oh wait they'd eat the plants. lol idk. maybe if it was a plant they couldn't eat but i don't know what that would be.

I thought about that too 😆. I'm gonna try the bugs first and see how they do. I also thought about doing a screen floor with a removable tray under it that would catch the poop but I don't think that would work either. Adult poops are too big to fit through the screen so you'd still have to get in the enclosure every couple days and sweep the poop around to try to force it through the screen. That kind of defeats the purpose. I'm trying to make it as maintenance free as possible.

@@KylesMonitors You could do a setup where you have a wire shelf like some use for seed starting or indoor growing shelves and have the colonies on top, then have shop lights on each shelf to grow little trays of various grass and lettuce seeds to put in the tank. Plus have a small garden bed outside to grow the plants and let them go to seed, trust me, one bolting lettuce plant will make a TON of seeds. An insect barrier cloth would be good to use outside on the garden bed too, all you would need to do is water it, but nitrogen heavy fertilizer will make the plants grow like mad. I live next door to a farm and the grasshoppers typically leave my stuff alone, they prefer to eat wild millet grasses and alfalfa that grows in the fields and an area I don't mow for the wildlife.

😆

I appreciate the input. I don't think you understand how much waste they produce though.

@@KylesMonitors Oh, I definitely do. I’ve had 8’ snake shit decompose on just soil. Same with our varanids - no fancy isopods or springtails. Just soil. Colonies of roaches? Soil.

The beetles would reproduce and keep the population of superworms up. The worms will eat just about anything (including styrofoam) so I figured I would try them and see how they do. You're right about the pesticides, I should have specified. Sometimes it's easier to not go into a long-winded rant about certain things. I tried normal romaine and almoat all of them died so I switched to organic and they're doing fine. I'll experiment with it more when I have multiple enclosures for them. I tried a hydroponics system but couldn't get it it to grow well in my basement and I don't have time or space for it right now. There's no way a microgreen system would feed them, they eat pounds a week. I would need a massive rack system to keep up with them and it would likely cost the same to grow it as buy it once you factor in electric cost for lighting. I really appreciate the input though.

If you need to dispose of a bunch of adult mealworm beetles, the Colorado River Toad (Incilius alvarius) will happily eat them. It’s close to what they eat in the wild. Plus you can then use the toad to scent rodents to get baby amphibian-eaters on something easier to come by

@@KylesMonitors yeeee, I plan on experimenting with different worms for eating meat off bones for taxidermy reason. You'd probably just need to do some population control eventually when it comes to the darkling beetles, since they will focus more on eating the grasshoppers lettuce over any waste and contribute waste themselves. They eat a slightly more veggie based diet as adults :-) As for the lettuce thing It would mainly to help reduce cost rather than be an entire diet. When I grew microgreens for my guinea pigs I would just grow them in the dark and they did fine You're supposed to cover them anyhow for a lot of the time. I usually got at least one sheet a week with a rotation of 4, which would feed them their veggies for the entire day. I wonder if having a cricket version of this would be easier? Would be interesting to try. It would be just an open air cricket bin. They're a bit more fickle and would likely make more waste since theyd need a huge number But they reproduce quick as well and they will eat a more grain based diet so it becomes easier to feed. They just don't get as big of course. You could even feed them leftovers from meals and the such without much worry much like a mealworm bin

@@Axqu7227 interesting In the past my amphibians didn't like them either, not even a pacman, but I've never really had the opportunity to have a Colorado river toad

I was trying to find a good insect supplier that had crickets and found Rainbow Mealworms. I won't be using them because they are on other side of country and shipping is high, but they had a cleanup crew beetle that I assume is related to superworms, but super tiny. The larvae and beetles are advertised for dart frogs and other small creatures.

I considered doing that or flats on a rack but ended up going with indoor hydroponics that failed and I haven't had the time to figure out yet. Micro greens and sprouts could work, but it would take a ton of them. I need to look into all this stuff more when I have free time to experiment with it.

They're a lot bigger than crickets, they make less noise and they smell less. They're fantastic feeders, just not cheap to breed or buy. They have slightly less protein than dubia roaches, less fat and more moisture content.

@@KylesMonitors So do you....sell them?

@@MrBud85 I will in the future. If you want some now you can message me om Facebook or Instagram and I'll tell you where to get them.

You're not wrong 😆

You could do them in smaller enclosures. I'm going to move them to 2 different 2x2x2 pvc enclosures in the next couple weeks.

I'm not sure if that's a compliment or insult 😆. Either way, you'll have to come back to see the next round of builds.

@@KylesMonitors compliment but I’m not in your targeted demographic it just randomly popped up and I ain’t seen anyone do the grasshopper thing before 😂 Good shit bro 👍🏽

@@mhill93278 well I'm glad you enjoyed it 😂

When their numbers are high they multiply slowly, making just a few babies per week. When their numbers are low they multiply rapidly, producing hundreds of babies per week. It doesn't worry me at all. I keep and breed them to feed to my monitor lizards. If they didn't breed I wouldn't have them 😃

That's fine too! They're actually pretty interesting. If you want to get some healthy captive bred hoppers in the US feel free to send me a message on another platform and I'll tell you where you can get them.

Thank you for the offer, I will keep this in mind if I get the opportunity.

These are just normal grasshoppers, not locust. The colony still produces a ton. I feed 20-30 a week to adult monitors and it'll get to the point where I have to start feeding small hoppers off to my baby monitors to keep the population in check.

I feed them to my monitor lizards.

No, we don't have locust here in the US. These are a regular grasshopper from a California desert.

@@Adnancorner I have pretty harsh winter where I live and nothing grows through it. I need a steady food source all year. I also don't have time to take care of a garden, I've tried.