My beardie decided to eat a wild worm, now what??

[Wonderful Lizard of Oz]

My juvenile beardie, Oz, was out playing today after some rainy weather and he snatched up a few earth worms that were traveling together before I could move to grab him! From what I found wild worms could be toxic because of pesticides or weed killer but we haven't used any in quite a while. I'm still worried for him! Should I take him to a vet or is there something else I can do? Will he get sick?

 

[smaugthebeardie3756]

Good thing is earthworms themselves aren't toxic and are actually pretty healthy. Some others might have more info, but I would say watch for signs of distress or changes in behavior. If you haven't used any pesticides or herbicides in a while he'll probably be alright, but you never know where else the earthworms have been that they might have picked something up. Don't beat yourself up about it though, things happen. These little guys are quick and have a mind of their own for sure.

 

[Wonderful Lizard of Oz]

Good thing is earthworms themselves aren't toxic and are actually pretty healthy. Some others might have more info, but I would say watch for signs of distress or changes in behavior. If you haven't used any pesticides or herbicides in a while he'll probably be alright, but you never know where else the earthworms have been that they might have picked something up. Don't beat yourself up about it though, things happen. These little guys are quick and have a mind of their own for sure.

Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it! I'll definitely be keeping a better eye on him outside, if I blink too slowly he'll be out investigating something new. I'll invest in an outside tent for him so this doesn't happen again

 

[AHBD]

Earthworms are actually a healthy food for reptiles + amphibians and it's almost zero chance that they have enough pesticide residue on them to cause any problem. There's a chance that the earthworms might carry some other sort of parasite but I wouldn't worry unless you see changes in your dragon's poo or activity level. The next poo may look different though so don't be alarmed.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, earthworms should have relatively little chance of having too many pesticides. A lot of
people use clean earthworms for feeders for their dragons, too. I think he will be just fine.

Tracie