HELP! Need Quick Answer

[ladygigi]

I just caught what I think is a grasshopper, it could be a locust. How do you tell the difference? This one is brown with wings that extend well past its body. They have black stripes and so do its hind legs. It is kind of large. My second question besides whether its a grasshopper or locust is this; is this something I could feed Skittles? Skittles is an L4 I think. He's 1 and 1/4 inches long. This hopping thing I just caught is 1 and 3/4 inches from head to end of wings.

 

[D_Hemptress]

i though locust and grasshoppers were the same thing :huh:

and as long as its not too large and Skittles can grab it and take it down, it will be fine.

grasshoppers have powerful legs though, be careful its not too big or it may injure your mantis with a big kick

 

[ladygigi]

i though locust and grasshoppers were the same thing :huh:

and as long as its not too large and Skittles can grab it and take it down, it will be fine.

grasshoppers have powerful legs though, be careful its not too big or it may injure your mantis with a big kick

What if I remove or break one of its hind legs thus reducing its powerfulness but not stopping its mobility? I.e. It could still move around giving Skittles a hunt.

 

[jrh3]

i wouldnt do it.

 

[D_Hemptress]

i wouldnt do it.

mind explaining why?!

What if I remove or break one of its hind legs thus reducing its powerfulness but not stopping its mobility? I.e. It could still move around giving Skittles a hunt.

thats what i would do! but now im curious to why he wouldnt ^^^^ there could very well be good reason

 

[Danny.]

What if I remove or break one of its hind legs thus reducing its powerfulness but not stopping its mobility? I.e. It could still move around giving Skittles a hunt.

I've done this before and it works but you'd be surprised how strong they still are.

 

[Danny.]

mind explaining why?!

thats what i would do! but now im curious to why he wouldnt ^^^^ there could very well be good reason

A hopper can injure a L4 by crashing into it when jumping around.

 

[D_Hemptress]

right! i do believe i said that

 

[ladygigi]

A hopper can injure a L4 by crashing into it when jumping around.

With one of its hind legs broken or removed it wouldn't be able to jump around. Would it?

 

[thalassarche]

Sounds like it might be too big for Skittles to consider it prey worth hunting. Generally you want to limit the food to the size of the mantis' abdomen, though some aggressive species are willing to take on food their own size. Even with a hindleg missing, I'd still think the locust/grasshopper/whatever it is would be too potentially dangerous if it tried to fight back against Skittles.

 

[jrh3]

mind explaining why?!

thats what i would do! but now im curious to why he wouldnt ^^^^ there could very well be good reason

a hopper the same size as a mantis is very risky, hoppers do bite and have as much if not more strength than a mantis. i stay away from them unless its a large mantis and small hopper.

 

[ladygigi]

Thanks for everyone's help on this yesterday. I let the guy go back out into the wild.

 

[D_Hemptress]

a hopper the same size as a mantis is very risky, hoppers do bite and have as much if not more strength than a mantis. i stay away from them unless its a large mantis and small hopper.

i had no idea that they bite. im terrified of grasshoppers and that just makes it worse. dear god!!!

 

[angelofdeathzz]

I think the giant mandibles are more of a threat to a L4 than the leg kick.

 

[thalassarche]

Yeah, did anyone see the BBC Earth documentary on Africa? Giant land grasshoppers that invade the nests of birds to feed on the chicks! Granted those are giant ones, but it does go to show that even if most of them just eat vegetation they do have powerful mandibles!