I went to the pet store...

and found fine fir bark chips for reptiles. Can someone PLEASE tell me if there is a difference between what I am buying at HD for a mint, and what the pet store is selling for about 1/2 the cost? I hope there is no difference, because I'd like to buy it cheaper.

I have no idea what kind of bark they use for reptiles. Good quality bark should be bark and with minimal wood content. From what I hear, the quality of fir bark has really gone downhill ever since the best manufacturer (Sequoia) stopped producing bark a few years ago.

I read on one vendor site that they are not shipping to a few states, Florida, some others and mine included because of oak disease. Does anyone know anything about this? I guess its a bark issue?

Yes, sudden oak is a pretty serious thing. It is killing off a lot of trees in my neighborhood. As far as I know it doesnt affect orchids, the reason they wont ship it is to try and contain the disease and not spread it all over the country.

As far as buying fir bark from a pet store, Jmoney hit it on the head. You really want no wood in it, so I suppose you could get it and pick out the wood, but if there is a ton in there I would imagine it would not be worth it. I would wager a guess that there isnt the same quality standards for pet bark as there is for orchid bark.

Where do you live, Forrest? Do you have any idea how long something like oak disease might last before it is contained?

They stopped a few years ago? I found some bagged bark at Harris garden that said Sequoia bark. Maybe they bought it by the 40 pound bags when it was around and sell it in smaller quantity

It was a big deal when they announced they were no longer going to produce bark, since it was apparently the best by far. I suppose some people hoarded it--as long as it was kept nice and dry, it oughta have a good shelf life.