# Frustrated with Blaptica dubia roaches



## gvfarns (Apr 19, 2008)

I have a small colony of Blaptica dubia for feeding my one tarantula (G. aureo) because I don't like being tied to the pet store for crickets, and I don't like crickets in general (so much chirping).  I have had the T and roaches for three months.

Here's the frustration: when I throw a roach or two in there (whether small, larger, male, female, etc) either the T runs over to them, at which point they freeze and never move again, or they hide in some nook and the T never pays them any heed.  Either way the roaches don't get eaten.  I've left them there for days and still nothing.  For a long time I thought this was the T just not being hungry (she's about 5.5").  She molted a number of weeks ago and the result is still the same with the roaches.  I'd really like to powerfeed her until she's all the way grown up.

Then I finally bought a few crickets and threw one in.  She ate it immediately, so I threw another, and another.  She always eats them seconds after I throw them in (several at a time sometimes).  Over the last two days she has eaten 13 crickets.  I ran out of crickets before she stopped eating them.  Ok so she likes crickets and her appetite is intact, but this kind of makes my roaches seem useless.

I have tried smashing roach heads with pliers before throwing them in because I heard that they run like idiots when you do that, but they don't seem to move much when I do it.  Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Anyway I'm just about fed up with the roaches (pun intended). They are not active enough to call attention to themselves.  Perhaps it was a poor idea to have a colony of feeders when I only have one consumer.  Or maybe my T just doesn't like B. dubia.  The breeder from whom I got her said he always fed her roaches growing up (never crickets), but I am assuming based on what I'm seeing here that they were not B. dubia.

So couple of questions:  Is there anything else I can try with these roaches before committing them to the freezer?  As much as I like them for raising, they don't seem like good feeders.  At least not for my T.  If I tried a different species of roach, like Blatta lateralis, would I get better results?  They are smaller, faster, and less likely to freeze right?

I feel let down by these dang roaches after all their rave reviews on the net.


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## Moltar (Apr 19, 2008)

This has been driving me nuts too. I've refined my roach preparation process to a pretty gruesome extent, this is what i do:

First i take tiny scissors and snip off their antennae so they can't really tell where the t is. Then i crush their head until i hear a crunch. Then i grab the shell near the head with tweezers and place them ON THEIR BACK a couple inches from the t. This way the cause a commotion trying to get onto their feet then they just sort of stumble in circles for a while. The problem that remains is that they cause such a commotion just grabbing onto anything and overturning it (moss, peat, etc) that i think they seem bigger than they really are to the t, making them skittish.

Even doing this the t's are somewhat hesitant. They'll nail crickets immediately but with roaches it's still like:

"what is this thing moving here? lemme feel it... 
Uhmmm, i think it's food. Ok, i'll gingerly taste it with my fangs and see if it tries to get away...
Ok it's trying to get away, i think i'll eat it now..."

Also, i read an article a while back about how jumping spiders build "prey profiles". Basically every time a spider predates on a fly it gets a little more efficient at hunting flies. At the same time it forgets a little bit about hunting say, small beetles. Eventually after catching enough flies it becomes completely incompetent at catching beetles.

I think tarantulas do this too. Perhaps a t that's been eating crickets (or even lobster roaches instead of dubias) its whole life has to relearn how to recognize dubias as prey and catch them. I've noticed that for the most part slings are quicker to nab a rouch than an adult is. They never developed a prey profile for crickets. At least that's my theory...

There's a lot of research currently being done on jumping spiders' intelligence and behavior. Reading some of that stuff has given me some interesting insights into tarantula behavior.


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## desertdweller (Apr 19, 2008)

I had the same problem at first.  If my T's don't eat them right away, the burrow never to be seen again.  Finally after several tries I fed another to my rosea.  (I have 18 other T's).  She immediately rushed out of her hide and put a foot on it. She was so patient the dubia finally squirmed and it was all over.

Now whenever I put in a dubia she nails it immediately.  After a lifetime of eating crickets it seems she needed to get used to the idea they were food.

Good luck.


