Are Birds Nest Ferns Poisonous?

Birds Nest Ferns are a popular houseplant because they are not poisonous plants. This means that if ingested they are not toxic to humans. Obviously you shouldn’t be eating houseplants as they’re not good for your digestive system but they aren’t toxic plants.

Birds Nest Ferns are also not toxic for dogs and cats. So if a pet wandering around the house will affect your decisions on which house plant to buy then this one could be the perfect one for you. Again just like for humans you don’t want your pets to be eating your house plants but if they take a nibble it shouldn’t be dangerous for them.

In addition to not being toxic to ingest, touching a birds nest fern and handling the foliage shouldn’t do any harm to your skin or cause flares up in eczema or other skin conditions. Many plants in the fern family are also safe houseplants to have around with babies and pets which is what makes them such good plants to get started with. Which is a great reason to think of when you ask yourself why should I buy a birds nest fern?

How To Stop My Pets Eating My Plants

So your birds nest fern isn’t toxic to your pets but you still don’t want them being eaten and ruining the foliage. Don’t worry, they are some things you can do to make your plants seems less appealing to your furry friends without damaging them.

First of all, one thing you can do is to change the placement of your plants. Cats can climb on shelves and jump onto windowsills so finding somewhere out of the way of your cats might seem impossible but what a cat will struggle to get to is a hanging basket.

Try using hanging baskets or wall brackets to place your plants out of reach of your pets but without giving them the chance to climb on something.

Another thing you can do is to hide the soil. Cats might be attracted to your plants for the pleasure of digging in the soil. If this is the case them make the soil unappealing. A way you can do this is to add rocks on top so the cat can’t access the fun soil underneath.

Finally change the taste of your plants. If your cat likes to nibble away at your plants then this could be because they like the taste of the leaves. If you change the smell and taste of your plants this could be enough of a deterrent. Choose something with a strong scent that will not damage your plant and add it to a bottle of water. Then mist your plants with this scented water. This should act as a good deterrent for your hungry cat.

So even though these plants aren’t poisonous hopefully you now have a useful way to stop your pets from eating your plants, because even if it’s not harmful to them, you still don’t want a plant full of tiny teeth marks or to lose leaves victim to another hunting from your cat. Hopefully we’ve helped you with your question are birds nest ferns poisonous?

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