Degu bit into my house plant! Worried

[keithandmerlin]

Hi all, Keith bit into a leaf on my monstera plant today and I’m a bit worried that he may get poorly from it? Does anyone know a plant safe list I look at? What should I do?

[winic1]

I found this, by just googling "is monstera toxic?"

"Philodendron (and Monstera)
This genus of plants is mildly toxic to humans, and toxic to both dogs and cats. Symptoms of exposure include: Oral irritation, pain and swelling of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting, and difficulty swallowing.Mar 27, 2017"

That being said, we have a cat who used to chew on my philodendron (similar plant). I had fences and barricades and access points all blocked, and this stupid cat would somehow get through them all (he was big and clumsy and dumb, but somehow...) and chew on the thing at night. I know this because I would hear the noise of him slurping and slobbering as he chewed, from the excessive thick saliva and thickened, swollen tongue he got from it. Then I'd chase him away and re-fortify the plant. But the stupid cat kept doing it. And he'd keep chewing on it even as it was obviously affecting his mouth.

He's still with us. The plant is gone.

If all your degu did was take a bite into the leaf, he will probably be fine, if a bit thick-tongued and drooling for a while. I don't know if there's any way to rinse the mouth of a degu without possibly doing more harm from stress and possibly drowning the little guy.

Keep an eye on him and let us know how it goes, okay?

[winic1]

Also just googled "is monstera toxic to guinea pigs" and found references saying it is on the toxic list due to the oxalate crystals in it (which is what cause the mouth reactions) and several people saying, "oh no, my piggie just chewed some of my monstera" but they ended up fine. So, hopefully degus are like their relatives the guinea pig, and hopefully lesson learned--don't bite this thing, it makes your mouth unhappy.

So at least it doesn't seem to be poisonous like a rat poison would be, it's more of a local reaction to the plant.

[keithandmerlin]

Thank you so much that’s been so helpful, I’ll keep an eye on him! He’s always resilient so fingers crossed! Thank you again x