Box Elder

[mwh9]

Does anyone know if these are a safe T food? Besides the outdoor, pesticide thing. There are thousands of these around here at different times of the year.
Here is a pic. They have a bright red stripe on the fringes of their back and are red on the under side. The rest of them are black.
Here is a link to them also. http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1INSECTS/boxelder.html
It is possible that they taste bad, not sure if a T would care.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Don't feed those. They are naturally poisonous. I don't know the scientific name. I have heard a bunch of common names. Shield bugs/stink bugs.

 

[cacoseraph]

i fed what i tentatively id'ed as some kind of box-elder-esque bug to a C. cyaneopubescens ~3"dls and it was taken and the GBB went on to succesfully mature.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I was under the impression those things were not eaten by anything because one they smell bad and two they were poisonous.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I was under the impression those things were not eaten by anything because one they smell bad and two they were poisonous.

Might be you have to distinguish between spiders/ants and birds/lizzards? :?

 

[Talkenlate04]

Maybe so. I just know in my area there are tons of those everywhere and I don't know of anything that eats them. Some smell so nasty. It's a good defense I must admit.

 

[Lorgakor]

One reason not to feed wild caught bugs is that many of them could have some kind of internal parasite that might be passed on to your pet. I'm sure many people do without any problems, but I personally would not.

 

[mwh9]

Thanks everyone, the only thing that I could find was that they are supposed to taste bad, that was why birds, etc., would not eat them.

 

[Stylopidae]

I generally tell people that feeding any sort of bug that displays any form of warning coloration is a bad idea.

Feeding wc prey is bad enough, but feeding bugs that can walk around colored like a nightclub in broad daylight without fear of getting eaten is even worse.

It's not worth the risk for convience.

 

[JakeLeg]

One reason not to feed wild caught bugs is that many of them could have some kind of internal parasite that might be passed on to your pet.

Do you know of anyone to whom this has happened?

 

[Stylopidae]

Do you know of anyone to whom this has happened?

The only problems I've had with parasites came from captive bred feeder crickets. I've never fed WC.

Others have had parasite problems from CB mealworms.

In the wild, animals are exposed to many more parasites than the captive bred feeder crickets are.

That being said, yes...there are a few accounts of parasites from WC prey items. The latest one being in a thread started by a member named Dark Raptor in the True Spiders and Other Arachnids section and titled You never know what's inside or something similar.

Things like this aren't exactly meticulously kept track of, though. There are probably more.

Bio-accumulation of pesticides and other toxins are a pretty big concern, too.

 

[TheBeautyOf8]

my spider is too precious to take that risk so i wouldnt