Attn: Is It Ok To Feed...?

Drachenjager

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
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Jan 23, 2006
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3,509
OK, hope this got your attention.
Anyway, there seems to be a rash of "Is it ok to feed (insert various wild caught things here) to my T?" threads recently
SOOOO
I decided to post this one.

I will answer all these Type questions here.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
do not feed wild caught ANYTHING to your T.
Its too risky. period.
Sure the ones in the wild will eat that big fat juicy grasshopper in your yard but then again most of the Ts in the wild DIE earlier than they would if there were not parasites and pesticides in the world.
You really don't know if that bug came from a toxic environment or not, or if it has a parasite that will harm your T or not.
So just don't.
 

crpy

Arachnoking
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Apr 19, 2008
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2,567
You know this is gonna be "controversial" Dragon fighter dude:D
 

Krazy Kat

Arachnoknight
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Jul 16, 2008
Messages
227
No wild caught feeders for your inverts.You post this today and there will four questions on the same subject on Monday.I think some people ask questions that they already know the answer to just to have a reason to start a thread.That's just my opinion..
 

Kid Dragon

Arachnoprince
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Feb 22, 2005
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That's right, I'm bad...

Its probably good advice not to feed wild caught and much better husbandry, but I feed wild caught anoles to my Ts and wild caught snakes to my cribo, and so far I've been lucky. It is probably not a good practice, but neither is jay walking, and I do that too. ;) kd
 

clam1991

Arachnoangel
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Jul 16, 2008
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971
i wild feed my ts sometimes and no probs yet

i think you should say just do it at your own risk
cuz if my ts die or get a parasite its my problem and im not going to blame it on anyone on here
 

Drachenjager

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
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Jan 23, 2006
Messages
3,509
i wild feed my ts sometimes and no probs yet

i think you should say just do it at your own risk
cuz if my ts die or get a parasite its my problem and im not going to blame it on anyone on here
actually what it is is you not giving a darn about the animals you chose to care for. What if you feed your dog toads or dart frogs , just because you can?

however, i have also fed WC feeders to some of my critters that were WC in the same area. untill i got them established and eating the ones i raised.

The point is giving advice other than NO is not responsible.
 

clam1991

Arachnoangel
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Jul 16, 2008
Messages
971
im not saying to say its ok
but its still up to them whether they take your advice or not
and i dont feed my dogs wild caught stuff but i bet they catch it on their own
i mean you can try and tell everyone not to but some people just do it cuz its how they are
 

bigdog999

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
191
I agree. I live in the city and know that anything WC may have been exposed to dangerous stuff. I caught wild mice in the basement this winter, but my snakes were not fed them for the same reason. It's not worth the risk.
 

SNAFU

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2007
Messages
438
I agree Drach. In my area there is a lot of farming so that big fat Katydid on the window screen may seem like a good snack for my one of my T's, but I don't know what it has been feeding on.
Then again, I have given my blondi a green anole I caught on the side of my house, ONCE. I don't make a habit of it as has been said, too risky.
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
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Jul 20, 2007
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5,357
im not saying to say its ok
but its still up to them whether they take your advice or not
and i dont feed my dogs wild caught stuff but i bet they catch it on their own
i mean you can try and tell everyone not to but some people just do it cuz its how they are
Not to be a pain or a jerk or whatever you want to call me, but you've only been a member for a month, clam. Drach has been here longer than me, and most if not all of us "experienced" (I would peg that term at around 5 years or more in the hobby) would say don't do it.

You've been here a month and you're saying it's ok.

Take it from experience, mmmk? But please don't post stuff like "I'm doing it" because your inexperience is going to rub off on all the other new folks here who actually do care about their animals.

I'm blunt. Sorry.
 

Hamburglar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
585
Good gravy... I cant imagine why I would want to go through the effort to "catch" something to feed my T's. It's about all the effort I can stand to open my roach bin and dig out the appropriate size. I would much rather take a casual stroll through my living room than tromp through the poison ivy invested jungles of Oklahoma...... in about 1,000,000% humidity I might add..

Oh, the inevitability of youth.... :)
 

dianedfisher

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
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Mar 14, 2007
Messages
330
I sure hope there is someone out in the wild monitoring the wild insect population and putting little "do not eat me" stickers on the suspect prey so the herp and inverterbrate populations can figure out what to avoid. Di
 

Tuwin

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
284
The point is understanding the risk...i think it's very clear. Now rather people want to do it or not is up to them. You can't tell someone not to do it all you can do is inform them...job well done.
 

Digby Rigby

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 5, 2005
Messages
150
Feeding wild caught prey

If you could ascertain that the wild caught items do not have pathogens or toxins or poisons that could be passed on to your animals then it could be okay, many chameleon keepers use "field sweepings" from areas that are away from pollutants and chemicals with no problems, however there is less chance of passing pathogens from invertebrates to reptiles than from invertebrate to invertebrate. If you feel you would like to use wild caught you would be better served catching the items from the wild and breeding them in captivity, then using the captive bred items as food and future breeders. Remember all feeder stock and pet stock originated from wild caught at some point. Captive bred katydids and grasshoppers make wonderful feeders.

Digby Rigby
 
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