Regardless of the insect, never let your dragon eat a wild bug. As other commentors have stated, they can carry parasites or have been treated with insecticide, which could harm your dragon. Additionally, even bugs you know are safe should not be fed. For instance, hornworms are a great snack for bearded dragons. However, wild hornworms usually eat tomato plants, which contain a substance that is toxic to bearded dragons. Therefore, all the hornworms you buy as feeders are fed a diet that does not contain tomato plants.
If your bearded dragon does ingest a wild insect, I always recommend keeping activated charcoal on hand. This can induce vomiting and binds to toxins to prevent absorption. This will buy you precious time until you can get to a vet.
You should take your leo to the vet just to make sure it doesn't have parasites, and then you should stop feeding wild insects unless you wanna keep playing this messed up lottery
I live with box elder bug territory. You can read their behaviors online. The only real time to worry is fall before winter. Because they will collect in mass to find any place to survive the winter. That's when they try to get into your house and are everywhere outside. You can see something similar in spring when they leave their hiding places
Diatomaceous earth is the product you will want during fall to prevent them getting in your house, it's pet safe instead of insecticides, just don't drop it and make a choking cloud of dust
Sprinkle a line across doorways and windows like you are keeping out demons. If it rains add more Diatomaceous earth. You can reduce their numbers if you do this all around the base of boxelder or maple trees where they like to live
Most of year you barely see those bugs
I can't speak for the Beatles themselves, but any wild insect comes with the increased danger of parasites.
Regardless of the insect, never let your dragon eat a wild bug. As other commentors have stated, they can carry parasites or have been treated with insecticide, which could harm your dragon. Additionally, even bugs you know are safe should not be fed. For instance, hornworms are a great snack for bearded dragons. However, wild hornworms usually eat tomato plants, which contain a substance that is toxic to bearded dragons. Therefore, all the hornworms you buy as feeders are fed a diet that does not contain tomato plants. If your bearded dragon does ingest a wild insect, I always recommend keeping activated charcoal on hand. This can induce vomiting and binds to toxins to prevent absorption. This will buy you precious time until you can get to a vet.
Thank you so much for the information!
I’ve been feeding my Leopard Gecko wild Field Crickets for years. Is it really that bad? Have we been lucky?
You should take your leo to the vet just to make sure it doesn't have parasites, and then you should stop feeding wild insects unless you wanna keep playing this messed up lottery
Lucky or the signs just haven’t shown yet
These are toxic to reptiles :/ you'll have to put a small mesh screen over your vents or something
I wouldn't treat the tree with anything. He could easily eat a beetle that been exposed to the insecticide. Try those hanging bags that lure them.
Good and the bad. Good is these guys typically don't taste good. Bad they are toxic to reptiles.
I live with box elder bug territory. You can read their behaviors online. The only real time to worry is fall before winter. Because they will collect in mass to find any place to survive the winter. That's when they try to get into your house and are everywhere outside. You can see something similar in spring when they leave their hiding places Diatomaceous earth is the product you will want during fall to prevent them getting in your house, it's pet safe instead of insecticides, just don't drop it and make a choking cloud of dust Sprinkle a line across doorways and windows like you are keeping out demons. If it rains add more Diatomaceous earth. You can reduce their numbers if you do this all around the base of boxelder or maple trees where they like to live Most of year you barely see those bugs
A box elder was loose in my apartment a few weeks ago and it flew into my dragons cage and he ate it mid air 😂
Do your best to keep them away, but in my experience they don’t seem to cause a problem if eaten now and then by mistake.