Calling All Katydid People!

UrbanChameleon

UrbanChameleon

New Member
You know who you are.

I need your help peeps! I was smoking on the back porch and caught some movement in the corner of my eye. I looked down and saw this monster of an insect. It was caught in an old spider web, so I decided I would take him.. or her. Lol.

I am clueless when it comes to WC insects. I'm not much of a bug girl. But as of lately, I'm jumping at the chance to feed my Chameleon anything different/interesting. I wasn't too sure what it was, but Katydid came straight to my head. I searched Kentucky's Katydids and Grasshoppers and it popped right up.

Now here is where you guys come in.. what in crap do I do with it? I know absolutely zilch about this insect. I don't know the sex, age, diet, lifespan, etc. Do they bite or have any defense mechanism? What do I feed it.. how do I hydrate it? Pretty much tell me anything and everything I should know to keep this thing alive for a little while.

I know with any WC, I should hold onto it for a while to make sure it's pesticide free. I'm considering whether I should even feed it or not. It would be so amazing, but it's pretty dang big. Wings and all, it's probably bigger than Loki's head. I will have to measure and compare in the morning. Loki is small for his age, so I'm on the fence. Regardless, I need to keep it alive until I can see if it will work. This thing is extremely active! It hasn't stopped moving since I first ran into it. I guess it's looking for food. All I have is crickets, butterworms, and whatever vegetation I can find around the neighborhood.

Help me out here. I need all of your knowledge on Katydids, and your opinion as to what I should do with it. Thanks all. :)

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I just noticed the pics on the other thread. They are huge! Mine is big, I thought it was a Mantis at first too. I can definitely tell that it still has some growing to do. I'm going to be spending the night researching all I can on these things. They seem very interesting. It's almost like it has it's own personality.

In all honesty, I will probably kill this thing. I'm not good with insects.

My Ambilobe doesn't chew very much, so I'm not sure how he would handle this. He's more of a "hold the insect in my mouth" kind of Cham. Which doesn't work on the larger insects. He can handle food on the bigger side, but I'm not too sure about this one. I've never seen a Cham swallow a Katy. Their bodies look tough like a shell. The big wings and long legs are a worry too. Hmm. I don't like to take risks with my animals, but it would be incredibly rewarding for both of us. Decisions, decisions.

Can a Chameleon somewhat easily penetrate a Katydids body well? Hopefully I'll find something on youtube.
 
I have only seen one in my area and unfortunately it was dead in my plant washing bucket :mad: I am so jealous of those of you that have them. I have gone on a number of grasshopper finding outings and found nothing :eek:
 
My ambanja boy ranger eats them all the time full grown with no prob.:) oh and I did a little digging my self wondering why you all had Florida giant katydids up there come to find out they are the much smaller Common True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia....... They get 2 in maybe 2 1/2 in. Were as mine the Florida giant katydids can get to 3 to 4 in.... Same care though..... If you can get me some adults that would be awesome. Pm me if interested in some trading..........
nataliejordan90 said:
I just noticed the pics on the other thread. They are huge! Mine is big, I thought it was a Mantis at first too. I can definitely tell that it still has some growing to do. I'm going to be spending the night researching all I can on these things. They seem very interesting. It's almost like it has it's own personality.

In all honesty, I will probably kill this thing. I'm not good with insects.

My Ambilobe doesn't chew very much, so I'm not sure how he would handle this. He's more of a "hold the insect in my mouth" kind of Cham. Which doesn't work on the larger insects. He can handle food on the bigger side, but I'm not too sure about this one. I've never seen a Cham swallow a Katy. Their bodies look tough like a shell. The big wings and long legs are a worry too. Hmm. I don't like to take risks with my animals, but it would be incredibly rewarding for both of us. Decisions, decisions.

Can a Chameleon somewhat easily penetrate a Katydids body well? Hopefully I'll find something on youtube.
Click to expand...
 
clarkrw3 said:
I have only seen one in my area and unfortunately it was dead in my plant washing bucket :mad: I am so jealous of those of you that have them. I have gone on a number of grasshopper finding outings and found nothing :eek:
Click to expand...

Lol most if not all of the USA has Common True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia which are half the size but just as good as the Florida giant katydids....the only real difference is a inch in the body and a inch in the wings. But when feeding my parsons boy I get the biggest badest feeders I can lol.
 
