/2 away that may have something...I'll just have to smuggle it out undetected. 

I originally ordered a few pieces from Black Jungle. One piece was pretty good (ghostwood), but the other (also ghostwood) just looked like a broken stick to me. I can probably still use it, but it's not the shape that I was looking for. Their cork tubes look really nice, like little hollow logs for the frogs to hide in.


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## _Enix_ (Jul 31, 2005)

i purchased the wood for my vivarium from a lady on ebay. she gets cypress pieces and presure washes them before she sells them. cypress wood wont rot in terrarium conditions as its natural habitat is wetlands. i highly recommend ebay. i really like the pieces. since you see exactly what you are getting you can match colors. just be sure to look for sellers that know what woods they have. search "drift wood" or "cypress knees" to find the sellers that cater to this sort of thing.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Malaysian driftwood and wellaby wood also don't rot in terrariums.


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2005)

I hear that cedar is bad for frogs.

What about an old piece of cedar driftwood that's been in the water for years? Would the toxins have washed away, and does cedar rot? I see a piece on eBay that I like.


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## JoshKaptur (Feb 17, 2004)

I personally know Swampy, the guy who collects this cyprus driftwood and sells it to Amazonmoosey. Each piece is individually photographed and priced. Can't recommend his wood enough.

He used to sell it individually on his own little webpage... too bad that didn't work out, as I can tell you it didn't used to be that expensive. Amazonmoosey seems to be taking quite a markup. A few years ago, it was the cheapest driftwood around.

http://www.amazonmoosey.com/swampwood1.htm


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

JoshKaptur said:


> Amazonmoosey seems to be taking quite a markup. A few years ago, it was the cheapest driftwood around.
> 
> http://www.amazonmoosey.com/swampwood1.htm


I freaked when I saw those prices :shock: unless the wood comes with the tank 8)


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2005)

Yeah, they are kind of high. I guess it would be worth it if you found that dream piece.

I just picked up a few nice looking pieces of cypress on eBay for a fraction of their prices...you can't beat $3.50.


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## Keroppi (Nov 23, 2004)

I bought a whole lot of driftwood off of ebay from a seller that declared it terrarium safe and it have used it in 3 tanks ...none of it has rotted. I got like 20 pieces of all sizes for $10. Bonus... they have sprouted awesome mushrooms about every two weeks in two of my tanks. I made sure to ask a few questions before I bought...most people wouldn't want to kill anyones animals and people that are unsure will usually tell you so when it comes to contaminents.Good luck...

eve s.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Yeah, those cypress prices are extremely high. I didn't pay that much for ghostwood from Black Jungle. I fact, I didn't pay half that much, even for the really dinky pieces he has up there. $36 for a piece that's 15" x 7" x 4"? I could buy it cheaper at Petco. I'm going to the NWCBE tomorrow looking for supplies and to look at the few vendors there that sell frogs every year. A few years back this guy came with driftwood from the Columbia River, tied up in huge bundles for $15 each. I bought one and would have bought more, but that was before I was keeping darts.


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## scooter (Jul 13, 2004)

i see alot of cool looking pieces on ebay from the "Ohio river driftwood". anyone ever use this? i can only imagine what kinda wood it is


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## astrozombies (Jun 17, 2005)

Check the seller driftwoodmary on ebay. I purchased about 40 pieces from her and they were dirt cheap (I don't like paying $30- $50 for a freaking piece of wood) and she ships very fast. She sent me some stuff for free too with moss growing on it and it all did great in my tanks.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2005)

I ordered a couple nice pieces of cypress from driftwoodmary, but later discovered that she's shut down due to Katrina. I tried contacting her a few times and got no response...the wood may be floating around in the Gulf of Mexico right now.

At least she and her family made it out safe.


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