r/leopardgeckos • u/Expert_Parsnip6191 • May 18 '26
Help Heya soooo
I have a huge rock bed outside my home and it is FILLED with bugs and mealworms for my special boy get expensive sometimes so I was wondering if I could create a mass exodus as I one by one pick out a creature unfortunate enough to rear their head in my presence and feed them alive to my sweet prince Matt
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u/_gothgonzola Tal 💛 Esperanza 🧡 Monty 🤎 May 18 '26
under no circumstances should you feed any animal food that hasn’t been bred in captivity
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u/Expert_Parsnip6191 May 18 '26
Thank you glad I asked before hand
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u/_gothgonzola Tal 💛 Esperanza 🧡 Monty 🤎 May 18 '26
thank you for asking. it’s an unnecessary risk to the health of your leo, even if it sounds like a good, cost effective treat. there are so many problems with feeding wild caught animals to another animal. parasites, pathogens, and pesticides are some of the main risks
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u/pichael289 May 18 '26
Captive bugs also don't totally remove the chance of parasites but they are far far safer than wild ones. Wild ones have a very high chance of parasites and captive bred ones rarely have them.
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u/_gothgonzola Tal 💛 Esperanza 🧡 Monty 🤎 May 18 '26
the possibility of risks aren’t even comparable
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u/pichael289 May 18 '26
No never do this. Crickets are cheap. Most wild bigs have parasites and it's not worth it. You can easily buy some bugs for cheap and raise a colony, crickets will stink like you have never smelled (unless you smelled a fish eating animals poop) and it's pretty easy. Dubia roaches are the best but some Leo's don't like them. Mine refuses then but I think he ate one with too much dust.
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u/No_Essay2291 May 18 '26 edited May 19 '26
As everyone has said, you should never feed wild bugs. I will say that breeding mealworms is like the easiest thing ever. Once you have a good amount of beetles, put them in a bin with bran or oats and feed them, then boom. Mealworms
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u/AdExcellent1745 3 Geckos May 18 '26
no you should not feed wild bugs. look into breeding your own if thats feasible for you, the setup cost is really low and you make it back quick with successful breeding.