Cherry and Walnut leaves for isopods?

Invertebrates Isopods
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Hi! I’m new to keeping isopods and I just want to check if Cherry leaves and Walnut leaves are safe for isopods?

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Hello and welcome to the forum! I am sorry I can’t answer your question but I am sure other isopod keepers can answer you. I have magnolia leaves in with my roly polys! :blush:

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Thank you! :laughing: i’ll try magnolia for now and hold off on the cherry and walnut leaves

I have 2 bags full for my hamsters which has recently passed and my remaining ham doesnt like it. Hopefully can repurpose it for the pods :joy:

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You would recommend those lol :joy:?

Love ya, community mom :rofl:

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I do not see why they would not be. My only caution is that the tannins in the walnut leave might make them unpalatable. Not necessarily toxic, but the isos may just ignore them

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Weeelllll I thought about, ahem, giving a “recommendation” but I was not sure I could spill the beans that you, ahem, sell them…… oops :speak_no_evil:

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Oh yeah, that’s right :rofl::face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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So at first I misread your post and I thought you were referring to “tannis as in tannis root and of course my being as old as I am I thought of that awful movie “Rosemary’s Baby”! :joy:

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ooo okie great! thank you so much for the info :laughing:

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I know I’m super late to this party but curious if you ever did feed them walnut or cherry leaves and if you noticed a difference.

Cherry plants have amygdalin which converts to cyanide throughout the entire plant except for inside the fruit. The pits, bark, and leaves and roots are all unsafe. I read somewhere that if plant parts were cooked, it can evaporate the chemicals but I’ve never found a temp or amount of time for that.

As far as walnut goes, people say black walnuts are not to be eaten by isopods as they have a chemical called jugalone in it. Jugalone is a natural herbicide and pesticide the plant creates to protect itself and keep other trees out of its space. If you search walnut tree, and scroll through photos, you’ll see that the only plants around it are other walnuts. It’s not just black walnuts that has this chemical in it but all walnuts. The plant family is named Juglans after all.

I wonder thy this doesn’t affect hamsters though. It certainly will harm humans and our other furry pets.

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“Safe” is relative

I will also note that cherry wood is also used for smoking meats and you can buy it in both chunk and pellet form at the hardware store for that purpose. I frequently use cherry pellets in my cage media mix and have never had an issue