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## Lucara (Apr 19, 2008)

My G. alticeps wont touch the roaches! I even cut all the legs off of one and she would pounce on it but the second it moved she freaked out..I have no idea whats up with her. She'll eat her crickets if you leave them in there long enough but she wont touch roaches =( Crickets take FOREVER to get any size on a 5" T...
My other larger T's jump on them like a fat kid in a candy store...I dunno why she wont mess with them. =/


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## gvfarns (Apr 19, 2008)

Hmmm. Stupid roaches.  I'd definitely be interested to hear whether other species work better than dubia, if anyone has that experience as well. 

By the way, awesome replies.  And so fast.  What a great forum!


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## Lucara (Apr 19, 2008)

I suppose i could try and dig up a smaller one? Maybe try and find a baby around the size of a cricket for her? if she'll eat that maybe she'll start munching on the larger ones? You think it might work?


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## jeepinwu2 (Apr 19, 2008)

You should have saved some money and went with lobsters. I don't have any of these problems.  I think I told someone in another thread that if they went with B Dubia they would eventually end up paying for feeders again.


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## gvfarns (Apr 19, 2008)

Lucara said:


> I suppose i could try and dig up a smaller one? Maybe try and find a baby around the size of a cricket for her? if she'll eat that maybe she'll start munching on the larger ones? You think it might work?


That's a good idea but I just squashed the head of my smallest one (which is not much bigger than a cricket) and she didn't take it (it also spent the night there in good health and with the tarantula leg on its back).  Unfortunately almost all my roaches are big at the moment.  The other thing I notice is that while the older roaches are docile and smart, the small roaches are super docile and downright lazy.  They do nothing but freeze or maybe dig.  They are way less likely to attract T attention from what I've seen.  And that's saying something.


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## gvfarns (Apr 19, 2008)

jeepinwu2 said:


> You should have saved some money and went with lobsters. I don't have any of these problems.  I think I told someone in another thread that if they went with B Dubia they would eventually end up paying for feeders again.


Looks like you are right about that.  But I'm scared of climbing roaches (so's my roommate.  He barely tolerates dubia).  Do you think B. lateralis would work as well as lobsters?


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## Fingolfin (Apr 19, 2008)

etown_411 said:


> I've noticed that for the most part slings are quicker to nab a rouch than an adult is. They never developed a prey profile for crickets. At least that's my theory...
> .


I agree, my slings will go for little roaches way more easily than my larger t's. It is frustrating when the roach freezes and the t loses interest after a while.


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## K1j1m (Apr 19, 2008)

Only reason i like B dubia is they cant escape and infest my house.


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## miarachnids (Apr 19, 2008)

I used to be afraid that lobster roaches and red runners would infest my house. I am not any more. if you set them up right there is not a problem.
I keep mine in a 10 gal. plastic tub with a snap on lid. You can get these any where. Put clear packing tape around the inside of the container. A couple inches from the top. The roaches can not climb the tape. 
After awhile the tape gets dirty, and the roaches can hold on to the dirt and climb up. So every time i feed them i wipe off the tape with a damp rag. good as new. for 4 years i have been doing this and not had 1 roach escape.

Hope this helps


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## hamfoto (Apr 19, 2008)

B. dubia suck! I just got rid of all mine and gave them to a friend whose herps eat 'em up like crazy.  No more for me...here come some lobsters!

Chris


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## Talkenlate04 (Apr 19, 2008)

It took my collection almost a year to convert over to dubia. But now that they are eating them I have no issues at all. One of my smithi girls held out the longest, almost 11 months. But in the end she gave in.


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## arrowhd (Apr 19, 2008)

Some of my T's immediately took to eating B. dubia.  Others took awhile to get used to eating something different.  I always smash the B. dubias head before feeding so that they don't hide.  I have a MM A. hentzi that will not eat them.  Who knows why.


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## GailC (Apr 19, 2008)

I have problems with dubia too, the only T who takes them regularly is my genic but he grabs anything that hits his cage floor.
The Blatta lateralis have been much better for all my other T's. They occasionally hide but do not stay there for days on end. They generally run around like a cricket would.


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## gvfarns (Apr 19, 2008)

waldo said:


> I have problems with dubia too, the only T who takes them regularly is my genic but he grabs anything that hits his cage floor.
> The Blatta lateralis have been much better for all my other T's. They occasionally hide but do not stay there for days on end. They generally run around like a cricket would.


Very interesting.  Is there anyone who can give us a behavioral comparison between lobsters and lateralis?  They both run around like crazy, right?  And as indiscriminately as crickets?  To me it seems like crickets run towards T's.


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## Lucara (Apr 19, 2008)

I've only got adults and tiny little babies so I thought I might as well try a baby and she just ignored it...My T. blondi jump on them the second they hit the ground and so does my parahybana but they blow up so fast on them that I really have to watch how many they get. Their great for plumping up females for breeding though!


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## gvfarns (Apr 19, 2008)

Lucara said:


> I've only got adults and tiny little babies so I thought I might as well try a baby and she just ignored it...My T. blondi jump on them the second they hit the ground and so does my parahybana but they blow up so fast on them that I really have to watch how many they get. Their great for plumping up females for breeding though!


Yer still referring to dubia, right?  Just making sure because we are also discussing lateralis and lobsters.


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## scolex (Apr 19, 2008)

Dang I have had not one problem with mine at all! all my T's keep my population in check! My female B vagans ate 2 adults this week, T blondi 3/4 its size almost, he did pause on it, but when I checked later looked more like a soup. I have to stop the wife from steeling them for her geckos!


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## Lucara (Apr 20, 2008)

gvfarns said:


> Yer still referring to dubia, right?  Just making sure because we are also discussing lateralis and lobsters.


Yes sorry. :8o


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## gvfarns (Apr 25, 2008)

Thought I should post the finale to this story:

I gave my B. dubia roaches to someone who has some reptiles and whose T's are better eaters, I guess.  Anyway, I thought the B. dubia were pretty decent pets and was never worried about escapees or anything, but they never really worked as a feeder for me.

I replaced them with a colony of Blatta lateralis.  They were way cheaper and it's clear that they are much faster reproducers (there are a bunch of egg sacks and females laying eggs and stuff).  They are much, much more active and bold than the dubia and as a plus I don't hear their little feet tromping around against the plastic at night since they are so much lighter.  I threw a few in with my T and she munched them immediately and with gusto.   Mission accomplished.  Now I have a feeder that really does replace crickets and I don't have to go to the store for them.  Ever.  Very exciting.

Downsides?  Well, I think as far as weight is concerned, one dubia is like four lateralis.  Maybe more.  In this sense lateralis are good because smaller T's can eat them, but it means you have to feed more or more often to your larger T's.  I think I'll toss several in at a time.  On the other hand, this small size is kind of a plus because it means I have more opportunities to feed and watch her eat.  Any time I have friends over I can throw a roach and then let them throw one and trust that both roaches will be immediately eaten.  And lateralis are cool because they seem to want to hide between the T's legs.  It makes for a good show and remarkably little waiting on my part.

The other downside is the handling of them.  I thought they might be easier to catch than crickets since they don't jump. They are more predictable, but they are fast and there are so many of them.  They run in all directions.  While you are catching one, others will sometimes run up your arm and since they are small you hardly feel them.  They really keep you on your toes.  Further, if you hold them in your hand, they are much more able than crickets to wiggle out between your fingers.  Much more.

Oh and lateralis are not nearly as cute as dubia.  Guess that makes me feel less remorse when they die.

Both dubia and lateralis have a smell about them.  It's not strong, like crickets, but if you have a full colony and put your nose up to them, you can smell them. I prefer the smell of lateralis. 

Anyway, my experience indicates that overall lateralis are preferable in all ways to dubia, except the scariness of the possibility that they might escape.  They don't climb glass, so you just have to be careful as you are taking them out but I would recommend a colony of lateralis to anyone considering roaches. 

That's my two cents to add to the communal wisdom of the boards.


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## gvfarns (Apr 25, 2008)

Oh, one more note.  Besides being eaten right away the lateralis are more fun to watch because they are quick and sometimes they get away the first time the T goes for them, so the T has to chase them down and strike again!  Very fun to watch.  Recommended.


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## Alonso99 (Apr 25, 2008)

But Lateralis look so nasty lol.


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## Xaranx (Jun 21, 2008)

Alonso99 said:


> But Lateralis look so nasty lol.


Heh, I agree.  

I need a smaller feeder though, what size are baby lobster roaches?


