Is Queen Ann's Lace OK?

jasonmom · Post by **jasonmom** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 7:43 am

I saw on E-bay someone is selling Queen Ann's Lace to feed to hermit crabs. My hubby says it is a wild carrot. I can get lots of this. Is it OK?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:29 am

After doing some cursory research I'm gonna go No as this plant is a relative of the farm carrot but has a couple characteristics that make it inedible after it has matured.The plant has been noted to cause photodermatitis(a severe allergic reaction)in the skin to exposure from UV light and since we don't know enough about the possible effects this can have on hermitcrabs its safety is undetermined as of yet.

jasonmom · Post by **jasonmom** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:35 am

I got a note back from lady selling Queen Ann's Lace, she says she has been feeding it to her crabs for over 10 years without any problems noted. My husband keeps saying it's wild carrots so it shouldn't be a problem. I will go with the concensus from here though.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:47 am

Yeah it's a wild carrot but becomes more woody as it matures to full size becoming completely inedible at that point.My though is that the seller may be offering juvenile plants which are still edible and thus maybe causing no issues but this plant is so similar to poison hemlock in appearance that it is often not the wild carrot you are seeing.The term Queen Anne's Lace is both broad and ambiguous covering a variety of woody plants some toxic and others not so knowing what exactly it is the seller is providing is hard to determine by using such a generic name in her description.We base our safe foods list off of the research done at the Epicurean Hermit.com the ladies who have spent decades compiling the list have never once mentioned Queen Anne's lace as safe or edible for hermits to my knowledge.