Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so I didn't get a chance to get to the petstore to get crickets for the anole and we currently have a house fly infestation in the apartment building (well near the warm window to the communal balcony in the hall anyway) I remember the petshop guy saying he sometimes fed his anole house flies.. I'm wondering is there a huge nutrional difference between crickets and house flies and what would a house fly only diet do to her?
Green anole btw..about..hrm 4 inches long or so

Hello Kellinjar:
Houseflies are a good supplement to an anole's diet. I wouldn't try to give them a fly only diet but occasional ones are no problem. The more varied the diet the healthier the anole will be. Feeding the same thing to them constantly is not the best way to care for them. Some Anole's will actually stop eating if fed the same thing all the time. Crickets, mealworms, flies, moths, etc. are all good things to feed them.
Good Luck and Have A Great Day!!!

House flys are fine for anoles. I like to catch them by placing a pork chop or other piece of meat on a table in my yard and then catch all the flies with a butterfly net. These can be placed in a frige for a few minutes to cool them down and make them slow enough for the anoles to catch. Yum....

My green anole has no problem catching them even when they are very warm and fast.

Aye, same with mine. She seems to thoroughly enjoy it, gets her some excercise. When I put in crickets..she doesn't do much..barely chases them at all...just waits for them to come near her then she jumps on them.

and that you shouldnt feed them to anoles, or any lizard, unless you got them from a fly culture. but maybe i will try it but it still grosses me out seeing as how flies eat garbage... doesnt that mean you are basically feeding your anoles garbage since they get the nutrition from the gut of the insect? hence gut loading?

To be honest I don't suspect these flies have eaten any garbage, being trapped inside the building on the window... Really they probably don't have anything to eat at all and have a very short lifespan. I would never use flies that would come from outside, most likely these flies were born in the building and cannot escape.. so a pop explosion after hte winter, but the strain will die out because there is no food or suitable nesting sites in the building.

Anoles only eat them because they are a challenge to catch.But I still feed them to my anoles go head and feed flys.

Unless these flys are captive bread, DON"T GIVE THEM TO ANOLES, OR ANY HERP AT ALL!!! House flys are some of the most unsanitary bugs on earth. They spread all kinds of sickness and are freakishly dirty.