# Locust Questions



## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

Hi everyone,

I have a few questions regarding locust, so would appreciate if someone can lend a hand?

What species of locust do most pet shops sell as lizard food? (i know there are a few different ones)

Roughly how often will the locusts reproduce and how many eggs are laid?

Using an incubator, what sort of percentage of eggs can i expect to hatch?

How long will it take for the babies to hatch and then grow to become adults (ready for breeding)?


Thankyou

Karl


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## forteh (Feb 9, 2009)

KarlW said:


> What species of locust do most pet shops sell as lizard food? (i know there are a few different ones)


Think theyre desert locusts (_Schistocerca gregaria_), not too sure though, the wikipedia entry picture certianly looks about right.



KarlW said:


> Roughly how often will the locusts reproduce and how many eggs are laid?


Dont know how often an adult will mate during its mature life, Ive read somewhere that locusts typically multiply 16 fold per generation; a generation is about 2-3 months I think.



KarlW said:


> Using an incubator, what sort of percentage of eggs can i expect to hatch?


You should get 100% hatch rate assuming the substrate isnt too dry/wet, keep it moist and about 80*F and you shouldnt have any problems. I dont worry about % hatch rates, I leave a tub in the colony for a week at a time and then incubate till no more hatch, Ive found that the eggs all seem to hatch about the same time once incubation has started.

I put a tub into the incubator on the 3rd december and got the 1st hatchlings exactly 10 days later on the 13th; so far about 300 hatchlings have been harvested from it. I reckon on about 30 eggs per lay so that should have been 10 lays worth so far.

During my 1st month of hatching I harvested close to 900 hoppers (from 40-50 breeding adults), I emptied the lay pots afterwards to try a different substrate and there were no dud eggs in either of the 2 pots I used, therefore I got 100% hatchrate.



KarlW said:


> How long will it take for the babies to hatch and then grow to become adults (ready for breeding)?


10-14 days to hatch.
Approximately 1 week per moult assuming good temperature and food conditions; 1st instar through to 5th instar about 5-6 weeks.
Approximately 1 week after 6th moult to adults they will take their mature colours of yellow for males and brown/tan for females (immature colour is pinkish); once mature they will mate for 4-5 weeks before dieing.

Most of my locusts get eaten by 3rd instar as thats the size taken by the cresties, my tokay will take up to 5th instars. Ive a feeling I may well be giving some locusts away this upcoming month


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## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

Thanks for that.

So as an estimate each adult female will produce around 20 hoppers before dieing?

If they only last 4-5 weeks as adult i could see it being fairly annoying having to constantly restock your breeding colony.

Karl


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## forteh (Feb 9, 2009)

God no, they lay 20-40 eggs each time, I guess they may lay 20-30 times before they die of old age. Depending on how many feeders you need will depend on how many adults you need to sustain the colony. The 16 fold growth is stated on wikipedia and probably refers to wild growth, in captivity they have no predators and constant good conditions so will likely be higher than that.

Ive currently got waaaay too many adults and another 400 hoppers hatched yesterday, got another 2 tubs full of eggs to incubate aswell


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## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

Thanks.

Expecting 400 locusts per adult is pretty good.

Im just looking at ways of feeding my beardies without the really high costs (i can see them getting to around £100/month soon)

Ive seen several setups, and they all seem fairly complicated, is this actually required?



Karl


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## forteh (Feb 9, 2009)

It will take a while to get a steady flow of locusts the right size and quantity, for the 1st few months expect to have to still buy bulk bags in till you get the regime sorted 

Setups can be simple or complicated, depends on how easy you want your job of cleaning and feeding to be. My box is fairly complicated with the mesh floor and seperate nursery, however I can clean them out in 3 minutes with a hoover without worry of sucking them up or any escapees; feeding takes seconds. The setup is largely automated, all I need to do is put fresh greens in morning and night and swap the laypot over every week.

A rub with mesh lid setup would be simpler to make at first but youre more likely to suffer from escapees every time you open it up. Faunariums are great for keeping the growers on, not tall enough for more than a few adults though. When I built my box I was feeling creative, its been revised 3 times now and is about spot on


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## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

What sort of size hole can they squeeze through?

Im thinking of using a tub with some mesh, but i have also heard that they will likely need a heatlamp?


Karl


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## forteh (Feb 9, 2009)

The slots in the large faunariums are about 1.5-2mm wide, they can squeeze through without any problems, Ive used aluminium car body filler mesh to make the vents on my breeding box, you could glue some inside the faunarium to hatcling proof it.

You dont _need_ a basking lamp, you should just have a warm area that allows them to moult. See my PM reply


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## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

Anyone can tell me just how much space locusts need?

I am weighing up the options of an exoterra vs faunariums vs a custom built setup (if i can find someone to build one)

Obviously the exo has slightly more space, but was wondering just how many adult pairs i can fit in a 1x1x1.


Also, anybody have any tips on how to remove the laying pots without having loads of escapees?

Thanks

Karl


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## forteh (Feb 9, 2009)

Assuming enough basking perches are available a 12x12x12 cube should be good for 30-40 adults without a problem. Using a 12x12x18 exoterra with a reflector lamp on the top will work pretty well (better if you insulate the outsides with polystyrene sheets). When I had 80+ adults in my box (18x10x18) they really did smell quite a bit worse, 50 in there dont smell though.

After a while the adults seem to chill out and dont get spooked by the big money coming into their tank to change the laypot, quite often I will leave the front of my box open for a couple of minutes at a time whilst cleaning out old food & dead locusts or changing the pot; generally the locusts wont all jump out unless you spook them (in which case you can end up with a load all jumping at the same time and you sometimes get one in the face  ). If one escapes just pick it up and drop it back in the box


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## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

40 adults would be more than enough.

if i can expect in the region of 200-400 hoppers per pair per month thats still around 6,000 hoppers per month, which is more than i will ever need (maybe ill end up putting some in classified)

The laypots need to be 4-5' deep i know, so i am looking for something fairly deep too.

I am guessing an exoterra would be easier for the locusts, as it means i can put a basking light, whilst a rub or something similar is better for hatchlings as it means that i can only have tiny tiny holes (need to find something suitable to act as my incubator)

Karl


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## forteh (Feb 9, 2009)

40 adults will produce about 1000 per month or there abouts, remember that after the 1st 6 weeks of adults theyll probably slow down the laying a bit.

A rub works really well for keeping/incubating the hatchlings in but you will need to sort out a safe access for them. They tend to crawl in the space between the lid and the box and sit there, whilst they cant actually escape, as soon as you take the lid off they all jump out. If you can make a hatch in the lid (like the faunariums) then that would be ideal; alternatively there are rubs with a front opening hatch, you might be able to use one of those up ended with the hatch at the top.


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## KarlW (Oct 6, 2009)

> they lay 20-40 eggs each time, I guess they may lay 20-30 times before they die of old age


So thats around 400-1200 per adult female?

How old do they get to be? i thought most adults died within 6 weeks?

Karl


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