# food for breeding hoppers



## elaineandsparky (Oct 7, 2012)

so i'm fed up of going into pet shops and getting home to find a few dead ones in every tub and I have a spare tank and light so I've just set it up to breed them.
I'm pretty sure I've got everything right in there but one question relating to cost.

Instead of buying veg from the supermarket can I just go into the big outdoors and grab some leafy branches and grass instead?


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## bunglenick (Feb 24, 2013)

Personally I just feed mine a mix of rolled oats and blended high quality cat biscuits as I have read that is perfect and what a lot of pro breeders do.

I freeze the oats first to kill off any pests or mites, then in an old blender I crush up about one part cat biscuits, one part oats, then I add one more part oats (which haven't been blended) and mix it all together. I then mix in a spoonful of calcium/vitamin mix and put it in an air tight jar and feed it to my insects with some bug gel or sliced up fruit/veg for water.

I also have a layer of this mix in the feeding bowl in my viv so my insects are as gut loaded as they can be. (And a separate calcium dish in the viv as an optional supplement for my gecko)

This works out very cheap for me as we get a job lot of oats from Costco as needed (we make our own muesli so always have oats laying around the kitchen) and as we share our home with several cats we also have high quality cat biscuits on demand.

This might not be as cheap as just getting grass and plants from outside but I remember when I was a kid and our rabbit got sick from eating grass the dog had peed on so you never know what you might end up feeding your feeders and by extension your reptile.


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## jarich (Mar 23, 2012)

No that is not what pro breeders do. Pro breeders buy what is called rat chow. Its made by Mazuri and specifically formulated to provide the right nutrition for rodents. Cat biscuits are for cats, rodent chow for rodents. If you absolutely have to feed some other type of food, go with rabbit or at least dog rather than cat. At least rabbit and dog biscuits have a decent amount of vegetable matter in it and not such a high amount of protein.


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## bunglenick (Feb 24, 2013)

I'm just going on what I have read and have heard feeder breeders saying, but this is for insects not rodents anyway.


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## jarich (Mar 23, 2012)

Hahaha! Sorry, I keep getting things mixed up due to the different names over there. My bad. Thought you talking about hoppers as in mice. I take it you are talking about locusts?


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## bunglenick (Feb 24, 2013)

Yeah. I was talking about locusts.


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## Dragon Farm (Aug 7, 2009)

I have never heard of professional locust breeders using cat biscuits, and I have seen a large scale operation in the flesh, and I have friends in the industry. 

I breed hundreds of locusts every week. Feed them grass and/or spring greens, and add a shallow container with some wheat bran, and they will thrive. They will do much better with this diet than with other fruit/veg. They should not need any additional water if they are fed correctly. 

In my opinion adding calcium/vits to the dry food is a waste of money. The locusts are unlikey to eat any of this. 

Yes within reason (use common sense) grass from the garden is safe and good food. Its Less likely to be sprayed with nasty chemicals than most supermarket veg !


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