Feeding wild grasshoppers/locus to lizards

[deathinfire]

Seeing that spring and summer are just around the corner... 8)

I was wondering if people think its a good idea to feed their lizards wild grasshoppers/locus. In canberra theres swams of them around any open area of grass.

Catching the grasshoppers and gut loading them, before feeding.

Theres always the risk of feeding your lizards grasshoppers with nasties on them, but wild reptiles would feast on these insects in the warmer months

Could save massive dollars on crickets during spring and summer.

Suggestions and thoughts on the topic would be great.

 

[Greebo]

We had a Locust plague here last season and I fed heaps of them to my lizards. The ones I keep outside were eating them anyway. I never had any probelms from them.
As long as you know the area hasnt been sprayed with any chemicals, I reckon it is only a small risk feeding them to your lizards. After all, wild lizards eat them all the time.

 

[serpenttongue]

i used to collect wild hoppers for my dragons until the bushland i used was cleared for houses. I guess there is always the chance that these insects were exposed to insecticides/chemicals but none of my lizards ever suffered from wild insects.

I wish a swarm of locusts would hit my area. I used to spend a day in the bush and come home with one jar full of hoppers.

 

[deathinfire]

Thats awesome Greebo

When summer comes around im gona be running around then with a net fishing for them , beats $5.50 every 2days on crickets.

In terms of the nutritional value how do grasshoppers compare to crickets? Ive been looking around on the net for some info but still havent came across anything useful

 

[munkee]

Wouldn't think them to be very different. They are similar insects and most people use supplements in some degree for their lizards don't they?

 

[Amanda]

Hey Serpenttongue, You should come to Wagga when the locusts are swarming. It's nuts! More than you can handle. Your car gets coated with em, and they stink when they are squashed.

I'm not game enough to feed em to my dragons. We live in a rural area, with heaps of farms, and you just never know what the locusts have been chomping into, and what the farmers have sprayed their crops with.

I just don't think it's worth the risk. Have you tried breeding your own crickets deathinfire?

 

[nuthn2do]

The last locust outbreak up here I saw 13 tawny frogmouths die in a week from organo phosphates, horrible screaming death.

 

[deathinfire]

Hey amanda, its sort of difficult for me to breed crickets as i live in a unit, so my space is limited.

Also ive only got 5 mouths to feed, so the time and effort spent breeding crickets may not be worth it, even though they all have huge appetites.

In canberra last summer there was also a huge outbreak of locus every where especially in the nature reserves, local playing fields around suburbs and even in backyards. Im guessing that from these locations the populations which are most likely to be uneffected by insecticides would be those up in the nature reserves away from suburban areas.

 

[deathinfire]

where abouts are you located nuthn2do?