Grasshopper Piggies

[ChamelaChameleon]

I just confirmed American Bird grasshoppers are in Pennsylvania which is where I live! I can breed those suckers for my own chams. Dean said they’re the most prolific. Now I just need to find their habitat at the right time of the year.

Khai Phan on Facebook has a supply of Americana. I was not successful with Americana (humidity issues). @Camiezone has had success with Americana.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

They’re only toxic because of the toxins in the plants they eat, like the Crinum Lilly. Source: Christine Leonard, a biologist, ecologist, and conservationist at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. Christine has a masters degree in biology from University of South Florida. I attached a link to a video I found.



If I were to raise a second generation and beyond with store bought greens and grains they could be just fine. I am going to reach out to Christine and ask what she thinks .

I know poison dart frogs are harmless in captivity. Same concept here I suppose. But they do spit black ink and hiss! I wonder if they still have a foul taste when they’re eating a controlled diet. Birds spit them out because of their odorous fouls smelling foam. I certainly wont eat one and find out.

I would not feed them out to my reptiles. There are plenty of other great large species of grasshopper (genus Schistocerca) why gamble the issue. However if you are going to or have to feed them out I would recommend thoroughly researching this idea. This is a subject I would keenly read about when and if findings are found.

However I am not recommend feeding Lubber Grasshoppers.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Andrew1283]

I would not feed them out to my reptiles. There are plenty of other great large species of grasshopper (genus Schistocerca) why gamble the issue. However if you are going to or have to feed them out I would recommend thoroughly researching this idea. This is a subject I would keenly read about when and if findings are found.

However I am not recommend feeding Lubber Grasshoppers.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

I just don’t think it’s worth it at all. Even if I control their diet and eliminate any toxins they may pass on to my chameleons, they’re still a horrendous feeder in that they hiss, spit black fluid that stains clothing, and they’re just too big to feed. I need to stop typing as I think.

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

Are grasshoppers good chameleon feeders? Until I saw this thread I had never heard of feeding them to chameleons.

 

[Andrew1283]

Are grasshoppers good chameleon feeders? Until I saw this thread I had never heard of feeding them to chameleons.

They’re fantastic feeders. But more costly to keep because they do require a screen cage with a heat lamp. And they’re being sold for a dollar a piece but several of us are trying to breed our own

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Are grasshoppers good chameleon feeders? Until I saw this thread I had never heard of feeding them to chameleons.

I keep my grasshopper feeders in a large - plastic critter keeper.
I do supply them with heat. Grasshoppers are very nutrition. They are a top recommended feeder due to the higher protein and low fat ratio. A order of 50 is 50.00 which includes shipping (shipping is 10.00). I pay .80 cent per grasshopper. If I have 1 die, I cringe because they are expensive. My reasons for feeding grasshoppers:

1.Easy to care for
2.No water required
3.No clean-up
required
4.They can live over 1
year
5. Because of size- I can feed less . 1 large grasshopper = 2 crickets. 1 fully winged adult female = 3 crickets. Size is important.
6. For my adult Cham 1 order of 50 grasshoppers will last 2.5 months at 5 hoppers per week.
7. I actually save money because I have fewer trips to the store for crickets. With the death rate of crickets, I have to go to the store 2 times a week for 40 crickets per trip. That equals 16.00 per week for crickets and the cost of gas. That's about 22.00 a week or 88.00 per month or 176.00 per 2 months. I save 126.00 per 2 months. What I don't save in money, I save in time. Crickets require daily clean up and water. The smell of dead crickets and water is terrible.
8. No smell and no noise. The grasshoppers don't smell and make no audible noise. I can hear them jumping when I move the critter keeper but if I'm not messing with them there is very little movement. Crickets = chirp, chirp, chirp. They are never quiet.


I can't wait for my juvenile cham's eating to decrease because I will totally not feed crickets. My adult Cham only eats grasshoppers as his staple with hornworms for hydration. My juvenile gets a mixture of crickets, grasshoppers, dubia, silkworms and hornworms.

