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Post by deguconvert on May 12, 2017 19:34:58 GMT
OH THAT!! In the MIDDLE of the photo. I was going to say THISTLE. The other thing, I think it must be a prop from Dr. Who?
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Post by ntg on May 12, 2017 19:57:12 GMT
You do know that plant ID with no flowers is pretty advanced stuff?? Not sure about first one at all, if it's densely hairy it could be foxglove or a verbascum. Second one looks like rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium), usually occurs in big patches, safe for degus, mine don't like it but worth a try. It didn't seem hairy at least I took a clear photo in good light, even if there aren't any flowers to help out
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Post by moletteuk on May 12, 2017 20:29:19 GMT
LOL you'll have to go back when it's in flower so we can find out what it is
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Post by ntg on May 12, 2017 20:32:36 GMT
OH THAT!! In the MIDDLE of the photo. I was going to say THISTLE. The other thing, I think it must be a prop from Dr. Who? I'm pretty sure it's illegal to not know what a thistle looks like if you live in Scotland
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Post by moletteuk on May 12, 2017 22:16:16 GMT
It's taken me all night to come up with the name, because I always want to say st johns wort, but the first one might be evening primrose.
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Post by winic1 on May 13, 2017 0:49:12 GMT
Are all thistles safe for degus to eat? My back hill/weed and wildflower garden is infested with thistle seedlings this year. Did not have thistles there on purpose (dang chipmunks must have brought the seeds in), so I don't know what species they are. But sure they are going to be one of the typical purple flowered type thistles. Don't want to wait until they flower, I want them gone, NOW, so tired of getting stabbed reaching into the mess up there when trying to work. (Some day, it's going to be all flowers and pretty plants, not the weedy infested mess it is now.)
Which reminds me, is Barberry degu-safe? Berberis sp. We are infested with that, I chop it down whenever it's in my way, wouldn't be hard to knock the leaves off the very very painfully thorny stems once they're dried. Would love to get some use out of that nasty stuff. We have green, and a few red varieties.
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Post by moletteuk on May 13, 2017 13:08:29 GMT
All thistles are safe, just make sure they suss out the prickles.
I'm reading all different things for berberis. I think the problem is there are very many species, some are edible and some are poisonous, and that applies variously to bark, leaves, dried leaves in particular and berries. I could try looking again if you knew exactly what species it is.
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Post by darthchinchi on Aug 27, 2018 10:25:42 GMT
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Post by winic1 on Aug 27, 2018 12:13:45 GMT
It is most likely the plant family Lamiaceae, which was formerly went by the family name Labiateae. As those are scientific names, they are the same in any language, so you could use them to start searching some of your local plant identification sites.
Lamiaceae is the mint family of plants. Which doesn't mean these are mint herbs and therefore automatically safe. The mint family has over 7,000 species, including herbs, vines, and even trees.
Is the stem square when you feel it with your fingers? Most commonly a sign of a plant in the mint family.
At least this might help you get started?
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Post by darthchinchi on Aug 27, 2018 12:18:15 GMT
Actually I looked it up in my floar book and found the Galeopsis tetrahit (i believe it's called hemp-nettle in english), to be of close resemblance, but not quite the correct plant. Can't find anything that matches those leafs....
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Post by darthchinchi on Aug 27, 2018 13:04:43 GMT
Dracocephalum moldavica I found it Actually someone else found it. But this is what it is. Now I just need to lok into if I can give it to the chinchillas or not. It's used for tea
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nika
Foraging Degu
Posts: 106
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Post by nika on Aug 15, 2019 15:13:12 GMT
I went out foraging today and I have a few unknowns that I’d like to know are safe or not This appears to be a type of thistle - it’s spineless with long narrow leaves ibb.co/0tDwp1vHave no clue what these are, but they looked interesting lol, I would like to add more flowers to my foraged mixes ibb.co/85zFTWyibb.co/QYT0tswibb.co/8gnsJvGAnd this is what I’ve dried so far. They get fresh as well, but they love the dried foraging mixes I get from the pet shop, but their expensive and literally like bramble leave. I’ve got TONS of that stuff right outside my door, all pesticide free ibb.co/P1VPXv2Lastly, wild rose leaves and stems - safe??
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nika
Foraging Degu
Posts: 106
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Post by nika on Aug 15, 2019 15:18:34 GMT
And the leaves of the thistle? Since I just read up a few messages and realised someone had already asked about thistles 🤦🏻♀️
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 15, 2019 18:37:10 GMT
The first picture that is like a thistle is knapweed (Centaurea nigra) and is safe, all parts. The second one with the white flowers is Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica), I don't know if it is safe for degus or not. I've done a search and it appears that it may be toxic to some farm animals, so probably best left out. Third one I need to see a picture of the whole plant with leaves to be sure but I think it is Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis). I can't find any information regarding it being toxic, but given there isn't much to it but it is quite valuable to insects, I would leave that one be. The last one is heather (Calluna vulgaris), I don't know if that is safe, but I just can't see degus finding it palatable.
