Hi Case22, my bird occasionally get into eating my hoya plants, he is fine(bad boy). I did research to make sure it is not poisonous to my bird. Some Hoyas do have milky sap, it may irritate some people but personally have not experience any irritation. Hoyas prefer bright indirect sun but some hoyas don't mind few hours of east sun or west sun as long as plant get used to sun light gradually so it doesn't burn the leaves. Mine gets few hours east and west sun, it seem to help flower faster on some of the hoyas.

I have a hoya eating bird too, and he is fine! This is a subject that has come up from time to time, and like Jan mentioned, there are some people who could experience irritation, but for the most part, hoyas are not poisonous. If you google something along the lines of "poisonous houseplants" or "poisonous tropicals" you should be able to find a list of plants to watch out for, though I would not recommend eating any plant or touching your eyes etc. after handling.

Milkweed is poisonous, and hoyas are related so they may certainly be an irritant or have some poisonous parts to some things. I think I read that cattle in Australia have been sickened from eating lots of the H. australis in the fields. That said, I have seen lots of hummingbirds eating the sap from the hoya flowers here and they love it. My dogs have knocked down a H. cv Krimson Queen and eaten a bunch of it with no ill effects except the scolding they got from me. Ha.
I have handled LOTS of them and never got a rash or anything. I have tasted the necter from some of the flowers (I'm fine).
So I guess it is just use your common sense. I would not feed the leaves of hoyas to anything, but if you just treat them like a regular houseplant..all will be fine.
Marcy

The plants of the family Asclepidaceae otherwise known as milkweeds produce a sap or latex that is usually white but sometimes clear. The sap of some of these plants is toxic including the milkweed or Asclepias species that is the host plant and provider of the chemical defence that Monarch butterfly's use. Another milkweed Asclepias curassavica is used throughout it's range as a cure for warts, the sap being used topically. Probably the most recent use of a member of this family would be the use of the Hoodia genus by body conscious dieters to loose weight, this genus of succulents was originally used by the bushmen of Africa to stave off hunger during long hunting expeditions.
Many of the plants you encounter every day are poisonous and many plants that people grow in their homes are poisonous as well they just don't know it. I grow many plants that are toxic including Datura, Brugmansia, Iochroma, Asclepias and Aroids and have never had a negative reaction. Some people are more sensitive than others so if you think you might be simply wear disposable gloves when handling a potentially toxic plant.

The only plant I have that I know is toxic is Euphorbia tirucalli, aka "Pencil Cactus". I bought it as a small plant, it is now over 5 feet, and I keep it in an area away from the bird. I know that dieffenbachia, the one that is medium green with the cream variegation - possibly also called "Dumb Cane," is considered very toxic - my sister in law's cat chewed or consumed some of one that she had, and died right after.

Many plants in the Aroid family are considered toxic because of the calcium oxalate they contain. The name dumb cane comes from the fact that your mouth would be swollen and stinging if you decided to try a piece of the plant. I could easily see how an animal could die because of breathing problem due to swelling in the throat and mouth.

Here is a link that might be useful: calcium oxalate info

Today I repotted some of my hoyas:

H. Cumingiana
H. Shepherdii
H. Australis Keysii

Some of the sap stayed on my fingers and had a hard time removing it. Is the sap from these plants toxic to humans?

My bird is toxicated by hoya (waxplant) today. He can't walk, fly and see correctly. I brought it to veterinerian. They gave serum. I hope he will be OK but he can die. Never put your bird the same room with that plant. Write everywhere this please.

The leaves are poisonous !!!

they can give tour cat or dog a bad tummy ache . if YOUR parakeet ////

BIRDS CHEW LEAVES they

will die !!! they are poisonous

Hoya carnosa is not dangerously toxic to animals; I have done a thorough literature search, and find no negative data on birds in particular, and one study where canaries were force-fed Hoya showed no ill effects. I also have access to a large library of books on poisonous plants and none show any toxicity for Hoya carnosa.

The report above where the vet supposedly treated with a ”serum” is particularly suspect.

I have no idea what motivates people to post specious accounts like this.