 

[Andrew1283]

I just moved away from hornworms because they’re so wet and gross and poop an insane amount. And they bite and cause injury. Crickets also bite when left to roam free overnight. Silkworms, superworms, calcium worms, and hoppers are my magical combo of feeders. No more bites or odors!

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I just moved away from hornworms because they’re so wet and gross and poop an insane amount. And they bite and cause injury. Crickets also bite when left to roam free overnight. Silkworms, superworms, calcium worms, and hoppers are my magical combo of feeders. No more bites or odors!

This is probably cruel but I pinch the mouth and the other end rendering the hornworm defenseless. Yes, hornworms are definitely the poop squad leaders. I keep them upside down and remove poop daily. The bigger they are the bigger the poop and a larger amount of poop.

 

[Andrew1283]

I started adding purple sweet potatoes to the hoppers’ diet and they seem to like them. Also purple cabbage. I’m trying to see what colorful things they will eat, or if they have a preference. So far they haven’t turned anything down. Collards and frisée greens seem to be a favorite but the frisée has so much water content they make a mess of the floor with the runs. My goal is dry poops that shop vac clean and easy. Oh and using a soft vacuum brush on the end helps avoid any unintentional hopper victims

 

[MissSkittles]

This is probably cruel but I pinch the mouth and the other end rendering the hornworm defenseless.

It's only the mouth end that you need to worry about. The big evil looking spike on their butt is soft and incapable of causing injury...same as it is on silkworms.

 

[Andrew1283]

But I don’t like that they can hold on to things so tightly that it can hurt or even detach a chameleon’s tongue. So I would still snip or crush both ends! Or just use my silks

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

It's only the mouth end that you need to worry about. The big evil looking spike on their butt is soft and incapable of causing injury...same as it is on silkworms.

I pinch the thing on the end that looks like fingers. It's really the Anus. So, I don't need to pinch that?

 

[MissSkittles]

I pinch the thing on the end that looks like fingers. It's really the Anus. So, I don't need to pinch that?

Ummm...not sure what exactly you're talking about. They have finger-like things on their anus? I don't believe I've ever seen that, although to be honest I've never looked that closely at that end of a hornworm. Are you perhaps talking about their back feet? The only part that can hurt is the mouth part.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Ummm...not sure what exactly you're talking about. They have finger-like things on their anus? I don't believe I've ever seen that, although to be honest I've never looked that closely at that end of a hornworm. Are you perhaps talking about their back feet? The only part that can hurt is the mouth part.

This thing.see circle.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I started adding purple sweet potatoes to the hoppers’ diet and they seem to like them. Also purple cabbage. I’m trying to see what colorful things they will eat, or if they have a preference. So far they haven’t turned anything down. Collards and frisée greens seem to be a favorite but the frisée has so much water content they make a mess of the floor with the runs. My goal is dry poops that shop vac clean and easy. Oh and using a soft vacuum brush on the end helps avoid any unintentional hopper victims

Your enclosures look really good and you have the best fed grasshoppers ever. I only feed romaine, carrots, and ground wheat bran. Sometimes, I can convince Home Depot to let me have the fallen citrus leaves (free).

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Bolt chowing down on a male adult grasshopper.

 

[Andrew1283]

Your enclosures look really good and you have the best fed grasshoppers ever. I only feed romaine, carrots, and ground wheat bran. Sometimes, I can convince Home Depot to let me have the fallen citrus leaves (free).

I think the hoppers are more fun to watch than the chameleons

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I think the hoppers are more fun to watch than the chameleons

I love the baby hoppers. They are so cute with those tiny wing pads that point down. I find myself studying the behavior of the adults. My Gray Birds prefer the uvb over the heat lamp. They mate totally different than the Spotted Birds. Even though they are mating. They haven't laid many eggs. The only eggs laid were on top of the soil. I think our grasshoppers have become pets!

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

Bolt chowing down on a male adult grasshopper.View attachment 352001View attachment 352002View attachment 352003View attachment 352004

Do the chameleons like them?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Do the chameleons like them?

They usually love, love, love the grasshoppers! I love the grasshoppers because they do not require much care. If you decide to feed grasshoppers, start with small to medium nymphs (no wings).