Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's spring time in Michigan and all of the creepy crawlys are starting to emerge. Can I let my beardie eat these? Which ones are safe? We dont have any poisonous spiders in michigan as far as I know of. I have already given him a few flys which he had a blast with. Today I was about to let him catch a millipede but I figured I better check first.

That's not a good idea...fireflies are toxic for sure,I think certain centipedes millipedes are as well. Earthworms are safe but they probably carry their own parasite. On 2 separate occasions I have seen a bee hover down in to my baby beardie bin and,SURPRISE....my little guys jumped up and ate them with no sting,no harm,no nothing. But I was SHOCKED. I don't think there is any chance that anyone would willingly feed bees,yellow jackets to their dragons but I thought I'd mention that incident because I would have never believed it,especially since the babies were only 7-8 inches.

yeah, its really impressive how good they are at catching flying insects.

I would not recommend it. Especially because people are starting to use Pest Control Services to avoid fleas and ticks from their yard this time of year.... Other bugs can carry insecticides but arent killed by them. Your beardie eating the bugs would not be good. I had a giant grasshopper fly into my house once and I gave it to a beardie but that was majorly daring. Its just not worth the risk, just to entertain yourself watching them eat a different bug.

If thats the issue, you can get some really cool Madagascarian "Hissing" cockroaches and an adult beardie would go to town on that. Ebay has em' for dirt cheap and some bug farms too!
www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com

Best not to feed wild caught insects, especially from around the house as there's no telling what sort of chemicals they came in contact with.

Many toxins stay in the body and accuminate over time till they become lethal, thus it may be months or even years before a dragon eats one insect too many and ends up very sick. There is also other contaminantes besides toxins which may cause issues as well, like lead, aspestos. Then there is risks of parasites from insects which can infect your dragon as well.

If you want to give some variety to your dragon's diet, there are plenty of different kinds of 'farmed' insects now available online, such as roaches, butterworms, silkworms, hornworms, phoenix works, locusts, and others. The adult forms of superworms and mealworms are also great treats. Silkworm moths are also a great treat.
-----
PHLdyPayne

thanks