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## varucu (Jun 21, 2008)

the crazy ones are b. lateralis. they seem to like running like crazy doing laps of the terrarium.  but they are more nasty at handling because they drop thier legs and all that. and they climb and can escape prom their enclosure. i reallly dislike them. on the other hand i like b. dubia, and yes they stand still, but my a. geniculata just takes them, easy, sometimes doesn't even attack, she just picks them like u would pick a marble from the floor.  it's like she always knows they're there  

the only thing i hate about b. dubia is that the males tend to become pretty competitive when they mature. i have to find a way to get rid of them :wall:


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## Xaranx (Jun 22, 2008)

Just freeze em or give em to a local pet store/friend for their reptiles/inverts.


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## Strix (Jun 22, 2008)

I had the same problem with my B. dubia when it comes to feeding time.  

Usually my blondi will snatch them up as soon as they hit the substrate.  With my G. rosea, and A. hentzi sling I use a pair of tweezers to place the dubia upside down real close to the T.  For me they wiggle around a lot more when upside down to try and turn themselves over and My T's usually snatch them up.

I've converted all my little predators to dubia's now... including my Latrodectus mactans


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## varucu (Jun 22, 2008)

well, i just had a better ideea  i'll make a contest on my romanian board and give a couple of colonies as prizes


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## samsbugs (Jun 22, 2008)

When trying something new, give it time. It won't always work but for me not spending $100.00+ a week on crickets is worth being patient. So far almost all my T's are on B. dubia
Sam


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## dtknow (Jun 22, 2008)

lateralis are awesome feeders...and so are lobsters. If you are looking for a good compromise you might want to go with lobsters. My Damon diadema, however, have yet to be seen eating either. However, my female did eat an orangehead roach. These are sorta like dubia on steroids. They are less likely to play dead and all T's I've tried them on ate em up!

I had zero problems getting anything to eat male dubia though...including my Damon diadema which are probably the pickiest eaters.


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## Rochelle (Jun 22, 2008)

We've had "picky eaters" with our T's.....those who won't hit on a "crushed headed" dubia, will invariably take them from the tongs. We hand feed our stubborn ones.  
Either way - we aren't paying extra for crickets.


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## Mister Internet (Jun 22, 2008)

The only "issues" I've had is that they burrow quickly and once they are covered in dirt, their shells seem to make it impossible for the predators to tell that they are "Food" and not "The dirt I live on".  One quick snip of their abdomens with a scissors floods the cage with their unique scent, and they seem to get quickly eaten after that.

Or, if you just don't want them burrowing... grip them by the rear end with 12" tweezers and clip all their legs off with a scissors.  That way, they kind of flop around on top of the substrate and can't burrow.  This seems to trigger an otherwise picky eater sometimes as well.


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## Moltar (Jun 23, 2008)

I think this whole convo just illustrates how highly evolved B dubia are. They've developed a whole set of defensive mechanisms for predators who hunt primarily by vibration rather than by sight. It's pretty cool how they remain completely motionless even in very clutches of a gigantic spider. It's not until they're actually getting fanged that they start struggling. My biggest rosea still hasn't eaten one. She'll grab it, hold it, turn it over in her palps and eventually drop it and move on. Lucky roach!


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## baf236 (Jun 24, 2008)

I have about 50 dubia at various stages right now.  I also have a thriving cricket colony of about 800.  All my Ts at this point have been raised on crickets exclusively.  Once my dubia colony starts growing, I will start feeding them to the Ts.  I was  hoping maybe within a year.

After reading in this thread that T's fed on crickets may be difficult to switch over to dubia, I decided to break down and give one to my 3.75 inch smithi.  The dubia (2 inch) immediately walked away from my smith and hid under some coco fiber.  About 2 min. later my smithi casually walked over to where the dubia was hiding, sunk her fangs into the substrate, and pulled out the impaled dubia.

Well, at least I know I won't have any problems switching with her!


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## pinkzebra (Jun 24, 2008)

I have just over 100 Ts and I have found that the majority will not eat B. dubias. It's very frustrating. I switched to Blatta lateralis and every one of the Ts love them. The lateralis have a bigger "ick" factor for me than do the dubias but I've gotten used to them.


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## Moltar (Jun 24, 2008)

pinkzebra said:


> The lateralis have a bigger "ick" factor for me than do the dubias...



