Are all "greens" leaves safe?

[skeetersmom]

I have some large leaved plants - I love the idea of giving Skeeter as fresh as possible greens (higher in vitamins) and want to give him as much variety as safely possible- but not sure if I can give him these.

I know they are not rhubarb (which is a no-no)

Still haven't gotten to where I can take/send pics easily

[Bird_Brain]

No, they are not all safe. Example: Tomato plant leaves are known to be toxic, yet the fruit is edible. If you are not sure what they are, then I would not feed them to any animal. Also, as you mentioned, Rhubarb is known to be toxic as well. So obviously not all greens are safe.

[El Lobo]

As above. I wouldn't feed any plants to pets or humans until they could be positively identified. Another example is plants grown from bulbs are generally toxic.

[Linnea]

as the others said, there are som VERY toxic examples. however there are also some VERY nutricious plants in everyones backyard that is completely edible.

these are known to be good to feed, and i feed them to my bluey all summer:
- clover, leaves
- dandelion, leaves and flower
- Plantago major, leaves (this is a very nutricious one if available - good for turtles).
- Aegopodium podagraria, leaves, in small amounts and only baby plants or young ones, only before august. (otherwise theyre laxating )

those are the ones i know a little of.

i found this list that further explains about both toxic and edible parts of regular flowers, however the list is not bluey specified. note that it states that a little in moderation is okay, but a lot may not be, so always change the diet around when feeding anything from this list.


http://www.anapsid.org/resources/edible.html


and some to avoid :
- azaleas
- spinach (a little is okay i think)

http://www.anapsid.org/resources/toxic.html

[skeetersmom]

`Thanks everyone

As I thought - but just wanted to double check. I think I will take a leaf to my local greenhouse and see what they say

No worries- unless I know for absolute sure, Skeeter didn't get any.

[LarissaLurid]

`Thanks everyone

As I thought - but just wanted to double check. I think I will take a leaf to my local greenhouse and see what they say

No worries- unless I know for absolute sure, Skeeter didn't get any.

Yea I'd just be extra careful, even if they say it's not toxic, it might not be good for a skink which I doubt they'd have the knowledge about either. Hopefully getting it identified will help though. :]

[Richard.C]

if in doubt keep it out,always a good idea to stick to things you know they can eat and actually benefits them,i dont think they need a huge variety,that just complicates everything,better to stick to a mix of things that actually gives them all they need

[LarissaLurid]

if in doubt keep it out,always a good idea to stick to things you know they can eat and actually benefits them,i dont think they need a huge variety,that just complicates everything,better to stick to a mix of things that actually gives them all they need

I agree. I think even if they CAN eat a random plant leaf, it's probably not even going to be all that nutritious for them. I'd stick to healthy greens like collards, romaine lettuce, chard, spinach, kale, dandelion greens, mustard, bock choy, watercress and such. :] These are some of the healthiest ones I listed.

[Katrina]

I agree. I think even if they CAN eat a random plant leaf, it's probably not even going to be all that nutritious for them. I'd stick to healthy greens like collards, romaine lettuce, chard, spinach, kale, dandelion greens, mustard, bock choy, watercress and such. :] These are some of the healthiest ones I listed.

I'd disagree with spinach, romaine, kale and chard being among the healthiest. Romaine and spinach especially would be a feed rarely item, kale and chard are decent but high in goitrogens.

I'd pick dandelion, mustard greens, beet greens, turnip greens, arugula, endive, etc. as some of the healthiest.