No. it is not okay for a bearded dragon to eat stink bugs. Stink bugs are semi-poisonous to bearded dragons. Asides from making bearded dragons sick stink bugs can cause the death of bearded dragons.
Stink bugs contain some toxic compounds that can be damaging to the health of bearded dragons. Stink bugs can cause vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea in reptiles, and some respiratory severe and dermatitis problems.
Eating stink bugs can cause impaction in bearded dragons. Your dragon, after eating stink bugs, may find it difficult to digest the bug, therefore making it quite challenging to defecate or eat. The only way out of this may require the assistance of a vet to help your bearded dragon in passing out the stink bugs.
Can My Bearded Dragon Eat Stink Bugs?
It is not a relatively bright idea to get your bearded dragon to eat stink bugs. It is not recommended for bearded dragons to eat wild bugs as you may likely not have any idea where these bugs have been and what kind of parasites they are carrying.
You should instead not feed your bearded dragons with stink bugs. Stink bugs are known to carry pesticides and other parasites on their exo- skeleton, and they are considered highly resistant to pesticides; the rate that your beardies will get toxic is higher when they feed on stink bugs.
ALSO SEE: Do Cats Eat Roaches?
My Bearded Dragon Ate A Stink Bug; what To Do?
If your bearded dragon just ate a stink bug, it may not be that much of a trouble, not unless the bug was carrying a parasite. If that’s the case, then you should pay much closer attention to your bearded dragon; if you notice your bearded dragon has an upset stomach, get some probiotics like nondairy acidophilic or nondairy organic soy yogurt.
You can also administer activated charcoal to your bearded dragon as quickly as possible to try and prevent it from absorbing most of the poisons.
Another method is to make a green smoothie out of kale, turnip greens, parsley, and watercress, get the mixture to it by syringing.
Additionally, you can also help by giving your bearded dragons baths frequently to aid them in digesting and getting the bug out of their system.
Pay attention to some of the sick symptoms like running feces, loss of appetite and coloring, dehydration, wrinkled and sunken eyes, lack of wastes. Take your bearded dragon to the Vet immediately you notice the symptoms above and prevent your bearded dragon from eating stink bugs in the future.
ALSO SEE: Do Spiders Eat Roaches?
How to Prevent My Beardie from Eating Stink Bugs
Although it’s not relatively easy to prevent your beardie from eating stink bugs, you can take precautions to this effect.
It isn’t always possible to prevent your bearded dragon from finding and eating a stink bug, but you can employ ways of lowering the possibility of it happening. Some of the things you can do to prevent your bearded dragon from eating stink bugs include:
- Monitor the movement of your bearded dragon, most especially when they are not in their cage, do not let them wander about without supervision.
- Make sure your home is devoid of cracks that will let stink bugs, seal your windows with caulk, fix your screens and keep your home clean in general.
- Prevent stink bugs from flying into your bearded dragon’s cage by keeping the screen or mesh on the cell if a stink bug finds its way into your house.
- In the winter, stink bugs are always looking for a warm environment to st. Toto prevents your bearded dragon from eating stink bugs; you must avoid areas where stink bugs are more populous.
- Another great way of preventing your bearded dragon from eating stink bugs is to grow catnips either inside or outside the house. You can as generously sprinkle them where you have noticed bug activities. Catnips prevent bugs from hanging around your home, let alone getting in it.
- Vacuum any stink bugs you find around your home and throw them out.
- Make a spray out of the water, dishwasher, and lavender oil to be spraying around the house, window sills, in and outside the place, most especially in areas you must have noticed stink bugs; this will deter stink bugs from hanging around your home.
- Please make use of insecticides, but only outside the home, and do pay more close attention to your bearded dragons so they don’t eat stink bugs you have sprayed, as this can likely get them infected. Although using insecticides is not recommended.
List of Other Things Bearded Will Eat In Your Home
Bearded dragons can eat a wide range of mealworms, crickets, sweet potato, pepper, leafy green; they can also eat limited amounts of food.
Bearded dragons are not picky eaters; they will make do with anything you get to feed them with. This attitude of not being too picky makes keeping bearded dragons not too expensive.
To keep your pet beard is dragon healthy, you should feed them a variety of foods, and young beardies should be fed different diets.
It is also of utmost importance to change a beardies diet as they continue to grow.
Listed below are some of the things your bearded dragon will most likely eat in your home; they are:
- Ants and beetles.
- Dubia Roaches, super worms, crickets, and earthworms.
- Kale, dandelion greens, and collard greens.
- Fruits like grapes, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and watermelons.
The foods listed above are exceptionally nutritious to bearded dragons.
The correct diet for a bearded dragon should contain a mixture of protein, vegetables, greens, and fruits.
Giving your bearded dragon a balanced diet will help in their growth, and it’s very vital for their health.
Young bearded dragons tend to increase; that is why they need protein more in their diets.
The ratio of food to give then in terms of protein to greens, vegetables, and fruits should be 75/25. I.e., they should be fed 75% insects and greens should be 25%.