HOLY CRAP! These things are sooo cool!

It's the middle of the night, so all I had was an empty cricket keeper. I decided to spray a little bit of water in the cage, and I found some Romaine Lettuce in the fridge. It immediately went and started drinking from the drops of water, and went straight to the Romaine. I'm amazed! I didn't think it would start eating as soon as I threw the lettuce in. These things are such interesting creatures. They feel more like pets than feeders.

clarkrw3 said:
I have only seen one in my area and unfortunately it was dead in my plant washing bucket :mad: I am so jealous of those of you that have them. I have gone on a number of grasshopper finding outings and found nothing :eek:
Click to expand...

I'm sorry Clark. :( This one just creeped up on me. So don't feel too bad. I can't seem to find things when I look for them either. Lol.

Texas Ranger said:
My ambanja boy ranger eats them all the time full grown with no prob.:) oh and I did a little digging my self wondering why you all had Florida giant katydids up there come to find out they are the much smaller Common True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia....... They get 2 in maybe 2 1/2 in. Were as mine the Florida giant katydids can get to 3 to 4 in.... Same care though..... If you can get me some adults that would be awesome. Pm me if interested in some trading..........
Click to expand...

That's good to hear. I feel more comfortable about it now. I asked my backyard for a "tall", but it screwed my order up and gave me a "grande". :mad:

I can't imagine how big a Florida Katydid would be in person. :eek: And I thought this one was big!

I read a few threads and some people were recommending "clipping" their back legs, wings, and mandibles before feeding. I would feel more comfortable if I cut the wings and mandibles, but I have to admit.. I'm a little scared to touch it. It's more jumpy than my Crested Gecko and I don't want to get bit. And I'm not too sure how to "clip" whatever it is that needs clipped. That's my last question for anyone who knows the answer. I promise. Sorry for being a noob guys. I could not find the answer to that one anywhere.
 
Yeah the are awesome insects:D and yeah they don't bit lol don't worry about that. And as for cutting all that off to feed them were is the fun in that .... That sounds like to much work my guys do just fine legs and all..... But if any thing I guess you could just pinch the back legs off. But I wouldn't do any of that other stuff that is just silly lol.

nataliejordan90 said:
HOLY CRAP! These things are sooo cool!

It's the middle of the night, so all I had was an empty cricket keeper. I decided to spray a little bit of water in the cage, and I found some Romaine Lettuce in the fridge. It immediately went and started drinking from the drops of water, and went straight to the Romaine. I'm amazed! I didn't think it would start eating as soon as I threw the lettuce in. These things are such interesting creatures. They feel more like pets than feeders.



I'm sorry Clark. :( This one just creeped up on me. So don't feel too bad. I can't seem to find things when I look for them either. Lol.



That's good to hear. I feel more comfortable about it now. I asked my backyard for a "tall", but it screwed my order up and gave me a "grande". :mad:

I can't imagine how big a Florida Katydid would be in person. :eek: And I thought this one was big!

I read a few threads and some people were recommending "clipping" their back legs, wings, and mandibles before feeding. I would feel more comfortable if I cut the wings and mandibles, but I have to admit.. I'm a little scared to touch it. It's more jumpy than my Crested Gecko and I don't want to get bit. And I'm not too sure how to "clip" whatever it is that needs clipped. That's my last question for anyone who knows the answer. I promise. Sorry for being a noob guys. I could not find the answer to that one anywhere.
Click to expand...
 
whoa, i love feeding katys!

their back legs are very, very strong, spiny and tough. tough enough that you would usually have a cham playing a losing game of tug-o-war with his tongue and the katy's legs locked into a screen. so i twist them off at the "hip joint".

they pee on you, clear and unoffensive. never been bitten or anything. but they are much softer-bodied than you would think under those legs, nothing like a cicada for instance. the wings are fairly soft and "leaflike", i.e. they wouldn't crunch or anything. my larger panthers go gaga over them, and the average adult katydid is too big for anything else. but i'm happily finding 1-2 a week where i live, and the other day i found a half-size one, which a medium cham gobbled up.

i am a BIG FAN, and certainly suggest feeding them if you have the size chams that will take them. and they are obviously not a "smaller than the space between the eyes" kind of meal, but their heads are pretty small overall and everything else is soft, so happily i advise feeding them (pesticide concerns pertain as usual).

dr. o—
 
i'm pretty sure they're closely related to praying mantises, which are themselves related to stick insects. all in all, those are all typically great cham feeders.

i love mantises too much; i can't feed them. they are way too cool in their own way for me!
 
