love bugs?

[ashleyelsha]

Are love bugs toxic to bearded dragons? Mine was eyeballing one today before I shied it away while we were outside.

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

In general you shouldn't let your beardie eat any bug from the outdoors, only bugs that have been specifically bred and raised as feeders. Bugs from the outdoors are highly likely to be packed with parasites. Hope that helps, good luck!

 

[morphmom]

In general you shouldn't let your beardie eat any bug from the outdoors, only bugs that have been specifically bred and raised as feeders. Bugs from the outdoors are highly likely to be packed with parasites. Hope that helps, good luck!

This is great advice. You also don't know if the bugs from outside have ingested an insecticide. This poses a very real risk to your BD's health.

 

[ashleyelsha]

ok, I never said I was going to intentionally feed my bearded dragon any bugs from outside. I know the risks of parasites and pesticides. The question I asked was if love bugs are toxic and nobody actually answered that question.

I would like to know if they are toxic in case my bearded dragon were to accidently ingest one. I don't know about yours, but when I take mine outside for a walk he tastes everything, including the grass. When he sits on my leg, he will taste my leg with his tongue sometimes. He tried to eat my wedding ring the other day when I reached in his cage to feed him. So you can see with him being very curious how I am concerned about what he might eat while exploring outside. I take him out on a leash and harness so that he can get natural sunlight a few days a week.

It's love bug season right now here in central florida and they are everywhere, so if we go outside it is quit possible he could ingest one before I got a chance to shoe it away. From what I have read, very few insectivors eat them because apparently they don't taste well. They have a ph level of 6.5 but apparently when they are killed they can become very acidic, I don't know if this would hold true if one were ingested and if the stomach acid would neutralize it or be more acidic.

So I would like to know if anyone knows if they are toxic or not. Because if they are toxic, I will keep him indoors during lovebug season.
Thank you

 

[randommonks]

The only bugs I've heard of that are toxic to bearded dragons are fireflies, so it would be safe to assume that lovebugs probably are not poisonous. Texas is having its own hoard of lovebugs so I know what you're going through. I routinely find them climbing all over me when I walk from my car to the store even :lol: