Caterpillar

[Toria Dawn]

I was outside with Royal, watching him of course in his outside enclosure. A brown, not hairy almost worm-like caterpillar dropped out of the tree and before I could get it out of the enclosure, he mowed it down!!! I don't think there are many poisonous caterpillars in Alberta, and from what I quickly googled, they'd e hairy, or spiny ones. But I'm still worried!! Should I just keep my eye on him? What in particular should I be looking for if he did eat something bad??

[Dakota]

I couldn't find anything from Alberta, but here is something close.. British Columbia. http://dpic.org/faq/caterpillars

I would try and find exactly what species the caterpillar is using a dichotomous key, and see if it has any poisonous hairs/stringer.

[Logancrook]

Even if its not a poisonous caterpillar it could still be harmful. Wild caterpillars may be exposed to parasites or bacteria that are found naturally were you live but are harmful to blueys. They aren't native so they don't have the immunity to these parasites or bacteria. I'd keep a close watch on Royal and if things start going bad, take her to a vet. With that said though, she may be perfectly fine.

[Toria Dawn]

Thanks guys. Right now Royal is acting totally normal and not exhibiting any of the (albeit human) symptoms of eating a poisonous caterpillar. If he were to get a parasite or bacterial reaction, what symptoms would I look for? I'm assuming lethargy and/or runny poop?

[Lea]

Thanks guys. Right now Royal is acting totally normal and not exhibiting any of the (albeit human) symptoms of eating a poisonous caterpillar. If he were to get a parasite or bacterial reaction, what symptoms would I look for? I'm assuming lethargy and/or runny poop?

Anything different to his normal behaviour would be considered abnormal. It's unlikely that he'll get any ill effects, particularly if there aren't any known poisonous forms in your location.

Parasites may be a problem, but again, it will most likely take a little time to manifest itself. If you are concerned about parasites, a faecal screening can be done by your vet to determine whether he has an infestation and take it from there.

As for bacterial infection, it's just as likely as when any food is ingested. Unless the caterpillar was physically soiled, the risk of bacterial infection would be as with any food item. Because of the short life cycle of caterpillars in general, usually a week to at most, a month, the risk of them coming into contact with a bacteria would already be minimal, particularly given that their lifestyle would have them mainly on vegetation, which would generally not support bacterial replication and not be an ideal environment to harbour disease for anything other than a short period.

My biggest concern here would be if pesticides or herbicides had been used in the area the caterpillar had been "living". Nothing much can be done now, except to see if anything happens. You could talk to your vet, but there would unlikely be any prophylactic treatment you could give just in case of this and they will instead wait and treat any symptoms accordingly.