Rubber plants safe?
- Thread starter chaz
- Start date
xanthoman
Avid Member
again with the rubber plants?
i vote no, but you decide. jmo https://www.chameleonforums.com/what-about-rubber-plants-29486/
i vote no, but you decide. jmo https://www.chameleonforums.com/what-about-rubber-plants-29486/
DGray
Avid Member
Yes, perhaps
As you can read in my post HERE and also HERE, I think rubber trees are reasonably safe. Others disagree.
There is no one who has yet shown me any veterinary reports or citations that indicate rubber tree poisoning or eye damage in chameleons.
I think there is a good bit of paranoia about the latex. I have tried controlled exposures of myself to the latex with no reaction. I am much more reactive to many other sp. of Ficus. I have eaten the new leaves; not great, but no negative effects either.
I would like to hear other's experiences. I would welcome any scientific citations, if you know of any.
As you can read in my post HERE and also HERE, I think rubber trees are reasonably safe. Others disagree.
There is no one who has yet shown me any veterinary reports or citations that indicate rubber tree poisoning or eye damage in chameleons.
I think there is a good bit of paranoia about the latex. I have tried controlled exposures of myself to the latex with no reaction. I am much more reactive to many other sp. of Ficus. I have eaten the new leaves; not great, but no negative effects either.
I would like to hear other's experiences. I would welcome any scientific citations, if you know of any.
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xanthoman
Avid Member
i dont need any studies , i found out from first hand experience. its not so much the toxicity of latex thats at issue. latex is fairly low in toxicity and is not likely to cause an adverse reaction just from contact with either liquid or dry latex. the problem comes from he fact that latex is sticky and not easily wiped off, and when it dries, it dries like varnish, at which point it is almost impossible to get off. when i first got the male in my avatar, i got some latex on him. i had placed him in a rubber plant for about 10 min while i made some last min cage adjustments. when i went to put him in his cage i noticed he had snapped a upper branch on the plant and managed to get a dribble on him about the size of the paper portion of a match, by the time i noticed it, it had already partially dried. my attempt to dry blot it got most of the liquid portion off, but the perimeter of the dribble had aready dried. i tried gently washing with warm soapy water and toothbrush, which did get most of it off, but some residue remained that was not coming off by any means. i'll admit it did not cause him any significant health problems, but that area of the skin remained affected through at least a couple of sheds, and it was a couple of months before his skin reached the point where you could never tell it had happened. im fully convinced that had he gotten any more on him, or gotten it in multiple places, or in his eyes, that it would have posed a significant, possibly even fatal, health risk. others can do what they please, but if somebody asks me, i am voting no on the rubber plants. jmo
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