Regarding other thistles I would look out for prickly sow thistle (Sonchus asper) and smooth sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), my degus used to really like smooth sow thistle and that one in particular is not so prickly that it is difficult to pick. The sow thistles are both distinctive where the leaves meet the stems and have smallish yellow flowers.
Another couple of easy things to find and identify are Greater Plantain (Plantago major) and Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), and lots of degus like those. Don't forget to try fresh grass too and test everything to see if they like things fresh and/or dried.
Fresh untreated roses are safe, leaves and flowers, I don't see why the stem wouldn't be but I wouldn't think the degus would be interested in the stem anyway, but I could be wrong.
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nika
Foraging Degu
Posts: 106
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Post by nika on Aug 17, 2019 19:05:46 GMT
Can youse tell me what species of yarrow are suitable? I have gathered common yarrow and sneezewort.
Ragwort and fireweed aren’t suitable, right? Same with scotch broom?
Oh, and I found Ribwort Plantain! And me and my twin daughters made a good snack of bilberries (wild blueberries) - do you think the leaves are safe for degus?
I downloaded a plant identification app. BEST THING EVER.
Edit - didn’t remember that I already posted a picture of sneezewort. Thought it would be suitable as it’s a yarrow
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 18, 2019 11:10:09 GMT
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is safe and Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) is not safe, the only other Achillea is Cottonweed (Achillea maritima) which is coastal so unlikely to be safe. So, just stick to Yarrow. Yes, it is tempting to assume somthing in the same genus that also looks similar is going to be safe,but it's not always the case.
All the ragworts and groundsels (Senecio sp) are not safe.
Fireweed as in Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion Angustifolium) is safe.
Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) is not safe.
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillis) leaves are safe.
I would recommend that you get a good wild flower book or make use of the internet to check every result that the plant identification app gives, they can give quite a lot of false results.
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 18, 2019 18:24:01 GMT
I would recommend that you get a good wild flower book or make use of the internet to check every result that the plant identification app gives, they can give quite a lot of false results. WOW!! What an excellent thing to know! We ( I ) get so dependent on our tech that we forget, or do not realize, it may not be accurate! Good to know.
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 18, 2019 19:13:15 GMT
I think the apps just look at a photo you take and compares it with other photos. Lots of plant identification requires magnification of details, usually with at least a hand lens, or a detail on the back of the flower, or right inside the flower or something tricky to see on the stem etc.
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nika
Foraging Degu
Posts: 106
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Post by nika on Aug 20, 2019 6:51:49 GMT
Yup, I’ve been checking everything anyways. I forage anyways (just found a large lot of chanterelles!), so I’m well versed in checking at least 2 sources. The app is a new find and gives me a great place to start with googling rather than plugging ‘tall single branch plant narrow leaves ending in a bunch of flowers Scotland’ into google lol. It means I spend far less time of my phone while I’m out foraging. The only thing the app has gotten wrong has been the mushrooms, which I was just trying because I wanted to see if it recognised mushrooms at all. It thought it was a winter gourd lol. The app also has community pictures for each plant, so you can look at other peoples identifications to make sure at least the plant is the same before googling the genus and species.
I found cow parsley, at least I’m pretty sure it is - it’s got the ridges and divets in the stems - and I’m 99% sure that’s what it is, but since it’s outwith it’s flowering period, I’m pretty sure I’m going to leave that till next year.
I’ve found all sorts of vetches as well. Actually, I’ve found TONS of stuff. I’m going to have to thread some wool across my window so I can dry some bunches because my poor dehydrator only has 6 levels and is running nonstop these days lol.
I’m really trying to make a push to go fully over to the SAB diet for them, but they really don’t like anything fresh so far. The fresh stuff just gets left to wilt in their cage. They go made for the dry bits, they especially adore the rose petals and the whole dried knapweed flowers.
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nika
Foraging Degu
Posts: 106
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Post by nika on Aug 20, 2019 6:55:28 GMT
And when I get a positive identification, the next thing I google is ‘name of plant, degus’. I only refer to this site and the international degu community when determining if something is suitable - I stay far away from the likes of degutopia.
Oh! And one last thing - I found common plantain and mammoth/meadow clover. Are those ones okay? I haven’t been able to find them on either site.
Never mind about the clover - I found that one, also known as the zig zag clover and it’s safe x
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