Wild Grasshoppers?

[xoiceox]

Hey guys! I was in Hawthorne Fl, this weekend and caught about 10 wild grasshoppers. Some are bright green and some are brown and look like wood... DO you know if these are safe to feed to a veiled chameleon?

 

[jannb]

I don't know if they are toxic or not. You might try posting some pictures. I do know that wild insects cause parasites.

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

Wild insects do sometimes cause parasites. However I use wild grasshoppers and matids and locusts and I have fecals done every other month on all 7 of my panthers and they have yet to come up with parasites. I do know a breeder who used wild caught grasshoppers and breed them as his staple and he did lose one adult female to parasites right before she was going to lay and only one other contracted them. he was very lucky as he was feeding 19 chams with them. I worry more about buying crickets from local petshops though. Everytime i have bought crickets from petco/ local shops one of my giant waxy monkey frogs have gotten parasites and theya re not fed the wild caught food the panthers are. It's up to you weather you feed them off or not. After my males get grasshoppers for a day or two they wont even look at anything else for atleast 4 days, not even hornworms. But there is definately a risk involved. good luck.


Justin

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

Also you have to make sure you are pretty far away from cities as most cities spray pesticides and mosquito killers all over teh grass and sometimes in the water to prevent bug larvae from developing and that will for sure be bad for the chams.

 

[Pure]

Be sure to remove the hind legs prior to feeding. They have barbs n them that can get caught in the chams throat.

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

Yeah, plus if you remove the hind legs they just crawl around in the enclosure and it is way harder for them to hide or get away. They are like sitting ducks.

 

[jake01]

Also, do make sure they aren't lubbers, which are extremely toxic and look similar to grasshoppers to the novice.

 

[Digby Rigby]

Wild caught feeders

To be safe dont use wild caught as feeders. Use them as breeders, and to be safe use the second generation of captive bred as feeders. Seperate the adults from the eggs before they hatch to further decrease risk of spreading parasites. Its how our isopods were done among others.

Digby Rigby [email protected]

 

[xoiceox]

Wow thanx for all the input guys... First of all, i have no idea how to breed grasshoppers lol or know male from female... I caught them in the middle of the woods. The cabin is 30-45 min from any city...

Thanx for the advice about the hind legs, I didnt think of that.. ill try to take pix of them n see if i can post them up!

 

[Chameleonboy]

To be safe dont use wild caught as feeders. Use them as breeders, and to be safe use the second generation of captive bred as feeders. Seperate the adults from the eggs before they hatch to further decrease risk of spreading parasites. Its how our isopods were done among others.

Digby Rigby [email protected]

Very good idea. I would breed them if I were you, and feed off the offspring.

-Clemonde

 

[xoiceox]

How the heck do u breed grasshoppers??? lol

 

[Chameleonboy]

Do a search on the forums if you don't find anything look it up on the forums. I think it is similar to breeding crickets.

-Clemonde