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yeah, i've got a lady bug problem in my house. they keep coming in. so i suddenly had an idea to feed them to my red ear slider. Is this a good idea? will it harm my turtle in any way?

If there have been pesticides or bug spray sprayed anywhere nearby (house/yard) I wouldn't feed insects that you find in your house or yard. As for ladybugs in general, I haven't heard either way. I wouldn't think it would hurt your RES but overfeeding protien will hurt him, so I wouldn't go crazy with feeding them(or other live prey) to him often for this reason.

Generally, the bright coloring of insects and other animals serves as a warning to predators that they are either poisonus or taste really bad. I know that when you crush a ladybug there is quite a bad odor and I'd venture to guess that they taste terrible.

We (our whole town) had a ladybug infestation a few years ago. There were so many that you could hardly go out the door without getting one in your mouth. I sprayed all entrances and windowframes with RAID and they'd drop dead on contact. It worked for several days just from the residue on the windows.

jenaero wrote:Generally, the bright coloring of insects and other animals serves as a warning to predators that they are either poisonus or taste really bad. I know that when you crush a ladybug there is quite a bad odor and I'd venture to guess that they taste terrible.

We (our whole town) had a ladybug infestation a few years ago. There were so many that you could hardly go out the door without getting one in your mouth. I sprayed all entrances and windowframes with RAID and they'd drop dead on contact. It worked for several days just from the residue on the windows.

i remember that too! though i wasn't sure if it was a whole town thing for us but i remembered specifically there was a year where trees in the back yard and park would look almost red because of all the lady bugs crawling around it! i think lady bugs are bad/nasty tasting too.. not sure if they're poisonous

jenaero wrote:Generally, the bright coloring of insects and other animals serves as a warning to predators that they are either poisonus or taste really bad. I know that when you crush a ladybug there is quite a bad odor and I'd venture to guess that they taste terrible...

Thanks, Jen. That's interesting to know. Ladybugs are just so cute, who would ever think they could be poisonous!

Ladybugs are also being confused with another similar-looking bug that originated in Japan (now an invasive pest--I've forgotten the name), and I vaguely remember that they are not something you'd not want your turtle to eat as well.

wow thanks for the replies guys. yeah i live in the GTA (ontario, canada). so i dont believe they are regular ladybugs. they're asian ladybugs or something. i did some research on them, and apparently after mating in late fall, they find hiding usually in homes to hibernate over the winter. then they go back out when it's spring.

but yeah, i wont feed any to my turtle. haha