Katydid care?

[Jimbob]

I occassionally find large katydids in my yard here in PA. Not sure of the exact species, I'll have to look more into it. They are the big green ones, some are a little smaller(males?) And some are large and look like a green leaf with their wings(female?).

I was wondering if anyone has bred these? I'd assume they are illegal to ship, but if i think it is okay if collect them locally and raise them just as feeders for my chameleon? If so, does anybody have some good info on how to care for them? I was thinking a reptibreeze with some substrate and branches, hanging some leafy greens for them to eat. Not sure what wild leaves they feed on, oak/maple maybe? We have tons of different plants and trees here... I also have raspberry, blackberry, rose, grape, and hibiscus(rose of sharon type I believe) growing here.

Would love to get a little colony of these guys going, they are very cool looking and make perfect feeders for picky chams!

 

[chanda]

I have not kept them long-term or tried breeding them, but I have kept my local katydids for short periods (usually only a few weeks) before releasing then.

They do well in a large soft-sided or screened enclosure with good ventilation. For food I've used assorted leaves, including blackberry, maple, and rose. They seem to really like rose - I find them munching the rose bushes in my garden. I just cut a branch and put it in water in the cage, to keep the leaves fresh, and change the leaves every few days (when they start to dry out).

 

[Jimbob]

Cool, thank you. I guess I'll try some different foods to see what they like. My understanding is they lay eggs on branches, so I put some twigs I had laying around in there. Going to add a mist nozzle too.

 

[Gogyeng]

Maybe of some help
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ke...nd-tettigonidae-katydids.321480/#post-2948595