First of all I want to say hi to everyone on here. I have been looking at this forum for 6 months now before I regestered. I am trying to get all the knowledge I can on Bearded Dragons before I buy one. So far I think I have the basics but I just want to be sure, I dont want to jump right in. Well what is really disturbing to me is that I have a friend here at work that lives in a very old run down building (very common in NYC), and her neighbor feeds his BD the roaches in his apt!!!!!! I was toooooo disgusted at that, I know that is very harmful to his BD but he says hey its free food. I wish I knew of a place I can call to report him but I have no clue on that. I offered to take his BD and get it checked out and get it on it's proper diet, but he refuses, he says she is fine and he has been doing this for 2 years. It's just utterly disgusting to me. My question I have for everyone is if I find a place to call someone on him will they actually be able to take his BD from him just for that reason? I want to report him to someone but I dont know if that is a valid reason. I would hate for this poor BD to get some disease all because he is an idiot.

call just saying you concerned and they'll send someone out. as for how, do you have animal abuse? control? or doesn't NY have ASPCA? and as for the roaches people feed roaches to their bd's. im only worried about what might be in the roaches. if they have aprasites, or have been eating rotten food.

As disgusting as it might be to us, the roaches, assuming they have not been exposed to pesticides are fine for the dragon to eat. To the dragon it is just another bug. However the question of pesticides or other chemicals does raise a concern.
They do also need to be fed veggies.
In light of all the recent bans on exotics in NY and NYC it may not even be legal to own one there anymore. I am just not up on it.
You might contact your local department of wildlife, or animal control regarding the current state of ordinances in your area.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

That is disgusting! Just picturing those huge dirty black disguting NYC roaches makes me want to vomit. Poor Dragon, But honestly I think theres nothing you can really do about it. Those wild life places dont really care too much about lizards. Now if it was a dog you were talking about then I think they would go and check it out like 6 months later. Like Merlin said BD can eat roaches, even though the one he's feeding him are unhealthy. As sad as it seems I think you really cant do anything for him

Roaches are a common feeder. Easy to breed, fast to grow, and most people say they smell alot less than crickets. However I doubt the ones that your friends dragon are eating are ideal, commercial or amateur raised roaches are gut loaded to ensure the best nutrition for the predator. It may be very gross to think of your pet eating roaches but roaches will probably be just as available as crickets and worms one day.

Does he have a UV light for the dragon? Or does he supplement the roaches with Calcium?

All I know so far is that he just catches then in his house and feeds them to his BD. That to me is sooooooo nasty just thinking of what these nasty ol bugs were feeding on. I think she said he does dust them. I seen his enclosure once and it has all the proper lighting and everything, but that to me just does not sound right. I know there are roaches that you can buy to feed BD's and other lizards, but they are not filled with disease and germs like these common city roaches. I dont think he has even taken her to the vet since he had her (two years). He just says she is doing fine. Who knows she might be, she looks good, but those roaches cannot be good for her. And to think he actually picks those grimey things up to collect them to feed her. I cant even stand to look at them much less touch them.

LoL... oh well theres nothing you can really do but prey, lol. So when are you getting you dragons? There great Pets, i have 3 babies 1 month old , but there pretty big already. I want the to grow into huge colorfull creatures...

It is nice that you are concerned. Just because it makes you sick doesn't mean it is wrong for him to do this. I wouldn't do it but I can't impose my ways on someone else. If he says she is fine and the dragon's stools look ok, it may be perfectly fine. It is one of those situations that can go either way. Good Luck

Welcome to HC Petlover, glad you could join us, its good your watching out for this guys BD, his home must be infested to be able to feed her these roaches, but I don't know what its like where you say he lives, I don't know if thats a natural enviroment for his area, sounds horrible, does he feed her veggies, BDs eat bugs so I guess there isn't a lot you can do if the BD is ok and is healthy, maybe you could persuade the guy to get a fecal done to make sure shes free of internal parasites...

Hello,
Welcome to Herp Center. I too express your concern and the "disgusting" factor associated with it.

Four species of cockroach are common pests in New York: the German cockroach, American cockroach, oriental cockroach, and brownbanded cockroach.

Even without having been exposed to pesticides, some roaches just shouldn't be fed to reptiles or other animals. Some common roaches feed on the secretions of other roaches. They also eat glue and other things that could be toxic. Waste bi-products are also a concern as roaches don't know the difference and will eat just about anything. (Including each other.)

I would highly doubt that a Dragon being fed a staple of household roaches would not have the presence of parasites of some sort in its system.

It isn't healthy for humans and it certainly isn't healthy for Dragons. The human bred species of roaches are fed a diet and are often kept as pets. Since they have not been exposed to excrement from other animals, sewers, drains, etc., they are less likely to carry bacteria that could cause harm. Their environments are controlled, so they can be used for a safe feeding supplement.

Household roaches should not be fed to reptiles. I wish I knew how you could go about dealing with this, but I haven't got a clue. The best I can think of is to contact your local humane society and express your concerns. Hopefully they will look into it. However, all he has to do is deny that he has fed household roaches to his Dragon and all is lost.