Lobster Roaches or Dubia Roaches

[Tenevanica]

I've heard that lobster roaches smell a bit more than other roaches. Does anyone have experience with this, or was it just a story I heard without much substance?

They do have a slight smell to them. It's not as bad as crickets though.

 

[pannaking22]

They do have a slight smell to them. It's not as bad as crickets though.

Good to know! And I can't imagine anything smells as bad as crickets lol

 

[Travis K]

I've heard that lobster roaches smell a bit more than other roaches. Does anyone have experience with this, or was it just a story I heard without much substance?

IME, they have a faint smell when harassed and picked up, but other than that they weren't bad with smell. It's that they found their way into other roach cultures and caused problems for them that I HATE them.

 

[Walter1]

Hissers stink. Lobsters cleaner even if unwanted!

 

[Walter1]

I do not like them either. For food, my vote is for dubias.

 

[Tenevanica]

I do not like them either. For food, my vote is for dubias.

I prefer lobsters. They are easier, faster breeders, and don't smell nearly as bad.

Hissers stink. Lobsters cleaner even if unwanted!

I know you don't typically clean roach bins, but I suggest you clean out your hisser bin. Hissers should not stink, and it's likely their is bacteria building up in the bin.

 

[pannaking22]

I prefer lobsters. They are easier, faster breeders, and don't smell nearly as bad.

I will say, I've noticed a definite odor starting to come out of my dubia bin. Planning on giving it a good cleaning this weekend and we'll see what happens from there. Might just pick up some lobsters since I don't have a ton of large spiders/scorpions that need something dubia sized. If nothing else a couple extra lobster roaches should cover for a dubia.

 

[Jacob Ma]

You'll need to be a bit careful with lobster roaches, because they can turn parthenogenetic (breed with only females) if they need to apparently. For me, when they have escaped they ate through some cardboard and found a way into my printer to get access to its heat! I'd make sure they'd have a strong barrier (possibly adding insect glue past the vaseline) to prevent escaping. Lobster roaches are a heck of an infestor even in their enclosures, with the adults giving birth to about 20 babies every month or so. They are very clean animals, given a drier substrate, droppings and smells won't be a problem. They tend to eat all of their food when in sizeable numbers, and will not hesitate to eat their own young if hungry or swarm the weaker/molted adults.

 

[pannaking22]

I hadn't heard of pathenogenisis in that species before so that's quite interesting! Besides the normal vaseline layer, I was going to just keep them in a tightly sealed enclosure and maybe put some tape around the top to really discourage escapees.

 

[Tenevanica]

You'll need to be a bit careful with lobster roaches, because they can turn parthenogenetic (breed with only females) if they need to apparently. For me, when they have escaped they ate through some cardboard and found a way into my printer to get access to its heat! I'd make sure they'd have a strong barrier (possibly adding insect glue past the vaseline) to prevent escaping. Lobster roaches are a heck of an infestor even in their enclosures, with the adults giving birth to about 20 babies every month or so. They are very clean animals, given a drier substrate, droppings and smells won't be a problem. They tend to eat all of their food when in sizeable numbers, and will not hesitate to eat their own young if hungry or swarm the weaker/molted adults.

I've seen people put sticky traps above the vaseline on their bins. This seems like overkill to me, but I might try it. Even the adults can't get more than halfway up the Vaseline.

 

[Hisserdude]

I've seen people put sticky traps above the vaseline on their bins. This seems like overkill to me, but I might try it. Even the adults can't get more than halfway up the Vaseline.

The smaller the roach, the easier it is to climb over the Vaseline. Adults are heavier and slip on the Vaseline, nymphs however are much less heavy, and can grasp the Vaseline without slipping as much. Think of it like a mountain of snow, if a human tried climbing it they would slip, but something smaller, say a bird, could walk across it. When it comes to Vaseline, its not the adults you have to worry about, its the nymphs.

 

[BugladyZ]

Hello there, I keep lobster roaches, and dubias among others, and it is very true that lobsters are the quickest breeders and require the least amount of work to keep. Though they can climb, this is a simple problem to solve, just keep your roach furniture a couple of inches lower than the top of your enclosure and put an inch or so of petroleum jelly in a ring around the top of your enclosure, you only need to remember to renew it every 4-6 mos and they CANNOT climb out, i leave the lid off when I am feeding, cleaning etc and have never had an issue with it, allthough for some reason the fact that they can climb deters a lot of people. As long as you are careful not to knock over your enclosure and keep out of the reach of pets like cats and dogs as well as kids, you should not have an issue with infestation ever. I use no substrate, only egg cartons stacked across each other like this # in a plastic tub with ventaiation cut into the top and covered with mesh. And I dont mist or water, they just get some form of fresh fruit or veggie every other day and things like fish flakes and crunched up cat/dog food for protien and they do awesome, I started out with 100 and have bred over 1500 in about 14 mos, have sold many starter colonies. Hope that helps!