Dr O said:
whoa, i love feeding katys!

their back legs are very, very strong, spiny and tough. tough enough that you would usually have a cham playing a losing game of tug-o-war with his tongue and the katy's legs locked into a screen. so i twist them off at the "hip joint".

they pee on you, clear and unoffensive. never been bitten or anything. but they are much softer-bodied than you would think under those legs, nothing like a cicada for instance. the wings are fairly soft and "leaflike", i.e. they wouldn't crunch or anything. my larger panthers go gaga over them, and the average adult katydid is too big for anything else. but i'm happily finding 1-2 a week where i live, and the other day i found a half-size one, which a medium cham gobbled up.

i am a BIG FAN, and certainly suggest feeding them if you have the size chams that will take them. and they are obviously not a "smaller than the space between the eyes" kind of meal, but their heads are pretty small overall and everything else is soft, so happily i advise feeding them (pesticide concerns pertain as usual).

dr. o—
Click to expand...

Dr O said:
i'm pretty sure they're closely related to praying mantises, which are themselves related to stick insects. all in all, those are all typically great cham feeders.

i love mantises too much; i can't feed them. they are way too cool in their own way for me!
Click to expand...

Ahhh! Why didn't I see your post earlier? Lol. :eek:

Loki shot at the Katy today and his whole body went flying toward the screen! I about had a heart attack! It's back legs had a death grip on the screen. Loki was freaked out too!

Thanks for all of the great info guys. :) And yes, the body did seem much softer as he was eating it. That Katydid was much larger (compared to him) than originally thought. He's not getting any more of those until he grows. I've never seen such a reaction out of him though. I seriously don't even think he saw it before it was in his mouth. If anyone has a Cham on a hunger strike.. go find yourself some Katydids.

It was enough adventurous/stroke inducing excitement for the near future. I'm now pretty worried about how it will digest. That thing was enough for food for the entire day. And he had already had crickets. I went out of town for a week, and just returned a few days ago. Since returning, I've only seen one fecal from him. It wasn't by any means bad, but it also wasn't satisfactory. It looked quite hard and the entire thing had an orangish tint to it. Butterworms were recently introduced into his diet, and I believe that to be the culprit. So I'm already a little concerned with his schedule being screwed with, and the "not-so-normal" bowel movements. I've had some kind of gut feeling that the butters could be constipating him, or causing a bad reaction. I haven't read anything of the sort pertaining to Chameleons though. Thoughts?

I just hope this Katydid digests and passes through him alright. I think he's going to be on a strict diet of cricks and silks only over the next month. Everything else health wise is all and well.
 
nataliejordan90 said:
Ahhh! Why didn't I see your post earlier? Lol. :eek:

Loki shot at the Katy today and his whole body went flying toward the screen! I about had a heart attack! It's back legs had a death grip on the screen. Loki was freaked out too!

I just hope this Katydid digests and passes through him alright
Click to expand...


ahahhaahaaa! told you those katy legs were strong!! it's ok, i've been where you've been and learned. thus the "C'mon Katy! Let's do the Twist!" (on your hip)!

it's a big meal but very digestible in all of my experiences; i really don't think you have anything to worry about. my chams won't usually even look at another meal for 4-5 days after, but keep the water going so everything stays nice and mushy in the gut. and the katy legs will digest just fine too; there's been occasion where i've only taken off one leg to give the cham more of a hunt rather than a dinner plate, and times when i've held the whole katy in my fingers for the cham so there was no screen; thus i didn't twist the legs. (twisting the legs will kill the katy by the next day or so, so if i'm not sure the cham is going to eat it, i will offer by hand and move down my cham line until someone wants it).

but bottom line for the record; IME katy legs, screens, and cham tongues can be too much in more than a few situations. strained tongue muscle, katy sharp leg spines, chams "flying towards the screen" (hehee!) do happen. feed them, but if in doubt i advise twisting the legs at the hip or even the knee, which gets rid of most of the "bad" part of the leg.
 
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