That's the truth. The dubias are a keepers dream. They don't stink, clean up after themselves nicely, don't stink, pretty to look at, don't stink and move slowly so recapture is usually easy if they jump for freedom. Did I mention they don't stink? 

Unfortunately, B lateralis are much preferred by almosy any T I have. Now, although they don't smell as bad as crickets (death and fear) they do smell bad (pee and BO). I've developed a system for catching them which helps and i only have about 3x the escapees as the dubias...:wall: The t's go nuts for them though, can't deny that. Also the speed that lateralis breed... bunnies could learn a thing or two.


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## jinx (Jun 24, 2008)

I think I will stick with buying crickets after reading these comments.


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## Moltar (Jun 24, 2008)

jinx said:


> I think I will stick with buying crickets after reading these comments.


Lol... maybe my comments were a bit over the top. I will reiterate that as difficult as either species of roach might be, i far FAR *FAR* prefer them to crickets. Nothing stinks like crickets. They're aggressive cannibalistic monsters and they eat your t's if if they catch them in a molt. Plus they're loud. And they jump. Did I mention I hate crickets?

Also I like maintaining the colonies almost as much as the t's. It's another living thing that thrives or suffers at my hand and I get a a certain fulfillment from that.


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## Xaranx (Jun 24, 2008)

jinx said:


> I think I will stick with buying crickets after reading these comments.


Same as e-town, no matter my complaints about roaches, I will never go back to crickets.   unless i drastically downscale and only have like <5 mouths to feed.  They are so much easier and the convenience is just great.  Having the colony means i can breed all my scorps/t's or expand my collection as much as I want with virtually no extra cost, aside from vials which I buy in bulk.  .20 cents each, coulda been cheaper if I got more.


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## gvfarns (Jun 25, 2008)

I could probably deal with crickets despite their other shortcomings if they didn't freaking chirp.  When I do get them I end up spending a bunch of time trying to figure out which ones still have both wings and make me crazy with their noise every time I walk away.


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## T_ROY (Jun 25, 2008)

*Blatta lateralis (a.k.a. Turkistan)*

I think these are the best. All my T's eat them, and there are always small ones to feed my slings and they have soft shells.


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## AubZ (Jun 25, 2008)

jinx said:


> I think I will stick with buying crickets after reading these comments.


I have just started a colony of B dubia and some other small roach.   I am also awaiting some Lobsters.   Unfortunately due to size of all the colonies I will only be able to start feeding them off in about at least 6 months.

From all the input I have seen and all the searching of old threads regarding roaches, I am still optimistic that I won't have too many hassles with B dubia.   Even if the T's take a while adapting, it is far better than crics.   It is also far easy to breed roaches than crics.

Would be nice to do a poll of Crics vs Roaches.   But we already know who will win.


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## Strix (Jun 25, 2008)

I don't mind the B. dubia hiding at all, like i said earlier I flip them upside down in front of the T so they struggle a bit.  If the T is hungry it will snatch it up, if not it will let it live.

With the dubia unlike the crickets I don't need to worry about accidentely leaving one in a cage during a molt or that it will harm the T.  

If I know a dubia is hiding (mine generally stay near or on the sides of the water dishes) then I will try to reuse that one, if I can't find one I'll toss in a new one.

About 2-3 months ago my T. blondi was going absolutely crazy running around his enclosure, climbing all over the rock structure, etc.  I was trying to figure it out when a mm dubia comes jetting out from underneath and he followed snatching it up.

I'm not as experienced with dubias but I was wondering if anyone knows if a stray dubia or two could possibly feed on any mold growing in a T tank? :?


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## Moltar (Jun 25, 2008)

Aaargh... B lateralis can be a hassle (still better than crickets though)

Something happened this morning that seems relevant to this thread:

Apparently, there is a fine balance between the humidity needed to hatch oothecae (eggs) and the ventilation needed to keep the contents from getting foul in a B lateralis enclosure. 

2 days ago i put 1/2 of a chayote squash in there for their moisture source (only water they get) This portion usually is perfect for them. What I didn't take into account is that when I rearranged the room I placed the dubia enclosure on top of the lateralis enclosure, blocking some of the ventilation. This morning there was condensation inside the tank, an awful ammonia smell and all the cardboard was soggy. All from the moisture in 1/2 of a vegetable the size of a pear. This happened once before and I had to change out all the eggcrate to make the stink subside. Curently I am at work and they are at home with the top OFF  in hopes that it will dry out so I don't need to relocate them all. I know they can't climb out but it's still not a comfortable thought...

