wild caught food?

[jurme]

is it OK to feed a leopard gecko the bugs that are founding crawling around the house, like spiders and what not?

 

[JordanAng420]

Errr. I wouldn't I live in apartment complex where they're CONSTANTLY spraying for insects, and treating the lawn and surrounding plants with all kinds of chemicals. It's not a great idea, IMHO.

 

[Srt14292]

Im with Maia, bugs found outside are more likely to have come into contact with pesticides, its way too risky I think.
Im more then happy breeding my own when I do. Or just going to buy some, atleast you know they are safe.

 

[Kolkri]

I wouldn't either.

 

[LizMarie]

Big NO, NO...

 

[STUTFL]

Even without pesticides, parasites, etc., there's the possibility (strong likelihood, with something like spiders) that the bugs are poisonous, aggressive, etc. and will harm your leo even without any outside contamination. My little guy did occasionally get wild crickets from the huge field out back with his old owners - but even that was iffy, and those were an accepted feeder species.
I did halfway consider it when I had no way to get food for him, but he did just fine off tail fat until I managed to get some mealies mailed.

 

[got spots?]

I made a post similar to this. I would not EVER feed wild caught bugs. Maybe if you breed them and then breed the babies its ok.

 

[Taquiq]

I wouldn't do that. They can still pass on diseases.

 

[leo737]

Has anyone ever had a leo get sick from feeding wild/house caught feeders? Not saying I would/plan to do this. Just am curious if anyone could speak with first hand experience of trouble.

 

[MichaelJ]

Definitely not a good idea -- you would run the risk of your gecko getting sick or seriously ill. Not worth it, in my opinion. You can get healthy mealworms online, delivered to your door, for cheap! No reason to even try wild bugs anyway.

 

[Tony C]

Wild bugs can be good for a little variety, but make sure they are pesticide free, and you may want to run routine fecals to monitor parasite loads.

 

[STUTFL]

Just out of curiosity, how can you know they haven't been in contact with pesticides?

 

[prettyprincess3690]

I'd just be safe and buy bugs from online, I'm WAY too much of a worry wart to even risk the health of my girls!

 

[Vision Geckos]

Even if there were someway to justify the bugs' cleanliness/health, I really can't imagine that the time you would put in to catch the outside bugs is more efficient than buying a few dozen crickets. $3.00 for 30 crickets whereas you spend how many countless hours catching them outside? I can understand cutting costs, no problem. If that's what you're after, start a mealworm colony. That's what I did and now I save like 20 bucks a month.

 

[Tony C]

Just out of curiosity, how can you know they haven't been in contact with pesticides?

Collect from an area that you know is not treated with pesticides. Dart frog keepers commonly feed collected termites and springtails, and often use collected leaf litter to introduce other edible microfauna. Like many other potential dangers, the danger from wild feeders is way overblown by paranoid keepers. I don't bother with them any more because I don't have time to run around bug hunting, but I never had any trouble from collected moths, grasshoppers, or springtails when I did use them.

 

[sammer021486]

A trick for crickets is to take a loaf of bread, not sliced bread, but home made non-sliced style. Then hollow out the inside of the loaf, by creating a small hole in one end of the loaf. The crickets or other bugs will crawl inside the loaf and stay there eating the loaf.

 

[STUTFL]

Collect from an area that you know is not treated with pesticides. Dart frog keepers commonly feed collected termites and springtails, and often use collected leaf litter to introduce other edible microfauna. Like many other potential dangers, the danger from wild feeders is way overblown by paranoid keepers. I don't bother with them any more because I don't have time to run around bug hunting, but I never had any trouble from collected moths, grasshoppers, or springtails when I did use them.

I live in town, in an apartment - pretty sure most of the bugs around here have a good chance of having come in contact with pesticides.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Not worth the risk IMO

 

[Samantha]

the bugs can have parisites too