HELP! k2 ate lady bugs

[Shawn Raquel]

Ladybugs must have hatched and they are everywhere, dudes eating them! What do i do? I've reed conflicting things.. Poisonous not poisonous... Help!

 

[carol5208]

I am not sure if anyone knows for a fact they are poisonous. There was a member who had a perfectly healthy chameleon that was put in an outdoor enclosure, ate a bunch of lady bugs and then died unfortunately. The owner attributed the death to the lady bugs. I hope they were wrong and maybe the chameleon really was sick and it was a coincidence. If they are poisonous, I am not sure what you can do. Sorry, I cannot be of more help.

 

[chefboyardee]

they have an alkaloid based toxin they release from their knees that is foul smelling and tasting (I dont know that second part from personal experience). Most animals know enough after the first few bugs to stop eating them, and I think your cham would have to eat A LOT to get a significant enough dose of the toxin. Most large animals are relatively unaffected by the toxin unless they eat a large dose, its supposed to serve as a deterrent to teach the animal not to eat more ladybugs as opposed to killing them outright

simple answer, yes

 

[Shawn Raquel]

Okay, thanks for the input. I didn't see him eat one he just had that caught with your hand in the cookie jar look going on and they were everywhere! Watching him, seems to be acting normally, always find something wrong tho, so paranoid!

 

[djfishygillz]

they have an alkaloid based toxin they release from their knees that is foul smelling and tasting (I dont know that second part from personal experience). Most animals know enough after the first few bugs to stop eating them, and I think your cham would have to eat A LOT to get a significant enough dose of the toxin. Most large animals are relatively unaffected by the toxin unless they eat a large dose, its supposed to serve as a deterrent to teach the animal not to eat more ladybugs as opposed to killing them outright

simple answer, yes

The name for what you explained is known as taste aversion learning. My psychology classes finally apply to lizards lol.

 

[chefboyardee]

The name for what you explained is known as taste aversion learning. My psychology classes finally apply to lizards lol.

I didnt even know there was a technical psych term for it, cool!