New Article: Grasshoppers and Locusts as Herp Food and Terrarium Subjects

[findi]

Hi All,

Please check out: Breeding and Collecting Grasshoppers and Locusts

Comments and questions appreciated,

Thanks, Frank

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Bio: http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...logist-frank-indiviglio-to-that-reptile-blog/

 

[zonbonzovi]

Thanks for broaching the subject, Frank. There are a large number of natives that would make fascinating pets, if not feeders & I'm surprised there isn't at least a small cadre of eccentrics keeping & breeding them. Esp. predatory katydids or some of the large grasshoppers from the SW & SE.

 

[findi]

Thanks, I'm surprised as well...even zoos with insect collections do not do much. When I was stocking the Bx Zoo's exhibit many years ago I had to search far and wide, and it seems that not much has changed since. I did have predacious katydids there for a time - wild creatures, but could not find a steady source. Japan is the place for insect zoos - I was floored, but still, not all that many grasshoppers, etc. I'm in touch with someone here in NYC who keeps a few local tree cricket species, and the NY Entomological Society runs a nocturnal count at summer's end most years but not much else seems to be going on here. I'll keep mu eyes open...Best, Frank

 

[donniedark0]

defin something I would be interested in keeping. i love watching the behaviors of bugs, their fascinating IMO.

Thanks, I'm surprised as well...even zoos with insect collections do not do much. When I was stocking the Bx Zoo's exhibit many years ago I had to search far and wide, and it seems that not much has changed since. I did have predacious katydids there for a time - wild creatures, but could not find a steady source. Japan is the place for insect zoos - I was floored, but still, not all that many grasshoppers, etc. I'm in touch with someone here in NYC who keeps a few local tree cricket species, and the NY Entomological Society runs a nocturnal count at summer's end most years but not much else seems to be going on here. I'll keep mu eyes open...Best, Frank

 

[zonbonzovi]

A good canidate if anyone understands the husbandry:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/442776/bgimage

 

[findi]

Great insects...a few zoos keep breeding colonies of a large Af Species, I can get info if anyone needs. I've kept a species I find in NY (introduced, I believe) on fish food flakes and fruit. I pinch of the rear legs (they shed easily, like domestic crickets) before feeding to herps, as a safety measure. I've read in past that at least 1 sp will actually consume a rear leg if deprived of food... I do not recall source of that info, so please don't rely on as true w/o looking into it a bit more, Best, Frank

 

[bugmankeith]

I would love to raise native grasshoppers and locusts in my area. They dont sell them as feeders here the ones I saw were yellow and black with red eyes on sites, all feeders sold they consider invasive to the US. They exist wild here, but not common due to most open fields with tall grass now houses and parking lots. To know how bad it is, i've only seen 1 red legged grasshopper in the entire year, and 2 katydids, only surplus is those field crickets. I had Cousins upstate NY and they had hundreds of locusts flying in the field during Summer it was awesome catching them and seeing them fly. It wasnt like the plague, just a lot of natural, untouched fields to support them all.

I know Romaine Lettuce is commonly fed to feeder grasshoppers.

 

[findi]

Hi Keith,

Great photos, thanks very much. Ive seen the same on LI;I spent several summers in Mastic, unbelievable #'s of several grasshopper species, now very few. I have run into populations of Carolina Grasshoppers (large, locust-like; easy to rear on romaine, grass) in Suffolk...Riverhead near Wildwood Lake (that lake was an amazing site for turtles, fish, frogs, so much, yrs ago...lots of litter there now, not sure about wildlife); roadsides sometimes, once you get into Pine Barren's country, but yes, very sad over-all. I did a Northern Watersnake survey for the DEC yrs ago, also depressing. Best, Frank

 

[telaranabella]

Great article! I've recently been trying to find katydids to add to my tree monitors' diets but as of yet have had no luck finding a breeder. From your article it sounds like they could be difficult to breed in captivity, do you know of anyone that does breed them? If all else fails I'll see what I can find next spring when the snow melts, any suggestions for keeping them?

 

[findi]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you; they are difficult to breed, due to their unique egg deposition sites and strategies; food varies by species, with many being specialists. Predacious katydids are easier to keep, but rarely available. Keep an eye on Hatari Invertebrrates list...staff there will be able to supply care info on any species that they stock.

Large silkworms and hornworms, sometimes avail through inter net dealers, work well for smaller tree monitor species; I've also used crayfish for several species, although individuals vary re accepatance.

Here's a few articles on tree monitors that I've posted in the past that may interest you:

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...discovered-the-second-new-monitor-this-month/

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...l-fruit-eating-monitor-shocks-herpetologists/

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...-interesting-monitors-and-their-care-part-ii/

Best, Frank

 

[telaranabella]

Thanks for the info! My baby prasinus and kordensis both readily feed on crickets, dubia and orange-headed roaches but so far I've not had luck with the hornworms or silk worms. My subadult male prasinus loves them though! I like to keep them on as varied a diet as possible so I am always looking at new insects to include. I got the katydid idea from a paper on the stomach contents of V. prasinus in the Varanoids of the World book. I will definitely check out the Hatari invertebrates list.

 

[findi]

Thanks for the feedback; roaches are a great choice, esp as they are so easy to gut load with a variety of nutrients. Katydids seem to feature highly in the diets of all sorts of arboreal herps and inverts - large but rather soft exoskeletons. While working in Costa Rica, I was lucky to find a species that stayed very low in bushes, and used them for a variety of spiders...unfortunately not possible to bring them into the USA at the time. Canned snails can be useful for monitors...whole live ones as well, but shells can be tricky - shape, thickness etc different from those found in monitor's nat habitat. Best, Frank

 

[telaranabella]

The roaches do work great, I feed them a mix of fruit and veggies that I prepare for my uromastyx and they seem to do really well on it. I was thinking that the broad-winged katydid might work well as a feeder source, not too large and not as spiny as some of the other species I've seen. I haven't tried snails yet but will have to try those in the future.

 

[findi]

Hi, I've always done the same with roaches; I add tetramin fish flakes, trout chow and tortoise chow - alternating between the 3, depending upon what was going to eat the roaches; we used trout chow at the Bx Zoo as a staple for many turtles and aq amphibs long before more specific foods were manufactured, a great food item for carnivorous herps, lots of research went into it's developement, due to the money involved i the trout industry; salmon chow would likely serve as well. Best, Frank

 

[telaranabella]

I'll have to try the trout chow, I used to work as a seasonal naturalist at a fish hatchery so I can probably get a small bit to try out with them. Thanks!
-Sarah

 

[findi]

Hi Sarah, You can crush it up for crickets and earthworms as well; mad hissing roaches won't take it, but most others will. Pl keep me posted, always good to get feedback, thx, Frank