death to all crickets!

[maitre]

I know there is a difference, but I can't remember why I went with lats. I did what you did and got opinions and researched. I think because I read they can't climb and maybe they are smaller and my t's are all juvies. Softer? Honestly, I don't remember why! I just know it was my decision at the time. We will let the experts weigh in on the pros and cons. LOL.

I responded to your inquiry, kathy, but here's a recap

Pros of BOTH B. dubia / B. lateralis:
-Can't climb, can't fly
-Breed very easily with some additional heat and humidity
-Don't smell nearly as bad as crickets do
-cheap to feed: powder up some dry cat food or dog food. toss in some fruit once a week or two
-once your colonies get going, they WILL NOT stop unless you starve them or put them in a very cold environment. You will likely end up with waaaay more roaches than you need so get lots of bins ready.



Pros of B. dubia:
-grows to a very large size so it is a great freeder for huge adult T's; as well as other large insectivores such as pixie frogs, cane toads, etc.

Cons of B. dubia:
-likes to play dead; remedy is to crush the head before feeding or to tong feed
-burrows/hides; same remedy as above
-harder exoskeleton (but nowhere as hard as madagascar hissers) - nowhere around this.. it's one of their defenses. Most T's will get through their shell just fine but there is still a risk




Pros of B. lateralis:
-runs around a lot and general keeps moving until they are caught - this is great to get a T's attention
-very soft exoskeleton so you don't have to worry about broken fangs
-baby lateralis are smaller than baby b dubia. They appear meatier too - this makes them better for slings/juvis
-don't grow bigger than a large adult cricket - if you don't keep large T's, this is a plus

Cons of B. lateralis:
-fast, fast, fast - if you drop one on the ground, be ready to stomp on it. It will be nasty but it is better than having these guys run around the house. I've never had them 'infest' my home but they live for quite some time even out of their enclosure
-because they are fast, they are not suited for slow or sluggish Ts... I've never found this to be a problem though. Even if they T doesn't catch the lateralis on its first try, it will eventually catch it



Generally, I find both these species great to keep! Feed B. lateralis to sling/juvies and feed B. dubia to adults and other insectivores. Both are easy to breed. B lateralis requires a humid environment to breed successfully. B dubia will breed regardless of how dry it is (in my experience). If you clean out the enclosures once every two weeks, I doubt you will ever have a smell issue. I do monthly cleanings but past that, I start to notice a smell.

I've had escapees but I have never faced any sort of 'infestation.' They will, however, live for quite some time after they escape so you may find them around the house (I have.. and squished them).

 

[ZergFront]

I'd get some lats but my folks aren't too keen on roaches (especially since we had an infestation of the German ones at our old home).

I'm only minorly annoyed with crickets because of how much it takes to keep a colony living (lots of ventilation, little dry substrate so they don't choke on their own ammonia waste, fresh veggies instead of water, lots of space so they don't cannibalize, etc) and they're just so. Darn. Stupid! I watched one leap onto it's back into a milk gallon lid of water to avoid my Zoropsis and it drowned. :? :wall:

Wonder why they're so low on the food chain...

Least they can't fly. last night I guess a waxworm had escaped and cocooned because I woke up at 2AM with something smacking into my face.

 

[lunashimmer]

I don't have a p[roblem with crickets--I buy 6 every Monday from my LPS, bring 'em home, transfer them to a small Critter Keeper, and give them fish flakes, a soda bottle cap full of water and a bit of paper towel roll for a shelter. I have 2 that are chirping right now and I enjoy it but my husband does not. I've had 2 crix die out of this batch and I wonder if it's from the fungus/virus that a few people mentioned?

When I've fed 'em all to my Ts, I wash out the KK and get it ready for another batch. I feed my small Ts every other day--trying to get them to molt, plus I enjoy watching them catch their dinners and eat.

Roaches completely skeeve me out..and right now I have the creepy-crawlies because of reading that some of them can almost fly!!!! OMG. :barf:

They do have an odor to them but they're never around long enough to really smell. If I had a large collection of Ts I might have to do something different, though.

 

[AbraCadaver]

I am getting very uncertain of what to do.. The thought of roaches freak me out, but I*m starting to lean against them, because of the breeding thing.. Would help me save alot, as I always find something to buy when I walk into a petstore to buy me cricks =p Think Imma go with lats if I go for roaches though.. I only have slings and juvies, a full blown giant roach colony isn't what I need..

