All About Feeding Grasshoppers

As with all other types of pet, it is vital to provide enough of the right food for your grasshopper(s). These rather interesting insects actually require quite a bit of food, but fortunately they tend to eat readily available vegetation.

What Do Grasshoppers Eat?

In the wild, grasshoppers mostly eat grass and green leaves; they will also eat things such as moss and fungi when grass or other leaves are scarce or not readily available. However, if hungry enough because their favorite food sources are not readily obtainable, these insects will eat animal waste, spider silk, and even dead insects and other creatures such as flies, mosquitoes, and spiders. Grasshoppers kept in captivity can be fed grass and leaves found near to the home. But you should also be able to feed other types of foods too.

Do Grasshoppers Eat Lettuce?

This is a question asked quite frequently by those who have found grasshoppers and decided to keep them as pets. The answer is yes, grasshoppers do eat lettuce as well as other greens you might have in your kitchen, including cabbage and kale. It is important to wash any food thoroughly to remove all traces of potential pesticides that might be present.

Feeding a grasshopper with grass or leaves is all about trial and error. You will eventually find something that they like to eat. Rest assured that grasshoppers will not eat any type of food that they either do not like or which could be toxic to them. Simply place the food into the terrarium and see how they get on. If you see that it has not been eaten, try something different until you find a food they enjoy.

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How Often Do Grasshoppers Eat?

Grasshoppers in captivity must be fed every day; in fact, you should be prepared to provide them with food more than once a day as they can consume up to sixteen times their own weight in food. It is highly likely that they are going to need more food than you initially thought possible.

What Do Grasshoppers Drink?

Grasshoppers do not drink water in the same way that humans or other animals do. They get their water from the foods that they eat. This is why it is good practice to spray any leaves or other food items with water before placing it into the terrarium.

Do Grasshoppers Need Water?

Although they do not actually drink water from a dish, grasshoppers do require water to survive. As mentioned above, you should spray their food with water before putting it in the terrarium. However, keep an eye on the tank to check on humidity levels. Grasshoppers do not do well in humid environments, so it is important to ensure the tank is not too moist; conversely, it should not be too dry either. The best way to create the perfect environment is to just spray the food as described above or run it under the tap before feeding it to them.

Make sure to clean out any uneaten food before it has the chance to develop any mold. If it has wilted or begun to dry out, your grasshopper is unlikely to eat it, so remove it immediately. This helps ensure the tank stays dry and healthy.

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Why is My Grasshopper Not Eating?

There are a couple of reasons a grasshopper may not be eating. The first is that it does not like the food you have provided. Although grasshoppers are not too fussy when it comes to their food, they will not eat leaves or grass that they either do not like or that could be toxic to them.

If you have placed food into the terrarium but notice it hasn’t been touched, remove it and replace with a different food item. Try some washed lettuce to begin with and see if the grasshopper will eat that. If it is still not eating, there could be another issue at play.

The second reason might be that the terrarium is too cold. Grasshoppers prefer temperatures between 77F and 95F. Lower than this means it is likely that the grasshopper will become lethargic and hence stop eating. If the temperature is too cold, the grasshopper could stop eating completely and potentially even die. It is also worth remembering that adult grasshoppers do not live for very long. In fact, the life cycle of a grasshopper from egg to death is only around one year.

How Long Can a Grasshopper Live Without Food or Water?

Grasshoppers need food every day to thrive; as previously mentioned, they get their moisture from this food. They will not survive for too long without food or water. Although studies on the length of time they can survive without food or water are scarce, it has been suggested that they would not live longer than a couple of days without access to food.

Photo Credits:

• Featured Image (Rainbow Grasshopper): Stellarkid – This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
• Spotted Grasshopper: Crisco 1492 – This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
• Leaf Grasshopper: L. Shyamal – This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
• American Bird Grasshopper: Tom Friedel – This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
• Tobacco Grasshopper: Joydeep – CC BY-SA 3.0