Question on grasshoppers

[kmk]

As y'all might recall i have a avic who is a picky eater........someone suggested grasshoppers and/or moths. Today i was out in the deep woods (no fear of pesticides). So now i have 6 grasshoppers. In order to keep them alive, do i feed, water, and house grasshoppers the same way i would crickets? If not can anyone give me some "keeping grasshoppers alive" advice?
Thank you.
Melissa.

 

[Apocalypstick]

I have gotten grasshoppers from my yard and quarantined them for a couple of days. I fed them a variety of lettuce leafs during that time. They seemed to enjoy it. I also gave them water.

My T LOVED eating them. But since more homes are being built around me, I don't feel secluded enough to take the chance of feeding them to my T even if quarantined.

 

[stonemantis]

I bred and reared grasshoppers with just green grass and green tree leaves. As long as it's green they'll eat it.

 

[OldHag]

When I was a small girl....and liked to torture grasshoppers, I found out that more than half of them had these HUGE parasitic worms in them.....UGH....I would NEVER feed any critter I have a wild grasshopper..I was emotionally scarred by the big white worms oozing out and wiggling around. YUCK

 

[cacoseraph]

i seem to recall some grasshoppers can actually, er, synthesize (not exactly but i can't think of a better word) noxious toxins from the plants they eat to help prevent the species from being eaten into extinction... so there could be a risk of poisoning your spider

but i think i've fed my guys maybe 5 hoppers so far and no one has died yet...

 

[kmk]

cacoseraph, I too worried about plant poisons. The hoppers i have caught are a beautiful mint green and black striped. However, then I thought of T.'s in the wild and thought.....wouldn't a T have developed a resistance to insect poisons? Like vultures evolved to eat decayed meat are resistent to (botulism)? I'm gonna research hoppers and plant poisons and see what i can find. So far i've only given my avic one.

 

[Windchaser]

When I was a small girl....and liked to torture grasshoppers, I found out that more than half of them had these HUGE parasitic worms in them.....UGH....I would NEVER feed any critter I have a wild grasshopper..I was emotionally scarred by the big white worms oozing out and wiggling around. YUCK

I would also stay away from wild caught prey. There is no way you can say with 100% certainity that it has not been exposed to pesticides. There is even a greater chance that they harbor parasites. For me, it simply isn't worth the risk to my tarantulas to feed them wild caught prey.