Roaches as feeders?

[martin98]

I'm curious, does anyone feed roaches to their cresteds. I was thinking of starting breeding B. Dubias as feeders and would like some input on this. Mainly I'm tired of messing with crickets and their smell. I feed CGD and GGD most of the time, but supplement with crickets 2 or 3 times a week. Plus I'd use them with my other gecko sp.

[sciteacher]

Martin,

I can't help much with your question, but I was right where you're at a couple of weeks ago. I am in the process of setting up two colonies of roaches. I have already received my Blatta lateralis shipment (500 roaches) and have them set up. I haven't fed any yet though. I'm also setting up a Blaptica dubia colony. I will be getting a smaller group of dubia in the next week or so. I have their tub set up and am just waiting for shipment. My thoughts so far... the lateralis are a bit larger than I expected (seem a bit larger than "cricket sized") and they are quick. I have them set up in the garage and am a bit nervous about bringing them into the house for feeding. I'm not worried about infestation, but if my wife starts seeing escapees running around loose, it won't be a pretty situation!

The dubias are even larger, but I think I'll like them better. I've kept a small group of Hissers for a couple of years... not as feeders, just as classroom pets. They don't move nearly as quickly, and they don't look at all like the German cockroach that can infest homes. The dubias remind me quite a bit of a slightly smaller version of the hissers. I was only going to get the dubias, but I found a deal on the lateralis where I could get 500+ for less than $50. I figured I'd go ahead and try both species.

Gary

[martin98]

Gary,  you must have seen the same ad as me in kingsnake, I ordered lateralis and dubia today. I'll be keeping them in the garage for the same reasons as yourself, in sterilite tubs. I have enough geckos that someone will eat them, such fun starting new hobbies like raising feeder roaches. Hopefully I can keep the escapees to a minium and start a new food source for my geckos. The adventure continues.....

[NYCrestie]

good topic

here my situation
i HATE crickets!
i was thinking of starting a much smaller colony of roaches myself
the thing is, i currently only have 3 cresteds, all under a year of age. 1 is about 7 or 8 months and the other 3 are about 4 months old. so i like the small size of the lateralis, but will be afraid of how fast they are. i like that the dubia are slow, but am worried about their size.
i have been debating for a month now on what to do and still havent come up with a solution

ps, i dont like roaches either, lol
didnt even think about housing them in the garage, but now that the 2 of you mentioned it, i know exactly where i will be keeping them!

[martin98]

Well I got my roaches today and it is an assortment of sizes. I got them set up in their tubs and picked out a couple of medium sized ones. The standings day geckos tore into them. These roaches aren't really creepy looking like a cock roach I'm use to, dubias are like a little tank and lateralis are short and thick. If all my cresteds like them as much as my day geckos I'll have a hit on my hands. Doesn't seem too hard to keep, keep them warm and feed them and you'll have more nymphs.

[SharpExotics]

Hello guys!

I spent a lot of time researching feeder roaches...I settled on the Latteralis...for several reasons:

Size: Latteralis are the perfect size for ciliatus...weather you are feeding hatchlings or adults you will have the right size of roach.

Mobility: Latteralis do not burrow or climb...I have several thousand in 58qt tub with no lid on it and have yet to see one "get out". Tey will climb the silicone in the corners of glass tanks...but that is easy enough to fix.

The Dubia both climb and burrow...and they also get to big in my opinion....and up the facts and I think it's an easy choice to make.

As far as the speed of latteralis...I have noticed that it seems to heighten my geckos drive to hunt.

Just my .02

Israel

[NYCrestie]

have you owned the dubia?
ive never heard of them climing or burrowing so thats news to me

whats the easy fix you speak of to keep the latteralis from climbing the silicone?

how fast are the laterallis?

i really like the way laterallis sound but their speed is whats making me think otherwise

[firecrested]

I bred dubias for about 6 months.  I didnt have much luck with them.  My cresteds wouldnt eat any of them, but they did breed fast..

[GeckoEyes]

I use lobster roachs (not sure about its scentific name..) alot for all my reptiles and have given molted nymphs to my baby cresteds twice and they loved them.

My leopard geckos also really like the roachs.

[martin98]

I have both Dubia and Lateralis, my cresteds eat both kinds. I feed mostly nymphs and smaller ones to my adult cresteds. I don't see any diffference in the two as far as preference. I just wanted something to suppliment CGD and GGD, plus I think they like the hunt and chase.

[Anthony Caponetto]

I've tried lobster roaches and didn't have much luck.  They seemed to hide way too fast for the Cresteds to even notice them.  I think more probably escaped than got eaten.  The escaped roaches caused a slight spider infestation in my reptile room too.  Not a good experiece. lol

[cml3.0]

I have a colony of Lateralis. I do occasionally give a couple of them to my geckos and beardies. They seem to love them. And I saw an increase in weight gain when I was feeding them roaches not crickets. They are fast, but are easier to catch than the crickets b/c they only go in straight lines, not like crazy crickets.

If you are worried about them escaping you can get some bug stop from any of the major roach sellers (toc roach store, carnivorous orchid), also several people sell a gut loader especially for roaches and is much better than what is sold in store (i am referring to the above mentioned store).  Oh, and you can also use vaseline for a bug stop. Just apply it to the top of the cage and they can't climb over it.
Hope that helps
Christa

[MdngtRain]

Is there a place to get small (a max of 12) numbers of roaches to feed?  I only have 2 cresteds, so an entire colony would be over-kill. 

[sciteacher]

I'm sure a lot of roach breeders would sell a small number to you if you wished, but I think you'd find that they weren't nearly as cost effective as crickets if you're simply looking for insects to feed off to your animals. If you're simply going to feed the roaches without breeding any replacements, then the main advantage I would see over the crickets is that the roaches have a much longer lifespan, so you might be able to order a hundred or so and feed them off over a period of months, whereas the crickets would die much quicker and many would go to waste.

Gary

[NYCrestie]

yea im gonna agree with sciteacher on that one

thats the main reason ive thought about starting a roach colony myself

whats everyone opinion on the smallest roach colony i could get away with?
would 50 cut it?
how many breeding size roaches would be a good number to keep, and feed off the nymphs, remembering to raise more nymphs to adulthood to replace the older adults
keep in mind i only have 3 cresteds all under 1 year of age

still havent decided on lateralis or dubias....but am leaning towards lateralis