Croton Plant

CFree3344

New Member
Today at petsmart I got a list that said a Croton Plant was a safe plant to use for animals. I was curious if this is true. I bought one today to use in my chameleon cage but wanted to make sure this would be ok. I also bought a corn plant. Let me know of any suggestions on another plant that is not a Croton if it doesn't work. Thanks
 
Does anyone have a picture or the latin name. I am a little confused on what kind of plant that is.
 
I wish I knew why people keep saying that crotons are safe to use in chameleon cages...unless there is another variety that I'm not aware of.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/factsheets/031.htm
"Croton—(Codiaeum variegatum) many species contain croton oil, a strong purgative which causes gastroenteritis."

http://www.cbif.gc.ca/pls/pp/ppack.info?p_psn=128&p_type=all&p_sci=sci&p_x=px
"Croton (Codiaeum variegatum) is a common houseplant. Chewing the bark and roots is said to cause burning of the mouth. Some young leaves are used in the East Indies as a vegetable, but cases of irritation have been reported. The latex has caused eczema in some gardeners (Morton 1962, Frohne and Pfander 1983)."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=146585&dopt=Abstract
"All results of the study indicate that: -latex of croton produces no primary irritant reaction -latex is able to induce a real contact allergy -contact allergens are constituents of the milky sap."
 
I use to have ficus trees in my enclousure. I knew that the sap was bad and never really cared about. One day I was watching my male eat some leaves. He was really getting into tugging on the leaf and branch trying to get the leaf off. Finally the whole little branch gave and before I knew it he was in the process of consuming the whole branch. I had to intervene at this point and fight him for the stick. I will probably never use a ficus again because of this event. If had not been home that day I would say he probably would have ate the whole thing and then who knows what would have happened. I would be a little concerned with this croton plant in your enclousure if you have one. I always thought people where scared of the ficus because the sap could get in their eyes. I now know better.
 
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