Wild prey items.

[CosmicOwl]

I've read about people feeding wild insects to bearded dragons and chameleons to given then a greater variety of nutrients. And I've read about people feeding their snakes wild anoles/geckos, birds, eggs, and even road kill snakes(for snake eaters like kings and indigos). I want to know how you people feel about this. Do you think it can be done safely and is it possibly worth it to vary up a snake's diet in such a way?

[Minkness]

50+ years ago I don't think I'd mind wild insects, lizards, ect, but today, I'd be too worried about chemicals, pollution, and so on. Also depends on the insect if they may carry parasites and other nasty things.

There are SO many different insects that you can purchase clean and just breed yourself. All kinds of worms, roaches, flies, and even more odd ball insects like praying mantis nymphs. No idea on their nutrient value, but it's available all the same.

With my geckos I feed Super worms, wax worms, and dubia roaches. Have thought about silk worms but they are a bit more expensive than I'm willing to go right now. And I have NEVER fed crickets and have no issues. =)

[eminart]

I think it's something you have to be very careful with. But, I'm not opposed to doing it. As a falconer, I feed wild prey to my hawks all the time. What they catch is what they eat. It goes in the freezer and gets fed back to them. I've recently decided that I think I'm going to start collecting the fresh road-killed snakes I (and my friends who do more herping that I do) find, freezing them for at least a month, and feeding them to my Indigo as a way of varying his diet.

I would NOT feed any rodents collected near human houses, etc. or any insects collected in agricultural areas.

[shaunyboy]

as long as the wild prey has not been exposed to pesticides,etc, they are ok to feed to snakes mate



cheers shaun

[Bandit]

At my work we feed a couple of the snakes wild prey. However we only collect them from our land and there aren't any pesticides or anything like that. We really only do it for the racer and water snakes. We don't do it as a primary food source, but we supplement their diets with lizards, geckos, and frogs when we can.

[Akuma223]

As long as you are careful where you collect it go for it, I feed my garter snakes all kinds of different stuff. House geckos, tadpoles, earthworms, frogs, fish all wild caught to supplement their diet and keep things interesting for them when I have the chance.

[CosmicOwl]

I know the area where I would collect is free from pesticides, so I think I'm safe in that aspect. I was thinking about catching anoles and other invasive species that are threatening native wild life.

[Zoo Nanny]

Check first with your county or state to see if they use aerial spraying for mosquitoes. A good number of areas are now trying to keep the mosquito populations down to battle West Nile and Encephalitis. Even with a slight breeze the drift can take the pesticide into areas considered safe.