Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All of the annual weeds are coming up and I was wondering if the following are safe for chucks: sow thistle (Sonchus spp.), bristly ox-tongue (Picris echioides), filaree (Erodium spp.), and cheeseweed (Malva spp.). The sow thistles and ox-tongues have dandelion like flowers. I read somewhere that sow thistles were poisonous, so I've been avoiding them just in case ( I know that chucks can eat a lot of things that we can't, I just want to make sure that these are one of them).

-Alice

David VanLangen is the one that would know.

Alice,

I have (3) of these plants growing in the pen.
The Sow Thistle gets a few bites at times but not a favorite. Best I can remember the leaves get more bites than the flowers. My chucks do not seem to like the flowers much. Erodium is always on their menu- leaves & flowers. Basically anything in the MALVACEAE family is a favorite food. Malva's are close kin to the Globemallows that are a major portion of a chucks diet ( when available ) -- also in this family are Hibiscus & Althea. I have several different kinds of the MALVACEAE growing in the pen-- one of the is probably the same as your Cheeseweed. And remember---- the leaves of these plants are eaten more than the flowers from what I have seen over the years. See the link below for some Malva info.
I am not familiar with the Picris but I would not hesitate one bit to offer it to them.

How big is your set up for the chucks? If possible--- grow a bunch of chuck food plants in pots & rotate em often.

Disclaimer--- If your chucks fall over dead from the above printed words----- I do not know who I am and therefore will not be able to represent myself in a court of law.

dvl
Link

I had a horrible connection and I'm sure your wife had no idea what I was saying. I tried to call back several times and got the busy signal.

John

Everytime I call YOUR WIFE, she understands perfectly! Hey! Give me a holler---- the old # I have is no good anymore ( But don't tell your wife I said that!)

How are the chucks ? Still got the Yarrow ? Seems like something happened ?? Can't remember !

Later

DVL

The yarrows lower jaw looked out of alignment the other day. I got her out to give her some water. I have them all hibernating in my basement. I only have two collareds, the two chucks, and the yarrow. Not includeing my daughters leopard gecko.

And the skink?
-----
PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

Was seen in the pen for several days, then vanished. I have a feeling it died in there somewhere. I never found it while searching for all the collareds. The skink is in hibernation too.

J

"Disclaimer--- If your chucks fall over dead from the above printed words----- I do not know who I am and therefore will not be able to represent myself in a court of law" Not terribly encouraging

My guys are house chucks. They're living in a 100 gallon. I pick various greens from the yard (mostly) and chop them up and mix them together in their bowl. This makes it difficult for them to be selective (don't want to put anything lethal in the mix), and Rigel seems like he'd be willing to eat just about anything (I don't trust him to know any better). Gracie is a dandelion flower addict (Rigel's a gentleman and lets her eat her fill of the dandelions before he moves in so I think that her diet is about 80% dandelions). Since Picris and Sonchus both have yellow ligulate asters for flowers, like dandelions, I was hoping to use these in an attempt to broaden Gracie's horizons. With her prediliction for dandelions, I do realize that her diet may not be balanced so I make sure that the dandelions are dusted.

I'll give the Sonchus, Erodium, and Malva a try and look for some more info on the Picris.

Thanks!
Alice