# Is bamboo safe for tortoises?



## ~Amanda~ (Mar 4, 2013)

Hello,
I'm setting up my Russian's enclosure and it's almost done but I'd love to add some lucky bamboo. Lucky bamboo is the type that grows in spirals and is usually found at a grocery store or sometimes a pet store. It's quite pretty. Looks like this: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...75,d.dmQ&fp=ca3eb50b33875d72&biw=1280&bih=664

Anyway, I can't seem to find anything on the Internet that says if it's safe OR unsafe. I'm not putting it in there with the intention of it being a meal for my Russian (I already have actual edible plants in there), but I'd obviously not want it to be toxic if he/she did decide to munch on a leaf.

Thanks in advance!


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## jaizei (Mar 4, 2013)

Lucky Bamboo is not actually a type of bamboo and is usually listed as toxic


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## ~Amanda~ (Mar 4, 2013)

jaizei said:


> Lucky Bamboo is not actually a type of bamboo and is usually listed as toxic



Ah, you're right, not actually from the bamboo family. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_sanderiana 

After googling Dracaena sanderiana I couldn't find it listed anywhere as harmful to pets other than dogs or cats. Technically, the leaves would probably be out of reach of the tortoise, but obviously I'm not willing to take any risks for the sake of aesthetics.  I think I will do some more searching around. Let me know if anyone finds anything else on the topic of Dracaena sanderianas.


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## jaizei (Mar 4, 2013)

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?catID=354


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## ~Amanda~ (Mar 4, 2013)

jaizei said:


> http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?catID=354



Will have to steer clear from it!


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## Kapidolo Farms (Mar 5, 2013)

A simple good way to find if a plant is a good or not recommended tortoise diet item is to list the plant name and the word tortoise in a search engine.

For example "lucky bamboo tortoise" in the term search box for google. Results in this 

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...5,d.aWM&fp=443df112168ae7b8&biw=1371&bih=1094 


The first web page hit is the one posted in an earlier reply. The trick, then is to get the right name for the plant, and that can be a huge trick, so a reference photo, like what the images for "lucky bamboo" gets on the same google result list is good.

For what it's worth real bamboo is an OK diet item.

Will


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