Care: Unsafe and Unpopular Food List

[HCADirectors]

UNSAFE AND UNPOPULAR FOODS

Questions about an item on this list - or questions about any food item - should be directed to the [Food & Water] section as a new topic. This list will be kept updated as unsafe food items are brought to our attention.

The following is an amended list from the Epicurean-Hermit website, with attributions to Julia Crab. You will need to obtain your own permission from EH and the HCA to copy this list to your own site or publication. But direct links to this post are OK.

While it is true that crabs are scavengers with a wide repertoire of foods they can eat, there are many plants and foods that just should not be fed to a crab. The foods on this list are to be avoided. Some are toxic, some are insect repellents or used as insecticides, and some the crabs just won't go near, such as lemon -- lemon won't hurt them, but they certainly won't eat it.

This list, like the Edible List, will be updated regularly, so be sure to check back often.

Aconite (Monk's Hood)
African daisy (Osteospermum)
Alder bark
Amaryllis
American Hellebore
Anemone/Windflower
Aniseed
Avocado leaves
Bay leaves (natural insect repellent)
Bindweed
Bird of Paradise Flowers
Bluebonnet
Bottlebrush flowers
Bougainvillea
Boxwood
Buckthorn
Carnation leaves
Castor Bean
Catnip
Cedar wood or needles (fresh)
Cherimoya Seeds
Chocolate/cocoa
Citrus (leaves and branches to be avoided; part of the evergreen family. The fruit is fine)
Columbine
Compost (unless 100% organic)
Crocus
Crown of Thorns
Cube Plant
Custard Apple (young fruit)
Cyclamen
Delphinium
Derris
Dittany
Eucalyptus
European pennyroyal
Evergreen (fresh; cedar, juniper, etc.)
Feverfew
Fleabane
Green hellebore
Hemlock
Holly Berries
Horsetail
Juniper Berries
Kalanchoe
Larkspur seed
Laurel
Lemon Gras
Mayweed
Mistletoe
Morning Glory
Oleander
Oxeye daisy
Papaya seed
Pencil Tree Cactus
Prickly juniper
Pride of China fruit
Prunus species trees (apricot, bitter almond, laurel, nectarine, peach, plum) Fleshy fruits are edible, everything else contains a cyanide-like compound and is fatally toxic, including seeds, wood, leaves, bark and flowers.
Red Emerald
Rosemary
Stargazer Lily (Lilium x Stargazer)
Sweet Flag
Tansy
Tea Tree
Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora)
Thornapple
Thyme
Tobacco
Vanillin
Verbena
Vinca
Wild Angelica fruit
Wormwood
Yew
Yarrow


Updated November 2021