Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I was wondering, can't we use other animals like lower vertebrates as food if they are available and aren't WC, and safe as well?/without parasites and stuff. I mean, most animals are opportunistic feeders, and people know about the brown/cuban anole problem, why not euthanize the invasive species, and use them to our benefit(i.e, using them in science, or for food)?

Do you mean use them as food for humans? Highly unlikely due to regulations needing to be met to sell human quality foods. Also, who would want to eat a scrawny little lizard when a chicken has so much more meat? Or rabbits for that matter.

A ready supply of anoles to be used as snake/lizard food for species of reptiles that naturally prey on these lizards or similar species could be a market to aim for but it isn't likely to be a very good money making one.

Most reptiles are pretty specific in what they will eat, whether they are opportunistic or not. Insect and vegetation eaters probably have the greater variety, giving there are so many different varieties of both in any insectivores or vegetarian species's natural range. Snakes that eat primarily rodents aren't likely to switch over to lizards, unless they naturally will eat lizards in the wild. Some species may do this during early years but not bother with anoles as adults.
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PHLdyPayne

Anoles and house geckos are commonly used as feeders for other herps, I used them to feed my asian vines and ornate flying snakes--the thing is, they were WC, and always are. Reason--anoles are too much of a pain for someone to captive raise to be feeders, especially when WC are so cheap. I gave panacur to my feeders 3 weeks prior to being fed to reduce (note the word reduce) parasite load. You could also freeze them I just couldn't find a humane way to euthanize 100 lizards that would allow them to be used as feeders and be somewhat humane (Carbon dioxide can be tricky with herps). Bottom line is though, unless the animal is a herp specialist, try to avoid using herps as feeders--they are expensive and carry parasites. Another route you could try is to CB your own, but the generation time with herps is significant, and very good population management would need to be employed to maintain a good supply of appropriately sized feeders. Third option, if you are trying to add variety to the diet of an animal; and you breed other herps, chances are eventually you will get B-grade offspring. With some Darwinian management you could add some variety to an animals' diet.

I guess nobody breeds green tree frogs either huh? Anyway, if they naturally have parasites, a little wouldn't kill them. I can't think of a good euthanizing method for herps either. You are right about the inconvenient CB thing, but what if I kept them, and they bred, could I use the offspring then? I'm not sure what you meant in your second to last statement(sorry, my 13 year old is frying.)
I just thought of this but doesn't anyone use browns? I mean, shouldn't the INVASIVE ones be used? And house geckos are way more common anyway.

Thanks for your thoughts on this subject!

I agree, brown anoles are preferable to green due to the invasive species factor. Yes, if you happened to get offspring, you could use them as feeders-just keep in mind hatchling anoles are tiny, and as such not very fulfilling unless what you are providing them to is also small. As for green tree frogs--some people do breed them; and as a matter of fact are more economical than anoles if you wanted to raise your own--just google how to breed them. As for the parasites--this is a subject of much debate. Most herps, CB or WC, carry some form of intestinal parasite at some point or another. Yes, a little of many organisms considered parasites doen't seem to do much harm so long as the herp is strong and healthy. Example: pinworm (commonly gained by eating crickets) Others, though are dangerous even in small numbers. Ex. lung flukes, many coccidia, etc.

No I didn't mean rodents, insects would be more convenient.
Oh, and thanks for the info, I was gathering opinions, I've had conflicting replies. l wasn't going to switch to lizards, I was wondering if they could eat other things if they are opportunistic. Anyway, I'd prefer brown anoles to greens, I mean, browns are invasive. Right, it wouldn't be very economical. Thanks for giving your opinions!

There are quite a few insect feeders available...several species of roaches (hissers, lobsters, dubias (or something like that), orange head, and others I just can't recall off hand). Then there are the all standard crickets. Mealworms, superworms, hornworks (sometimes called goliath worms) wax worms, butterworms and sometimes locusts are available. Phoenix worms are good too, especially for smaller insect eaters.
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PHLdyPayne

Yeah, thanks. Actually though,I meant that insects are a more convenient food for HUMANS. I mean, they're easier to breed, they have more nutrients, the only problem is that they are apparantly unattractive.

Insects for humans are not more nutritious...they do have nutrition but definitely in the long run, not a complete solution. Besides, it wouldn't be cost effective to change our beef/chicken diets to crickets and hornworms.

In cultures that do eat insects as part of their diet, most are very large compared to typical feeder insects. Also many are rather seasonal and eaten when plentiful.

Humans do eat far too much in volume and far too poor in quality for the most part in North America. It also doesn't help that so much crap is added to food, such as excess salt and sugar, to the point even a proper portion of food would already have far too much sodium than we need. We also eat far too much convenience foods, like fast food, processed meats, 'ready in 5 minutes' type foods, etc. which often are not nutritionally sound and contain high levels of sodium.

We would be far healthier if we eat the greens commonly fed to bearded dragons and iguanas supplemented with some meat which has no salt added. A little salt can be added as seasoning when cooked, but I really don't think all the salt added in the meat when it leaves the packaging plant is necessary. Seasoned chicken breasts just means soaked in very salty water for a period of time.
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PHLdyPayne

Your sources must be different than mine, but it is true, they have more relatively. Most people think that's false because they eat larger amounts of meat to make up for it, getting a lot of unwanted fats and stuff as well. Unless you're eating something like waxworms or rhino beetle larvae, insects are better. They are also cheaper to raise. You can raise WAY more crickets than cows, they use up less resources, they cost less initially, and you can produce enough to equal a piece of steak for a human in a short time. You also have a wide variety of species.I know what I'm talking about. And you are correct about your last 2 paragraphs, but were they really necessary? Sorry if I'm being rude, I just don't really enjoy going off track.