Like I said above, B dubia are verrrry easy to keep, B lateralis; not so much. It's not rocket science but neither is it zero maintenance.


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## RedEarthExotics (Jun 27, 2008)

Good info.  I have been looking into roaches for my t's.  Couldn't figure out which ones to get, I would love to get a few dubia and try them out on my tarantulas before I spend $40 on 50 of them.  Other than if the tarantulas eat them or not I am most worried about the mess of cleaning their cages and the smell.  How about lobsters vs the lateralis?


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## Xaranx (Jun 28, 2008)

Are lobster babies smaller than dubia babies?


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## Spiderface (Jun 29, 2008)

I have been tryng to decide which feeder roach to use instead of buying crix and after looking at this thread I'm going to give lobsters a try and have already placed my order. Wanted say thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread.


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## pato_chacoana (Jun 29, 2008)

Xaranx said:


> Are lobster babies smaller than dubia babies?


Yes, much smaller. They move a lot and are softer. My choice along with baby crickets when feeding spiderlings.

Pato.


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## wsimms (Jul 30, 2008)

*I just broke the cricket habit-a dubia rookie's observations*

I just got 500+ dubias from James Tuttle today and tried them on my adult T's at lunch, with mixed results: 

My Pamphobeteus sp. Santo Domingo Goliath juvie caught hers in midair, and my P. cancerides caught hers on the first bounce.  

Three of my T's gave their first threat displays ever-my GBB, Nhandu coloratovillosus and my A. genic.  Only the genic accepted the dubias, belatedly, after they pulled their "playing possum" routine.

Everybody else is pre-molt and ignored them, but they've been ignoring crickets too.

I noticed some of the dubias burrowed but eventually resurfaced in less than an hour.  Maybe they don't like my vermiculite/perlite/charcoal mix, or maybe they have ADD.

The dubias certainly seem MUCH more hygenic than crickets and easier to deal with, and are almost as "pet-like" as hissers.  I'm going to stick with them.


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## Mister Internet (Jul 30, 2008)

A trick I use is to cut their abdomens with a scissors to let extra scent out, their insides are quite odorous.


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## wsimms (Jul 31, 2008)

Mister Internet said:


> A trick I use is to cut their abdomens with a scissors to let extra scent out, their insides are quite odorous.


I will try that.  After reading people's other suggestions, I lightly crushed the head of one and put it uphill from my Nhandu coloratovillosum.  The roach twitched itself downhill to offer itself up as a sacrifice, whereupon my 5+" beast retreated in fear up to the top of her hide.  It was mortifying...like watching someone's toy poodle chase your pit bull down the street.  I'm glad no one saw it but me.

Reactions: Like 1


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## reverendsterlin (Jul 31, 2008)

with nymphs only 1/4 inch All my slings have been enthusiastic dubia eaters. My adults on the other hand, well lets just say a few took their sweet time switching over. Fortunately, 1 male dubia can impregnate all the females and it seemed to me that all my reluctant T's thought the males (who didn't seem to burrow) were tasty treats, a few males apiece and then no dubia could survive. The males having wings don't seem inclined to burrow and playing dead didn't seem to matter. No stink (some roaches have a defense/fear odor), no noise, no strange T deaths after feedings, great vegan gut loads, not escapes, did I say no noise, no sudden die offs, no lid, no water, no noise (maybe I said that already), no problems taking off for a week collecting, an interesting roach as a pet, no extra foreign insects (fuzzy bugs) in the mix, fantastic meat to shell ratio, 4 adult females feeding even the largest T's (I don't own a blondi), an easy resale to the pet store ($35 @ 100). I'll stick to dubias. Took a little work and time to get everything switched over but I'm really happy with them.
Rev


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## wsimms (Jul 31, 2008)

Most all the ones that didn't eat them are pre-molt.  The Nhandu is the only one I have tagged as being a curmudgeon, which is surprising since she nearly always attacks everything that drops into her enclosure, even water drops.

