Keeping Locusts

[rebirthflame]

I have been feeding my mantis on locusts recently (hate crix) till my roach colony is up and running. I've have a hard time keeping them alive. i just bought a little plastic viv to keep them in so the have room to perch and moult got a heat mat in there too to keep it a nice temp for them and no substrate to keep humidity down but im still getting quite a high mortality rate has anyone had any experiance with keeping them and have any advice on keeping them in the land of the living. Thanks

 

[infinity]

crickets ALWAYS have a high mortality- especially in the large colonies... But you're doing the right thing by keeping it dry and warm (stops mould etc)... However, it means that some will become dehydrated and die or eat others. Can't be helped really except to offer lots of fresh veg (not carrots) and ensure that they have plenty of space with a non-spillable water source.

 

[Rick]

crickets ALWAYS have a high mortality- especially in the large colonies... But you're doing the right thing by keeping it dry and warm (stops mould etc)... However, it means that some will become dehydrated and die or eat others. Can't be helped really except to offer lots of fresh veg (not carrots) and ensure that they have plenty of space with a non-spillable water source.

Not true. My colonies don't have high mortality rates. But he is talking about locusts which require different care.

 

[infinity]

oops, misread...

Ok, from my experience, things that have killed my locusts fall into 5 categories:

Heat: - too much or too little - too little is better than too much as they dehydrate or burn themselves on the lamp/ heatmat if it's too hot - too little means a longer reproductive period (degree days)

Lack of food - they do need to eat - pretty obvious this one

Lack of water - even though SGs and LMs are found in hot places and are used to minimal rainfall/ moisture, they do need water- so fresh veg is essential, if lettuce/ cabbage is too expensive to go out and get specifically for them then give them the discards from cooking etc. Or use grass/ dandelion leaves

Bacteria/ fungi/ pesticides - If you do go out and get stuff from the garden- make sure it hasn't been sprayed or is near a field that has - especially near *organic* fields. A few drops of pesticide will kill one or two, a few drops of BT could wipe out the colony

However, all the above I have found have been minor to:

THE STUPID THINGS KNOCK THEMSELVES OUT ON THE GLASS!!!

-yes, this has been my biggest killer... Every time I walked in on them, they'd jump around like crazy and knock themselves out. Height in a locust's case is more important than width. And try not to get a container that has sloping sides - if a locust jumps up a straight piece of glass it will hit air- if it jumps up a slanted piece of glass, it will hit the glass...