 

[maitre]

You'll need to get a colony going or else you might feed off all your roaches. I almost fed off my entire lat colony when I was being careless about their numbers. I know people who accidentally fed off all their males and had no males left to breed with. Make sure your colonies are on-going before feeding.

 

[maitre]

Oh, lats mostly just run around. Males will sometimes but RARELY try to fly unlike crickets that ALL jump. they're not gross at all. Once you own them, you'll realize they seem a lot cleaner than crickets because they smell less.

 

[AbraCadaver]

Yeah, what I meant about giant colony was I wont be bothered with giant roaches. How do you tell males apart from females? I have 9 T's, do I really need a full blown colony?

 

[maitre]

They're extremely easy to sex: Male lats have wings, females don't. Same thing with dubia.

Lat colonies are easy to keep under control. If you strip them of heat and humidity, they will try to breed but the ootheca will not hatch. When you want them going again, just give them looooots of water (I literally spray the egg cartons with water - no joke) and the population will explode.

 

[MichiganReptiles]

They're extremely easy to sex: Male lats have wings, females don't. Same thing with dubia.

Lat colonies are easy to keep under control. If you strip them of heat and humidity, they will try to breed but the ootheca will not hatch. When you want them going again, just give them looooots of water (I literally spray the egg cartons with water - no joke) and the population will explode.

Is that the same for Dubia? Keeping them under control.

And yes, super easy to sex - the males are thinner and have wings, females are fat and no wings

 

[MechaChiro]

Dubias are somewhat beetle-like.
They really aren't even slightly creepy to me.
Dubias scare a coulpe of my T's.
They are crunchy and hard to penetrate for juvenile T's
My Lateralis never fly, except for when one leaps from my hand and glides to the floor. The Lats make exceptional feeders because they are running morons that practically ask for death.

Lateralis is the way to go.
Unless you're a tong feeder in which case there shouldn't be much of a difference.

If you make a packing tape border near the top of your Rubbermaid container neither species can escape. Once they make it to the tape it is far too smooth to climb and they will just struggle to climb until they fall or give up.

 

[maitre]

Is that the same for Dubia? Keeping them under control.

And yes, super easy to sex - the males are thinner and have wings, females are fat and no wings

I find dubia will try to breed regardless of the conditions. I have kept them bone dry for the last few months to slow them down but they are still pumping out babies like no tomorrow. Many babies don't survive the low-humidity conditions though.. but many of them do since they get fruits every 1-2 weeks.

 

[lgarruda]

Here in Brazil, to avoid escapes of climber roaches, we use Vaseline (petroleum jelly). It is very simple: apply Vaseline 3'' around the box, from the lid, and adults and nymphs won`t pass. It is so effective that you can even uncover the lid (althought I don`t recommend it). The only care is to reapply Vaseline each 2 weeks or so.

 

[AbraCadaver]

Well I took the plunge. Dumpling(A.versicolor) and Severus( A.sp.mysterious) are scared of them all the others took them down with a bang. I suspect Dumpling is blind after her fall, as the part of her carapace where the eyes are is all wonky and protruding.. Shes been very cautious with all prey when I first pop them in after the accident, but she usually pounces after a while..

But man, these things creep me out so badly! They're gross, and they make these skuttling noises XD The guy in the LPS told me just to put a layer of oats in, cause then they can both eat it and burrow in it.. They do both, and seem content enough.. It was Dubia I bought, btw..

It was so fun to watch Ginny(A.huriana) take one down, cause it was as big as her. I wanted to try and see how she reacted, because she can be a bit skittish, and crickets scare her. She musta been hungry though, cause she took it before I could blink

All my babies show signs of pre-molt, but they still want to eat.. They are very piggy eaters though.. They all try and eat the syringe when I fill their waterdishes, and they're little fatsoes

 

[pouchedrat]

yeah I'll be switching to roaches soon... because of the cricket shortage mostly.

Thing is, it's not the T's I worry about (I have 40something T's and all of them readily accept frozen/thawed crickets anyway, so I have stock still for them), it's my other pets on whether they'll accept roaches as feeders or not. I have a baby bearded dragon who eats like a pig, and a paludarium with red eye tree frogs who are currently on hunger strike. The last few crickets I managed to purchase, the tree frogs FINALLY ate for the first time in what seems like ages. I need something that'll attract them, but at the same time I'm very nervous about it since my paludarium's background would be easy for roaches to climb out, and that we rent. At least with crickets, they die or the cat gets them if they escape from there.

I guess I'll just see how it goes and test it with a roach nymph or two, to see if they escape easily or not.