Alocasia sanderiana / kris plant okay?

[flypdoink]

Hi everyone,

I just bought two new plants today that I thought looked nice, hoping to put them in Thomas's vararium. If they're not okay, I'll just keep them in the living room.

I've been trying to find out if they can be put near chameleons, but I haven't found anything on the forums or the Internet as such. This is what they look like:

It's scientific term is Alocasia sanderiana, and it's commonly known as the kris plant, or so Wikipedia tells me. It's "an ornamental plant in the Araceae family."

Do you have any experience with these plants? I would love to know about it, because I don't want to make any mistakes with Thomas.

Thanks for your replies!

 

[Carlton]

I doubt there's any risk from the plant being near the cage. Does your cham test or chew on other plants? If he doesn't, it would probably be OK. I don't know anything about the Alocasias, but you may have better luck finding toxicity information on the genus Alocasia in general. I'd look for information about the sap being an irritant (because a cham climbing all over it could break stems or tear leaves causing sap to ooze out), to check whether the leaves produce any type of irritant or residue that might cause harm if your cham licks water off of it.

 

[Carlton]

I doubt there's any risk from the plant being near the cage. Does your cham test or chew on other plants? If he doesn't, it would probably be OK. I don't know anything about the Alocasias, but you may have better luck finding toxicity information on the genus Alocasia in general. I'd look for information about the sap being an irritant (because a cham climbing all over it could break stems or tear leaves causing sap to ooze out), to check whether the leaves produce any type of irritant or residue that might cause harm if your cham licks water off of it.

I just looked up Alocacia spp toxicity because something in the back of my mind was nagging at me. As a group, Alocacias can be quite toxic because of calcium oxalate crystals that can cause burning of tongue and gums if eaten. Some can cause severe skin irritation. Your cham may not bite them, but it sounds as if there is the chance for tongue irritation or even poisoning if the leaf surface is licked. I would avoid it just to be safe.

 

[flypdoink]

I just looked up Alocacia spp toxicity because something in the back of my mind was nagging at me. As a group, Alocacias can be quite toxic because of calcium oxalate crystals that can cause burning of tongue and gums if eaten. Some can cause severe skin irritation. Your cham may not bite them, but it sounds as if there is the chance for tongue irritation or even poisoning if the leaf surface is licked. I would avoid it just to be safe.

Carlton, thank you so much! I find it difficult to look for toxicity reports because some plants can be toxic to humans but not to animals. And, of course, I want the right information. It's a sad ordeal, because they are truly awesome plants and just right for my Thomas, but I won't put them in, just to be safe. He has never eaten any of the plants in his cage, but still... I don't want him to hurt himself.

Thanks!

 

[Carlton]

Well, the toxicity info listed effects to mammals as usual, but what made the difference for me was the fact that the effects were to skin and mucous membranes like lips and tongue. Mammal or not, something licking or eating the leaves could be hurt. And, insoluable calcium oxalates are not good for most critters.