Locust breeding (pictures)

[Nursemaia]

I don't think I'd like the crunch of a cricket or grasshopper. I'm not going to try a full grown hornworm but a little one I think I could handle. It would be soft and squishy like gummy candy. A minnow ewww @Virgil1972

 

[Virgil1972]

I don't think I'd like the crunch of a cricket or grasshopper. I'm not going to try a full grown hornworm but a little one I think I could handle. It would be soft and squishy like gummy candy. A minnow ewww @Virgil1972

It wasn't that bad.

 

[Andee]

It's not like gummy candy at all XD it's more like eating a liquid filled pill with insect flavor.

 

[Nursemaia]

It's not like gummy candy at all XD it's more like eating a liquid filled pill with insect flavor.

That sounds awful. At least gummy candy is tasty

 

[Thomaskoch]

Haha, love the conversation. When you live in a different time zone, there is really plenty of time for a thread to have taken an unexpected turn when you wake up in the morning I got the grasshoppers from a local breeder, in Denmark you can get them in any pet shop. There is no ban on locusts here, I guess because there is no risk of them spreading in the nature (our climate sucks! )

What kind of insects are the most common to breed/feed in US? I would like some inspiration. Crickets are the obvious choice for a second dish, but I hate their noise...

 

[Nursemaia]

Haha, love the conversation. When you live in a different time zone, there is really plenty of time for a thread to have taken an unexpected turn when you wake up in the morning I got the grasshoppers from a local breeder, in Denmark you can get them in any pet shop. There is no ban on locusts here, I guess because there is no risk of them spreading in the nature (our climate sucks! )

What kind of insects are the most common to breed/feed in US? I would like some inspiration. Crickets are the obvious choice for a second dish, but I hate their noise...

It did get a little weird here last night. Besidescrickets we use a lot of roaches. Silkworms and hornworms are very popular too.

 

[KapitalJ]

Are locusts not just grasshoppers that grew really big?

Please pardon my ignorance...

 

[guanagator]

Haha, love the conversation. When you live in a different time zone, there is really plenty of time for a thread to have taken an unexpected turn when you wake up in the morning I got the grasshoppers from a local breeder, in Denmark you can get them in any pet shop. There is no ban on locusts here, I guess because there is no risk of them spreading in the nature (our climate sucks! )

What kind of insects are the most common to breed/feed in US? I would like some inspiration. Crickets are the obvious choice for a second dish, but I hate their noise...

Roaches are my preferred feeder, got a few varieties and they are amazingly simple to breed and keep happy without the stink of crickets. I do keep crickets but just small ones for my babies.

 

[Remkon]

Grasshoppers are to much work for me...
I had offspring of mine, forgot to refill the sugarwater for a day or two and the adults ate all the offspring so I fed them all to my ackies as revenge and started a dubia colony.

Their reproduction is slow in the beginning, I was ready to give up and then the first nymphs showed up. Make sure their layingbin is quite deep otherwise the eggs will lay flat on the bottom and those have a bigger chance to die.

They do great on fresh grass but will also do on hay but will eat less and reproduce slower that way.

At least this was my experience.

 

[Thomaskoch]

Thanks for the responses. I think Dubia will be the way to go, I raised dubia and hissing roaches when I had chams 10-15 years ago, without problems! Roaches are very easy. The only thing is that my wife will not allow roaches in the house, which I choose to respect And I also kind of agree with her. So I will have to figure somewhere else to keep them, hmm.

Thinking about having them in the shed in an insolated box, just have to figure out how to keep them warm during winter. I will post when/if I do something like that.

An update on the locust: they have quite a nasty smell. So the preferable way would definitely be to have all feeders in the shed.

 

[Remkon]

Thanks for the responses. I think Dubia will be the way to go, I raised dubia and hissing roaches when I had chams 10-15 years ago, without problems! Roaches are very easy. The only thing is that my wife will not allow roaches in the house, which I choose to respect And I also kind of agree with her. So I will have to figure somewhere else to keep them, hmm.

Thinking about having them in the shed in an insolated box, just have to figure out how to keep them warm during winter. I will post when/if I do something like that.

An update on the locust: they have quite a nasty smell. So the preferable way would definitely be to have all feeders in the shed.

if they smell humidity probably is to high... you can dry the grass a bit before feeding it to them and/or create more ventilation.
I keep my dubia on a heat cable... It only uses 15watts and is under the bin I keep them in

 

[Alexander1]

I imagine hornworms would be the more disgusting out of the bugs to try... very squishy and moist.... I would cook up some crickets or grasshoppers, they are good to try for the first time.

They eat a species of crickets in Mexico, I think they're fried and served with some hot sauce. They say they just fast like a crunchy version of whatever you put on em

 

[Andee]

They have also started making cricket flour

 

[Thomaskoch]

Remkon, I don't actually feed them grass (even if they are called grasshoppers...) This is because grass can give the locusts worms, which are harmless to the locusts, but can cause problems once the chameleon eats them. So I only feed the grasshoppers with coarse organic vegetables; kale, cabbage, broccoli...

I have opened another ventilation hole in the cage, let's see if it will help on the smell.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

There are a couple keepers in the USA that are breeding a couple species of locust Schistocerca. However breeding locust has not caught on here in the States like it has in Europe or Asia. Here is a couple species I have bred in captivity for F2 and F3 generations.

Schistocerca shoshone

Schistocerca nitens

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Thomaskoch]

They look completely different to the locusts we usually have in Europe. I really like the light green, they must be a treat to chameleons I will see I can get a good close-up of my locusts later, and post it here.

 

[Andee]

It hasn't caught on because they are considered a pest and illegal to sell over state lines, I doubt a factory setting would be allowed either. They easily would cause mass crop destruction if they got loose.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

They look completely different to the locusts we usually have in Europe. I really like the light green, they must be a treat to chameleons I will see I can get a good close-up of my locusts later, and post it here.

The Schistocerca shoshone and Mantis are by far my chameleons favorite food. People who I have sent these to, along with my chameleons, have encountered the problem that you cannot feed them out to often or else your chameleons will start demanding them and refuse all other feeders.

It hasn't caught on because they are considered a pest and illegal to sell over state lines, I doubt a factory setting would be allowed either. They easily would cause mass crop destruction if they got loose.

I have USDA permits to sell both these species instate in California to California chameleon keepers. I have not sold any the past two years as the collecting for brood stock the last two years has been terrible. It would be great to have more production on my end to have more of both of these species available for California chameleon keepers (for now) that are keeping larger chameleon species. I have care sheets for people that are outside of California that I cannot sell to, that have access to Schistocerca if they want to give a go at starting a captive colony (send me a pm).

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Action Jackson]

I have been breeding grasshoppers for several years. I'm on my 8th generation from original stock. I'm also lucky enough to have found a good spot to collect hoppers close to my house. I've been growing these up to adults and breed them also.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I have been breeding grasshoppers for several years. I'm on my 8th generation from original stock. I'm also lucky enough to have found a good spot to collect hoppers close to my house. I've been growing these up to adults and breed them also.

Craig

Great job breeding those green Schistocerca shoshone hoppers I sent to you to the 8th generation. Did you ever figure out how to solve the dwarfing problem with breeding the Schistocerca shoshone's?

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich