Can bearded dragons eat daddy long legs and other spiders?
Yes, beardies can eat common house spiders like daddy-long-legs, but regularly feeding these pests to your dragon isn’t a good idea. These eight-legged pests don’t have sufficient nutrients for your dragon and could even cause some health risks.
As a bearded dragon’s master, you must know what makes spiders harmful to these reptiles.
So, I collected some helpful information about these common household pests, like if your beardy can eat one spider occasionally. I also included some points on selecting suitable bugs to feed your little reptile. And what to do if something they ate caused your pet to get sick.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Daddy Long Legs and Other Household Spiders?
Bearded dragons can eat daddy-long legs as they love to prey on different bugs. However, don’t feed spiders to your dragon regularly because these critters don’t have all the nutrients to fulfill the reptile’s needs. Moreover, spiders and other wild bugs may harm your pet, as most of them have a lot of parasites and pesticides.
For example, you may have sprayed pesticides in some parts of your home, covering a daddy-long-leg. Eating this eight-legged pet may thus poison your scaly pet and cause a severe ailment or even death.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Other Bugs in Your Home?
Beardies can also eat other household bugs like crickets, cockroaches, and worms.
However, don’t regularly feed them to your reptilian friend as they may also carry harmful parasites and pesticides, similar to spiders. You must even avoid feeding them wild bugs.
Here’s a video of a bearded dragon eating daddy-long-legs
What Bugs Can You Feed to Your Bearded Dragons?
As mentioned above, it’s unsafe to feed household and wild bugs to your beardy. Thus, you must only feed them with feeders you can purchase from pet shops.
These bug feeders are free from harmful pesticides and parasites that may harm your reptile. Moreover, pet stores have various bug feeders, so you can pick some that suit your scaly friend’s needs.
For example, crickets are perfect for dragons as these bugs contain sufficient calcium and protein. You may also put some Dubia roaches in your pet’s tank to stimulate their hunting instinct.
However, remember that young beardies need more insects and fewer plants to fulfill their protein requirement while growing. On the other hand, adult reptiles need more plants but fewer bugs in their diet.
What to Do if Your Bearded Dragon Eats a Wild or Household Bug?
While you shouldn’t include household and wild bugs in your reptile’s diet, beardies may still randomly eat these critters in your home. For instance, suppose you let your dragon out of its enclosure for a while.
It may spot and swallow a daddy-long leg, and you won’t be able to do anything about it. However, don’t panic and instead remember these points for your beardy’s safety:
1. Determine if the Bug is Poisonous
Recall what critter your dragon has eaten and determine if it’s poisonous or not. Deadly bugs, like some bees, are generally the most harmful pests your dragon can swallow. The poison can spread in your pet’s body from the inside and cause complications.
As a rule of thumb, most poisonous bugs have bright-colored markings on their body. You may also look for pictures and information on the internet about the particular pest your reptile has eaten.
2. Observe Your Pet’s Behaviors
As your pet’s master, you know its behaviors well. So, observe your pet within 24 hours and notice signs of discomfort, like body discoloration, weakening, and unusual bowel movements.
3. Consult a Vet
Bring your beardy to the vet if you notice it experiences any discomfort after eating a bug. They can also help even if you haven’t seen any symptoms in your pet. The pet specialist will perform tests to verify the reptile’s health condition.
Follow the pet doctor’s advice to help your reptile recover.
What Parasites Harm Bearded Dragons?
As mentioned above, household and wild bugs may carry parasites that could harm your scaly friend. Thus, it’s vital to know more about these parasites to spot the symptoms they may cause to your pet.
You might be interested in Can Bearded Dragons Eat Honeysuckle?
1. Mites and Ticks
It’s rare for beardies to acquire mite and tick infestation, but it’s still possible to happen with your pet.
You will see mites and ticks as tiny dots moving around your pet’s scales. They favor sensitive spots like the armpits, near the eyes, and nostrils.
These parasites cause exterior irritation on the reptile, so you may notice your dragon frequently scratching its skin. In severe cases, the irritation causes a dragon to lose its appetite.
2. Intestinal Parasites
These common parasites live and grow in the intestines of their hosts, like pinworms, hookworms, and tapeworms.
Each has different behaviors while staying in its host’s body, like hookworms that love to feed on blood. However, they usually cause similar symptoms like diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, and depression.
On a side note, most of these parasites may infect other animals and humans. So, always wash your hands before and after handling your scaly friend.
3. Parasitic Protozoans
Other common parasites are protozoans or single-celled organisms like coccidia and flagellates. While these parasites are microscopic, they can cause severe health problems for your reptile and other pets.
These microbes usually spread from one animal to another or through contaminated feces, water, and food. And they may cause symptoms like diarrhea, reduced appetite, and mucus and blood in the stools.
Summary
So, can bearded dragons eat daddy long legs and other household pests?
Yes, beardies can eat these spiders, but you must leave them out of your pet’s regular diet. Instead, only give them feeders you can buy from reliable pet shops. It’s to keep your reptile safe from health problems that pesticides and parasites can cause.
However, your scaly pet can still eat these nasty critters accidentally, especially when you let them out of their tank for a moment. So, pay attention to your dragon’s behavior, and consult a vet if you notice unusual behaviors or symptoms.
