I was watching a moth flutter around our den today when it made the unfortunate decision to enter our beardie’s home. It ended as expected for the moth. I mentioned it to my daughter, and she said she has seen him gobble down a housefly as well.
We don’t spray pesticides in or around our home, so I am not worried in that sense. But, being that the dragon’s native land is halfway around the globe, is there a dietary concern, perhaps?
Only concern I would have are possible parasites. Do you not have a screen over your cage?
House flies are not toxic to reptiles, but some other insects are, including certain types of butterfly or moth. Fireflies are deadly to bearded dragons. I’d recommend insect-proofing your beardie’s cage with some screen. That way you can control what he is eating.
If houseflies are not toxic then what about the things they feed on? Flies can taste with their feet so if they are on feces then that would mean they have some amount of it on them. So what if for example the feces that they were on had some sort of parasite or something else that could cause harm if another animal ingested the fly?
Definitely. This is a problem with any WC prey: parasites and bacteria. I do not recommend that any captive reptile be fed wild prey of any kind.