Duck weed

[juliec1]

Hi everyone, my hubby is a fishkeeper, and grows duckweed in his planted tank. It grows very quickly and he has to flush lots of it every week. So he asked me if the skinks can eat duckweed (it grows on top of the water) please let me know. Thank you in advance.

[donkeybuff]

Just by doing a quick search on duck weed, I found that their weight is about 85-95% water, and about 2-4% oxalates. Oxalates are found in many veggies, but it can inhibit calcium absorption and too much is toxic. Anyways, since it's mostly water, andits safety is not known, I would not feed it. Another thing to consider is bacteria that can be transferred from the water in your fish tank to the skink.

[Lea]

Thanks, donkeybuff. That's good info! Along with being high in oxalates, duckweed actually needs to be dried to be of any nutritional value, thus, increasing the oxalic acid content further. It also contains tannins, which are crystalline in nature and these can also form harmful deposits in the tissues, interfere with ability to utilise proteins and can cause secondary cyanide toxicity, amongst other things.

It would definitely be best to avoid using duckweed as part of your skink's diet.

[juliec1]

Thanks for the info. It will continue to be flushed.