Some wild grasshoppers

[Chameleonmaster]

I am trying to breed some of the hoppers I find so I don't have to worry about the chemicals.
I feed off moths too, at night I take a flash light and grab some pretty god sized moths.
I catch most of my feeders at an abandon golf course, behind my apartment. It's over grown and been abandon for 3 years now.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

It could have been from the trace pesticides the parasites accumulated in their bodies from the grasshopper before it was consumed by the chameleon later dyeing inside the chameleon releasing the pesticides causing paralysis and organ failure.

I am trying to breed some of the hoppers I find so I don't have to worry about the chemicals.
I feed off moths too, at night I take a flash light and grab some pretty god sized moths.
I catch most of my feeders at an abandon golf course, behind my apartment. It's over grown and been abandon for 3 years now.

The point is collecting wild caught insects is a roll of the dice and you should take precautions if you are going to consider them as food for your chameleons. Many keepers have gone many years feeding wild caught insects seemingly without problems (I am one). However, problems from parasites and pesticides are legitimate concerns and can cause problems. People should be conscious of these concerns before considering feeding these out. Take extra care when collecting.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

When you collect what do you do to make sure they don't have parasites or pesticides?

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

When you collect what do you do to make sure they don't have parasites or pesticides?

My recommendation for parasites you cannot totally avoid the risk of them with field collecting, other than to breed them out with captive colonies. You can take precautions with protocals though such as having fecals done after the summer is over and check to make certain your chameleons have not picked up parasites along with other measures.

For pesticides I would say stay away from agricultural areas and areas known to have pesticides. I would look to undeveloped areas.

 

[ronstafari]

I've recently moved to Oklahoma and my chams are loving the grasshoppers. I grew up catching these things to go fishing. These guys are pesticide free for sure I live in the woods. My chams wont eve look at crickets now, I tried switching it up on them today after a week of hopppers and now they're looking at me crazy. I rip there hind legs off so they don't injure my critters though.

 

[Todnedo]

If pesticides are as deadly as most people think we will see a massive die off of chameleons in Madagascar this year.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44493#.UdQSfsXD9mN

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

If pesticides are as deadly as most people think we will see a massive die off of chameleons in Madagascar this year.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44493#.UdQSfsXD9mN

It has been well documented in California and other agricultural areas that wildlife exposed to pesticides and fertilizer from agricultural runoff can have extremely harmful effects on wildlife. This is not a secret at all to and think this does not happen is extremely foolish. This has been seen extensively in the California Delta with deformed birds from parents feeding on material with trace chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides. I would not pretend to act as though this problem does not happen.

Here's a link just to give you some of an idea.
http://www.c-win.org/kesterson-national-wildlife-refuge.html

I would recommend going to a rangeland area to collect grasshoppers. A place that grazes cattle or other livestock. However ASK PERMISSION FIRST as out in the country it is not uncommon for land owners to take warning shots or worse at trespassers who are unwelcome.

I have seen that article about the locust plague in Madagascar. If chameleons are hunting locust laced with pesticides (depending on the pesticide) we possibly could witness a massive chameleon die off. The threat is there and a die off may not necessarily happen this year. Joking about it is not an appropriate attitude. This is a legitimate concern.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

One thing that that is not mentioned in that article is that in the tropics all across the world, locust are a staple diet to many cultures around the world. This plague could be a food source just as long as locals are not making meals out of grasshoppers that have been exposed to pesticides.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

Did they discuss the affects of not just the people but the animals they'll be harming?
Wouldn't runoff go into the streams and ponds, kill fish, the animals that eat those fish or drink from that water?
I think they'd be making a big mistake by doing this.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Did they discuss the affects of not just the people but the animals they'll be harming?
Wouldn't runoff go into the streams and ponds, kill fish, the animals that eat those fish or drink from that water?
I think they'd be making a big mistake by doing this.

Did you not read the link I posted? If you read the link you'll have your answer. All of these issue you have listed have all been considered by experts at one time or another. However during the beginning everyone presumed everything would was OK and these disasters happened. It is a big problem here in the central valley of California and other areas of the world that have agricultural areas. However the people of the world have got to eat. It was a big part of my major during my studies at UC Davis.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

I did read the link but I'm talking about in madagascar. Did they even consider the damage they could be doing to the wild life? The first link doesn't even discuss the amount of damage to the wild life or even the effect to people if pesticides get into their water.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I did read the link but I'm talking about in madagascar. Did they even consider the damage they could be doing to the wild life? The first link doesn't even discuss the amount of damage to the wild life or even the effect to people if pesticides get into their water.

I could not tell you Collin. I'm not connected with policy making in that part of the world. I at best have got some faith that the experts in that part of the world have got enough expertise to cover those sensitive issues. I would love to be apart of making those decisions in the future though.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

I wish someone had a voice to step in and say "hey look at the damage that will be caused if you spray this, this, and this".

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I wish someone had a voice to step in and say "hey look at the damage that will be caused if you spray this, this, and this".

Actually we can and this topic would be a great idea for concerned forums members. If we found a more recent online article about this topic many online articles have got response sections in forums format. These kinds of articles policy makers regarding these issues normally read. We as the Chameleons Forums could express our concerns about how the situation in Madagascar is being handled. This forums being a large world community could affect policy about this situation. We could start a new thread of concern once we have found one of these types of articles.

Chat more about it tomorrow.