How to avoid being bitten by grasshoppers?

[PINki]

My cham stopped eating crix. I think he became bored because I only fed him with crix. Now I give him superworms and flies and now he never doesn't eat crix.

I heard that they are crazy for green grasshoppers, but I heard that they bite pretty hard, so I'm a little bit scared.

When do they bite? Always when want to pick them? I would like to offer grasshoppers to my cham but I'm scared that they will bite me.

My cham is somewhere around 1 year old bdw.

Greets!

 

[Dylan Dutz]

Ummm Ive never heard of grasshoppers being used as feeders...

 

[Brad Ramsey]

You can feed grasshoppers (locust)
I've never had one bite me.

-Brad

 

[studiocham]

When do they bite? Always when want to pick them? I would like to offer grasshoppers to my cham but I'm scared that they will bite me.

Grasshoppers (locusts) do not bite, they just "tobacco spit" harmlessly.

Leafhoppers are very good prey for hatchlings, and do not bite, nor do they spit.

Green katydids will put a bite on a cham or you. Do the ones you are collecting look like any of these?

http://enature.com/fieldguides/view_default.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=katydid

I have fed out katydids, but I disarm them first. I use a pair of fine wire cutters to nip off their mandibles right before feeding out. I know it sounds awful, but they can hang on to a cham's lip or eye turret tenaciously, if you don't take precautions.

You can catch more and avoid bites by hunting them at night with a flashlight and long tweezers/tongs. Just follow the singing.

 

[JoshCrane1]

good link!!!!, surprised to find out almost all of the "grasshoppers" ive caught are actually katydids.

 

[PINki]

I will show u pics of them, when I will buy them and than u tell me.

Greets.

 

[Nicodemayo]

Chams go crazy over the green grasshoppers. They love katydids (leaf bugs) as well. Whatever you end up catching, i'd make sure you quarantine them and feed them for a good 3 days to flush them out before feeding them off.

 

[PINki]

I went to a pet store and they said that grasshoppers (locusts) should arrive in about 2 weeks. They haven't got green grasshoppers. Only brown with yellow I think.

But my cham eats only superworms and flies. He doesn't want to eat crix even if I put them in a cage for 3 days (only crix). Than I have to give him something else to eat (superworms & flies) and he eats them immediately.

So he will eat superworms and flies for 2 weeks but I will always keep crix inside. Or should I only leave crix inside for a few days and if he doesn't eat them than I put superworms or flies inside?

Humidity and temps are OK. Cham is veiled 1 year old.

Any suggestions maybe?

 

[studiocham]

I went to a pet store and they said that grasshoppers (locusts) should arrive in about 2 weeks. They haven't got green grasshoppers. Only brown with yellow I think.

That sounds like a grasshopper color to me. There are some reddish katydids here in the USA.

But my cham eats only superworms and flies. He doesn't want to eat crix even if I put them in a cage for 3 days (only crix). Than I have to give him something else to eat (superworms & flies) and he eats them immediately.

At one year old, he's mature enough to go a couple days without. He has you trained. Superworms are high in saturated fats, not the greatest staple food, but flies are a great & natural food for chameleons. They are easy to digest, high in protein. You can't go wrong with flies as a staple, just be sure to gutload them properly (I use a mixture of organic molasses and dry insect gutload) and do not use wild flies.

To get him to try crickets, gutload some on some fresh mango or other sweet non-citrus fruit, and do not offer him any prey for a couple days. Give him lots of water to keep everything moving. Then offer one fat gravid female cricket, don't give him a ton to choose from. He'll probably try several after that. I don't know how they sense it, lacking the customary organs, but some chameleons respond very strongly to sweet. They must have receptors of some kind... at least, to keep them from eating decaying or noxious prey?

If you have the slightest doubt that he may be ill, do not withhold food, but have him seen by a vet as soon as possible. It sounds like he's just being picky.

 

[PINki]

He's not ill at all, he is just picky. I'm from Europe (Slovenia) and my english isn't perfect. A don't have it all clear...

Do I have to put mango with cricket in his dish (cham's), or I have to offer mango to crickets in crickets cage and then give him that cricket after couple of days not-eating.

And this... I bought flies as worms 1st and then they develop in something that I don't know the word in english and then they become flies. Man that I bought flies from said that they don't eat ANYTHING and live only couple of days.
So I don't know how to GUTLOAD them. They are for fish hunting.

I can post some pics later...

C ya.

 

[nekrosoft13]

i got bit by that Katydid once before. it does hurt. you just have to crab them from the back. don't give it the oportunity

 

[studiocham]

or I have to offer mango to crickets in crickets cage and then give him that cricket after couple of days not-eating.

That one. The cricket must eat the food before becoming food.

then they develop in something that I don't know the word in english and then they become flies.

They go from maggots to pupae to flies...

Man that I bought flies from said that they don't eat ANYTHING and live only couple of days.

What species of fly is it? The common housefly can live several days and eats frequently, which is what I use for chameleons.

 

[chamlover]

I made the same mistake with 2 of my chams and continued to let them rule me and get only superworms. Now they are so spoiled i am having a tough time getting them to eat ANYTHING ELSE. But continue to try, don'tlet them do that because like they said superworms really aren't a very good staple food, compare junk food with kids to healthy food. Which one are they going to choose? And which one is the best for them? I finally got one to eat roaches and the other one to eat hormworms. So keep trying they will eat other things if you become the boss.

Debby