Lucky Bamboo VS Bamboo

DustAndEchoes · Post by **DustAndEchoes** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 12:08 pm

I noticed bamboo on the safe list, but lucky bamboo on the unsafe list...whats the difference?

NaRnAR · Post by **NaRnAR** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 12:26 pm

There is a "real" bamboo and then theres the "fake" bamboo.

The lucky bamboo is the "fake" bamboo. Its not bamboo at all. Rather it is in the Draecenia (sp?) family, the same as the mother-in-laws tongue. Its high in oxalates, which for many animals is poisonous. (hope that I remembered all this right)

The real bamboo is safe for hermies. I know that Julia_Crab buys bamboo for her crabs and they shred it (and eat the dirt/manure its in). I think she gets hers from a farmers market. So she would be the one to ask the specifics to.

DustAndEchoes · Post by **DustAndEchoes** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 12:31 pm

Ok! Thanx for clearign that up...
I saw some bamboo at pet co too...
I thinkin I'll look for a farmer's market around here...I finally found a natural food store (yay!) THose are surprisingly hard to find..

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 12:32 pm

Lucky bamboo is related to these plants for example:
http://hem.passagen.se/gardening/image/ ... ginata.jpg
(Dracaena marginata)
The oxalic acids bind calcium and prevent the body from absorbing it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 12:31 am

I'm actually growing bamboo thickets in my tank, as well as snake plant, rosemaryvine, and grapevine.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:10 am

levitating hermit crab wrote:I'm actually growing... and grapevine.

Grapevine?

Is there some dwarf species of grape I don't know about? Cause the grape I have like exploded in growth within a few short months... It smothered out most of the other plants, which is why my mom like chopped it up I guess... lol.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:11 am

so is lucky bamboo the kind that grows all those leaves on one giantly tall stalk, and the base stem part never grows? cos that's what mine does, it looks ridiculous. this is mine with a regular 12 inch ruler in front of it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:33 am

That's lucky bamboo all right.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:36 am

that's what i figured. those darn things just keep growing that one huge stalk. i've had that one for like 4 or 5 years now. i just keep it in water with some rocks to hold it up. looks pretty silly though with that one huge spike of leaves. i've got to find a decent farmers market, i need some good veggies! boo to grocery store fruit and veggies, they've got no flavor!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:38 am

check out http://www.localharvest.org for natural and organic food markets and suppliers in your area. It's an excellent resource for whole foods.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:59 am

I specialize in my vivarium tank, it takes alot of work to grow grape vine in the crabitat. I'm constantly trimming and removing portions of it. It's no walk in the park

.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 2:20 am

That's lucky bamboo? I never knew that lol... I have the same thing, it's in a clear vase with some rocks to hold it down, with the main stem is like... cut off and the leaves grow off to the side on a stalk...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 6:55 am

Ok, now I'm concerned. I've had this in my tank for months with absolutely no problems - the crabs love to climb all over it. Is this the good bamboo or the bad?

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:02 am

That's a lucky bamboo. But the crabs can't have eaten much if any of it, judging from the way the plant looks.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:38 pm

Crabs generally don't eat things they can't as long as it's natural. However, there's no guarantee that one won't have a nibble on something questionable, which is why it's recommended to leave stuff known to be toxic out of the tank.

Lucky bamboo probably wouldn't kill a crab unless it ate a LOT of it. It would act as an enema and prevent it from absorbing calcium more than anything, which isn't the best thing for them.

I'd take it out of the tank and find something else for them to climb on.