I don't disagree that the risk of your animal getting impacted is probably wildly low, but just to play devil's advocate:
Isn't the goal with a captive bred, domestic pet to provide conditions that are more ideal and less risky than their natural setting? I don't think you would go out of your way to distress your pet just to let it get a little 'taste of the wild,' so why skip over a simple precaution to remove yet another variable? Isn't the goal of proper husbandry to remove as many of those natural variables as possible?
Again, I don't disagree that the risk is probably stupidly small, but is it safe to merely write it off under THAT rationale? Especially with new keepers like myself watching closely and learning from the comments of veteran members? Even merely saying 'the risk is there, but I've had a billion snakes and none have been impacted so I have no problem rolling the dice' is better than pulling the 'it happens in nature' card. Even weighing the stress of the snake over the reward would provide something a bit more tangible as a reasonable rationale. Just saying.
Side note: while there are very few animals that can 'digest' wood besides insects, it should be noted that carrying the ability to break down matter is not quite the same as 'digesting' it. This is speculation, but I'm sure 9/10 times you wouldn't even know if your snake swallowed a piece of wood. The 10th time could potentially suck, though...
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