 

[Mossae]

I prefer lobsters, my lats tend to smell

 

[MWAInverts]

Lats are extreme prolific, they shouldn't have any smells if cleaned monthly on large, fast breeding colonies that are kept dryer .

 

[smiittyy]

With your description of your container it sounds like you shouldn't have a problem if its sealed up tight. Just some info to consider though, i tried keeping S. Lateralis in a plastic container. Precautions i took were 2in of vaseline, than sticky tape, and then another inch of vaseline at the top with another 16inches or so of plastic container wall below that before the roaches could reach the top. And let me tell you that every single time i opened the lid there was at least one adult sitting at the top past all 16inches of smooth plastic wall and the above mentioned tape and vasaline. If i hadn't had the entire lid duct taped in place from the outside there would have been escapes. Roach colony's create dust, and as soon as there is even a thin coat of dust on the walls of the container the S. lateralis will scurry up the walls like its nobodys business. Dubias are what i would call a roach that cant climb and really the only species out of the three being discussed that should be advertised as such.

Personally i couldn't take the risk, being as i keep nearly 3 grand worth of T's if there was ever to be an outbreak of roaches fumigating wouldn't be an option.

Zach

 

[BugladyZ]

I have not met anyone else who keeps lobster roaches, and the insane amount of precautions people seem to have to take for thiers not to be able to escape makes me think that the roach furniture you have in there is too high and close to the edge of your enclosure or you have a way overcrowded enclosure. I only have about 1" ring of vasoline (maybe even a little less) and I work with the lid off all the time and in three years I have never had any escapees....but I also keep smaller enclosures with only 300est individuals and seperate some out when it looks like there is very many more than that. Maybe if you are having trouble they are just overcrowded

 

[BugladyZ]

My dubia colony has been experiencing significant die-off recently. Not because of anything unusual, but because I am having a very difficult time getting the colony to a suitable breeding temperature in the winter, and the roaches are dying faster than they're breeding. I've been looking at other feeders and I came across lobster roaches. (Nauphoeta cinerea) Apparently these are the easiest roaches to culture. I have heard accounts of them breeding under hostile conditions, and they are stupidly cheap. My only concern would be that there have been reports of lobster roach infestations in houses. When people talk about the "12 pest species" lobsters are one of those. They're not nearly as good at this as, let's say Blatella germanica, but it is still a concern. Should I ditch dubias and start a colony of lobsters, or should I stay with what I know how to handle?

I have lobsters and keep them at room temperature about 60 degrees and have no issues, however they do breed faster in warmer temps. For your dubia issue with the temp, here is what I did.(I have dubias, giant cave, giant peppered and my tarantulas in this cabinet) I went to goodwill and got a cheap glass front cabinet, I paid $5, painted it a color I liked and put some under tank heating under each enclosure and now they are fine and I have not had an issue with the temp since then, this is the cheapest and easiest soloution I could come up with, it is a lot easier to keep a cabinet warm than an entire room! I dont even heat the room they are in and there has not been an issue! Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Tenevanica]

I have lobsters and keep them at room temperature about 60 degrees and have no issues, however they do breed faster in warmer temps. For your dubia issue with the temp, here is what I did.(I have dubias, giant cave, giant peppered and my tarantulas in this cabinet) I went to goodwill and got a cheap glass front cabinet, I paid $5, painted it a color I liked and put some under tank heating under each enclosure and now they are fine and I have not had an issue with the temp since then, this is the cheapest and easiest soloution I could come up with, it is a lot easier to keep a cabinet warm than an entire room! I dont even heat the room they are in and there has not been an issue! Hope this helps! Good luck!

I've started using reptile heat cable with my enclosures, and I assuming that will up the production of both feeder and pet roaches. I had an idea for a heated invertebrate cabinet before, but I never went through with it. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[pannaking22]

Just got some lobsters a couple weeks ago and good god they eat a lot! They're all bottomless pits lol. But that means cleanup is pretty minimal since they eat everything before it can mold. Can't wait for the females to start reproducing. Does anyone know if there is an issue with eating freshly molted individuals or any sort of wing/antenna nibbling or is that only if they're really hungry?

 

[Tenevanica]

Just got some lobsters a couple weeks ago and good god they eat a lot! They're all bottomless pits lol. But that means cleanup is pretty minimal since they eat everything before it can mold. Can't wait for the females to start reproducing. Does anyone know if there is an issue with eating freshly molted individuals or any sort of wing/antenna nibbling or is that only if they're really hungry?

If there is any I haven't experienced it. I always keep dog food in with my roaches so they can get much needed protein without taking it from the other roaches. I wouldn't stop giving them protein though, as these roaches are omnivores in the wild, and they've been known to hunt down smaller insects to eat. Just keep protein available!