Grasshoppers dying

[moviemanmania]

I’ve been field collecting American bird grasshoppers in an attempt to breed them. They are setup in large Rubbermaid with a side mounted heat Matt, 81f, timer light, climbing branches and fed green peppers, dandelion leaves, sweet potatoes, oranges and carrots. The females don’t last long and seem to perish in a few days and the males seem to be fading shortly behind them. I’ve even separated males from females but to no avail. What am I doing wrong?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I’ve been field collecting American bird grasshoppers in an attempt to breed them. They are setup in large Rubbermaid with a side mounted heat Matt, 81f, timer light, climbing branches and fed green peppers, dandelion leaves, sweet potatoes, oranges and carrots. The females don’t last long and seem to perish in a few days and the males seem to be fading shortly behind them. I’ve even separated males from females but to no avail. What am I doing wrong?

American Bird hoppers are very particular regarding humidity. I had the same issue as you. They require a very dry climate. My daytime humidity was 30-40 and I still had a ton of die off. The humidity causes problems with molting. Mine were not big eaters. They seemed to prefer squash and romaine lettuce. I never got eggs or mating.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

All had molting issues and died!

 

[elizaann2]

I keep my hoppers in a smaller reptibreeze enclosure (left over from the chameleon death kit). My hoppers get heat from a heat lamp from 8 am to 8 pm and UVB from a T5HO 5.0 light for the same amount of hours. They are fed a mixture of collard greens, lettuce, cabbage...and other leafy greens I cannot think of right now. I also feed them the Josh's Frogs dry cricket food found on their website. I have sticks set up in the enclosure similar to what you would see in a set up for a chameleon. I find they use the sticks a lot to perch on and hide from me when I reach in their enclosure.

It took a while for my hoppers to start breeding but I'm seeing more of that now. They have a lay bin at the bottom of their enclosure with a dirt/sand mixture that is kept moist. Haven't had any eggs hatched yet though but my current hoppers seem to be doing well.

I know they need a lot of air flow and low humidity too so maybe putting them in a set up that allows for that will help.

 

[moviemanmania]

Thanks for all the help guys. I live in south Louisiana so we have anywhere from 60-80% humidity year round. Inside my home is 45-50% so I don’t think that’s the issue but I’ll put a gauge in to see what it is inside the cage. I’ll try some more ventilation. I’ve witnessed a few of them having what appears to be a seizure before passing. Could be just the stress of being in an enclosure and not in the wild? Dunno…

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Thanks for all the help guys. I live in south Louisiana so we have anywhere from 60-80% humidity year round. Inside my home is 45-50% so I don’t think that’s the issue but I’ll put a gauge in to see what it is inside the cage. I’ll try some more ventilation. I’ve witnessed a few of them having what appears to be a seizure before passing. Could be just the stress of being in an enclosure and not in the wild? Dunno…

I worked on my Americana breeding project with Kahi Phan (you can find him on Facebook). He breeds Americana. My humidity was 30-40, in a large hybird reptibreeze with heat and uvb. They all died. My Nitens and Spotted Birds thrived all of them were in the same environment and were fed the same food. Leafy greens, squash, and wheat grass. The Spotted Birds mated like crazy. The Nitens are slow in every way possible. The 20 adult Americana died, all, except about 4. In the bottom pics, notice they look wet, humidity interferred with molting - which caused die off. Seizures might be related to the food source.

Another person had success with Americana. She kept hers in a 40 gallon aquarium. Had no die off and they were breeding. Khai helped me a ton. You can try reaching out to him on Facebook.

 

[MissSkittles]

Just curious how do you guys take care of the hoppers without them escaping?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

They really don't move much. They cling to the food or screen. They were rarely in flight. I'm scared of all of these reptile feeders. The hoppers are really calm.

 

[MissSkittles]

They really don't move much. They cling to the food or screen. They were rarely in flight. I'm scared of all of these reptile feeders. The hoppers are really calm.

Interesting. I had a giant hopper fly past my head the other day and land on my house. Totally freaked me out and if I ever had one of those loose inside my house, I’ll just have to cut my losses and move.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Interesting. I had a giant hopper fly past my head the other day and land on my house. Totally freaked me out and if I ever had one of those loose inside my house, I’ll just have to cut my losses and move.

No. Just get a butterfly catching net. Catch and return to cage

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I worked on my Americana breeding project with Kahi Phan (you can find him on Facebook). He breeds Americana. My humidity was 30-40, in a large hybird reptibreeze with heat and uvb. They all died. My Nitens and Spotted Birds thrived all of them were in the same environment and were fed the same food. Leafy greens, squash, and wheat grass. The Spotted Birds mated like crazy. The Nitens are slow in every way possible. The 20 adult Americana died, all, except about 4. In the bottom pics, notice they look wet, humidity interferred with molting - which caused die off. Seizures might be related to the food source.

Another person had success with Americana. She kept hers in a 40 gallon aquarium. Had no die off and they were breeding. Khai helped me a ton. You can try reaching out to him on Facebook.

Humidity varies. I think keeping breeding colonies of grasshoppers in an all screen enclosure that provides fresh air is a big help.

My Schistocerca nitens colony eggs are hatching right now. I have got Schistocerca nitens babies everywhere. They have provided a stable colony since 2014. With two possible generations a year I am between generation 10-20 now.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[elizaann2]

Just curious how do you guys take care of the hoppers without them escaping?

Haha I’m not