How many forks....

[Mugwump]

...does it take to feed cucumbers/zucchini to the BN...??.....LOL...well,here's just a few...

[wsantia1]

Man that's a lot of forks. I don't have that much silverware so I use those zucchini clips. Every time I order something from Foster and Smith I get a couple. They usually get me over the $49 spending minimum for free postage.

[Mugwump]

Man that's a lot of forks. I don't have that much silverware so I use those zucchini clips. Every time I order something from Foster and Smith I get a couple. They usually get me over the $49 spending minimum for free postage.

garage sale specials, plus the guy that owned our house before us left some old flatware in a basement drawer.....

[b125killer]

That will make for some happy plecos! 

[ilroost]

I use plant wieghts

[John Patakos]

not sure why but i have never really fed much in the way of fresh veggies to my plecos...but i have talked to a number of folks that were pretty well versed about it...foods such as cukes , zuchini and green beans are ok but a bgit lacking in nutritional value..darker green stuff like spinach and collards are best...sweet potatoes are also excellent...we do feed our plecos a variety of foods which include Plecocaine , earthworm and brineshrimp styx..spirulina styx..algae wafers and a number of flake foods...

i think that the fork is the best tool for holding the foods down..they are cheap and easy to use..you can't ask for better than that.

[Mugwump]

not sure why but i have never really fed much in the way of fresh veggies to my plecos...but i have talked to a number of folks that were pretty well versed about it...foods such as cukes , zuchini and green beans are ok but a bgit lacking in nutritional value..darker green stuff like spinach and collards are best...sweet potatoes are also excellent...we do feed our plecos a variety of foods which include Plecocaine , earthworm and brineshrimp styx..spirulina styx..algae wafers and a number of flake foods...

i think that the fork is the best tool for holding the foods down..they are cheap and easy to use..you can't ask for better than that.

Don't forget carrots.....we grow cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans in the garden. There's more than we can eat, or give to the boys families, so we use it for the BN's....they love it and it's good and fresh.... ...we, also, supplement with #40 pellet, frenzy, and teenie greenie made by our good friend Bob.....and yup, a good variety is best....plus know your BN's food requirements....some like more greens, others like  omnivore's, will eat bloodworms, snail meat, besides the veggies......and, of course, they like/need their wood to gnaw on too

....

[Rjb3]

Take note of how the nutritional values drop off when collard greens are cooked. The Omega 3 and 6 fatty acid values drop off more than 75%. Everything reduces at about the same rate.

On the other hand, one must do some research first to determine if the raw forms of any food items are poisonous. For instance raw soybeans are poisonous. Actually, most raw beans are. Lima beans release cyanide when opened. Red kidney beans are considered the most toxic due to high amounts of lectin.

[Mugwump]

Take note of how the nutritional values drop off when collard greens are cooked. The Omega 3 and 6 fatty acid values drop off more than 75%. Everything reduces at about the same rate.

On the other hand, one must do some research first to determine if the raw forms of any food items are poisonous. For instance raw soybeans are poisonous. Actually, most raw beans are. Lima beans release cyanide when opened. Red kidney beans are considered the most toxic due to high amounts of lectin.

I may never look at a lima bean the same......alas, and I like them too....oh screw it, what's a little cyanide 

[LizStreithorst]

I forgot about spinach for my BN,  I remember when I got my first batch of snots from Jon it was recommended that I feed it.  They liked it!  Mine eat the zucchini and cukes but they're not crazy for them.  They totally ignore the algae discs.  I'll be buying spinach at the store tomorrow.  I've never tried green beans.  I have some frozen ones.  I'll thaw some out and stick them on a fork and see how it goes.

[big b]

Lima beans release cyanide when opened.

Cyanide? Isn't that a deadly gas that can kill people? How can such a little bean release such a deadly gas? I myself release deadly gas several times a day but I don't know how a little bean does it. Haha fart joke.

[Rjb3]

LOL  They only release a cyanide compound when opened raw.

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/photos/8-poisonous-foods-we-commonly-eat/1-lima-beans

Thank God there's a restriction on Lima bean cyanide levels in the US.

[BillT]

Cool subject, just looked this up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide

Cyanide? Isn't that a deadly gas that can kill people?

Cyanide is CN^-, a carbon atom triple bonded to a nitrogen. A triple bond has a lot of energy stored up and can react with other molecules more easily.

Cyanide is toxic because it reacts very well with a particular protein enzyme that does electron transport (one of the ways cells an store and use energy) in the mitochondria. If all of this particular protein is inactivated, stops the electron transport stops and the cell loses ~90% of it energy production. Muscles and nerve cells (big energy users) can't take this. They die.

Because its charged, it can ionicly pair with an oppositely charged molecule. H⁺ makes hydrogen cyanide which is a gas at room temperature and when inhaled will kill someone within minutes. Used in executions.

Some plastics can release cyanide when they burn, because they were made with cyanide containing monomers (single units) before they were polymerized (into strings of many units, with properties of plastics).

Its though that plants have it as a defense against animals eating it. Plants do that a lot.

How can such a little bean release such a deadly gas?

Its probably bound to something like sodium (Na⁺) or potassium (K⁺ and if dried might be like a salt (ionic compound). Being ionic is could dissolve well in water and could be poisonous if eaten before or if enough were dissolved in the water.

I myself release deadly gas several times a day but I don't know how a little bean does it. Haha fart joke.

Its amazing whats in wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_lighting

usually the major chemicals:
carbon dioxide, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen

No cyanide listed!

Hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide can burn and oxygen is an oxidizer (some people light 'em).



I never liked Lima beans.

[Mugwump]

LOL  They only release a cyanide compound when opened raw.

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/photos/8-poisonous-foods-we-commonly-eat/1-lima-beans

Thank God there's a restriction on Lima bean cyanide levels in the US.

They raise a lot of lima's in Georgia....LOL....a dangerous place at harvest time.. .....did youknow that Atlanta is the second highest city in elevation, after Denver??.......do ya know the one of the main drags in Atlanta is named Button Gwinnett ....yeppers.....who was he??....answer below















Button Gwinnett was a British-born American political leader who, as a representative of Georgia to the Continental Congress, was one of the signatories on the United States Declaration of Independence.

[Rjb3]

Bet he didn't eat raw Lima beans.