Where are you getting them from, or is it just exclusive to you? I really want one of these.
There's not very much info out there from what I could gather, but access to food I believe is relatively important. They're going to need to eat relatively often, probably on par with mantids. I'm also curious as to where you found these, very cool!
I'm getting them from a guy in Orange County via a Craigslist ad: https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/for/6124352915.html
Thanks! I appreciate the suggestion. I was planning on putting cork slabs or tubes in for them, so hopefully that will meet their requirements. How much height do they need? For feeders I have fruit flies, dubia nymphs, and crickets - and will probably add a cup of mealworms for easier feedings when I go out of town in a couple of weeks and my husband has to take care of everything for me. The arachnids are generally pretty easy to care for - and can even be largely neglected for a couple of weeks at a time, as long as he fills water dishes a couple of times a week. It's the mantises, assassin bugs, and katydids that I'm worried about!
Yeah, they're going to need to eat a lot. I'll have to leave them in my husband's care for about two and a half weeks, so I hope he's up for the challenge!
Do make sure to umm er force your husband to do research on these guys as well, I have had to many incidents of family or petsitters claiming they are ready and able to care for an animal only to return to said animal being either sick, under fed and dehydrated in the best of cases, the worst cases were an animal died because said person was too scared to deal with it or it's food.
He's not afraid to deal with them. While the inverts (and the snake and the alligator lizard) are mine, he is comfortable dealing with them - at least mostly - and has no problem with the feeders (except for a little frustration with me when a few of the stupid dubias escaped! I thought the darned things weren't supposed to be able to climb glass or smooth plastic?!?) He's taken care of my pets for me every time I go out of town - which is usually 2-3 times a year - but the last time around he was not quite as conscientious as usual about keeping everything fed/watered. No casualties, fortunately - but it does have me a little nervous about my upcoming trip as I'll be gone for nearly 3 weeks!Do make sure to umm er force your husband to do research on these guys as well, I have had to many incidents of family or petsitters claiming they are ready and able to care for an animal only to return to said animal being either sick, under fed and dehydrated in the best of cases, the worst cases were an animal died because said person was too scared to deal with it or it's food.
I think that'll be fine. I usually try to have the vertical height around twice the length of the molter, but if you're shorter I think they'll work through it without too much hassle. Those should all make excellent feeders for them. As they get larger they'll be a lot more robust too, so there's a smaller chance of any of them dying. I'd probably recommend power feeding them early on so you can get a couple molts out of them first before you leave. Humidity might be a bit of a factor, but I don't know what they like.
Given that one of their common names is "Greater Arid Land Katydid" and they are a desert/scrub species, I don't anticipate humidity being much of an issue. The room where I keep all my inverts has a small humidifier running 24/7 which keeps ambient humidity around 50-60 percent, then I mist or add water to cages for those that need more than that. My various desert species seem to do just fine like that, with minimal fuss and only the occasional misting. I do plan on power-feeding them to start - the seller was also recommending that - because I want them to be at least a little bit impressive by the end of June when I'll be showing them to my students.
Great price. I don't live in CA, so I can't get them if he doesn't want to ship.
Yeah, these do live in arid places (albeit the more humid parts).
Where did you get them from?
It was a guy in Orange County who had them listed on Craigslist. I ended up not getting them, though - I wasn't able to coordinate my schedule with his at a time when he had some available. If he's still raising them and lists some for sale again this spring, I may try again.