Nearly all of my T's are South American.  Since dubias are native there as well, I would think they are on my T's "genetic prey list".


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## Ogdred Weary (Jul 6, 2010)

I just started a dubia colony for my T's and Leopard gecko. Some of the t's are only about 2" so far. It was frustrating because the nymphs would freeze and burrow.To eliminate that problem, I have dining chambers that I put T and nymph into. The chambers are plastic containers with NO SUBSTRATE. Voila! Within a couple of hours the nymphs have always been eaten.


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## codykrr (Jul 6, 2010)

Blatta lateralis has become a staple for my picky or stubborn eaters.

They breed quickly, never stop moving, work well for slings as the nymphs are the same size as pinhead crickets.

the only reason i like dubia, is there make a good solid meal for stuff like L. parahybana, T. blondi, L. violaceopes and most of my larger T's.  they do have there place as a feeder for sure.  i use there burrowing qualities to my advantage.  for things like my King baboon i throw a medium sized dubia is and it will burrow right into her burrow where she readily eats them.  same for my pedes. I have an Angulata angulata pede that hasnt came to the surface since i received it.  i throw a dubia in there and a day later the remains are on top.

for arboreals use males. they tend to climb and run around like crazy at night.  perfect for sub burrowing species like, L. violaceopes.

Also i like keeping different sp. of roach because i like to switch it up every now and again.

I have grown to love the B. lateralis.  at first, i hated them,  mainly because i was over caring for them and expecting a million roaches overnight.  but after about 2 months they started booming.  I havent had any escapees either(thank goodness because my wife would crap down both legs)

dont give the dubia up, but pick up another species.(they make usefull trades eventually too)


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## blash (Jul 7, 2010)

From my experience, Blaptica dubia has no smell. Shelfordella lateralis smells sweet and bad but Nauphoeta cinerea is the worst. They smell like you are hiding a corpse in your basement. This would make my decision easy.


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## Minitrucker21 (Apr 1, 2011)

*Roaches*

R u willing to sell ur colony of dubia roaches? Is so how much?


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## malhomme (Apr 3, 2011)

I just started feeding dubias from my colony.  

So far 9 out of my 12 adults and juvies love dubias.  The remaining three are on a diet (bedonkadonk!) so I haven't tried to feed them dubias yet.  Considering how the others have taken to 'em I have no reason to suspect there will be problem feeding those t's.

Results for my arborial slings are a mixed bag, but mosly because dubia nymphs are so good at hiding in the cork.  

All my terrestrial slings are pre-molt, so haven't fed 'em this week, but like the adults, I don't foresee a problem.

Why B. dubia:
1.  I hate paying $0.11/cricket...no matter how small.
2.  I don't like hearing chirping crickets ALL the time
3.  I HATE the smell of crickets!!!!!
4.  I want more control of my feeders diets (no polyacrylamide or junk food)
5.  B. dubias are less of a concern for molting t's
6.  Very low odor 
7.  Nutricious
8.  Not likely to escape
9.  I'm not spreading some one else's mites or viruses into my enclosures.
10. Easy to raise.


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## webbedone (Apr 4, 2011)

*My B.Dubia Story*

I used to make a trip to the local pet store every week, every god beepity bleep bleep week for cricks, untill i got my dubias, i couldnt start feeding them to my T's right away because i bought only 25 of them at the North Berks Reptile show, and wanted to just try them out. Couple of months later when is started noticing more and more nymphs in the bin then there was originaly, i thought to my self: i'll let my Ts have a snack and pulled out some adult males. I

 was surprised to find out that some of my Ts wanted nothing to do with them! So i thought: Fine you littls shits starve and see if i care because i not buying any more cricks!

Few weeks later i tried again, and to no surprise hunger and survival instinct screaming: eat now or forever hold you peace kicked in. And even most picky eaters took their food. There is such a thing as getting hungry even for a tarantula.

Why i personaly like B.Dubias:

1) They are MEGA QUIET.
I keep the bin in my bedroom next to my side of the bed and absolutely cant hear them from less than a foot and ahalf away
2)They dont stink.
yea there is a smell IF I STICK MY HEAD INTO MY ROACH BIN AND INHALE.
3)Dubias can hold their stomache contents for up to 72 hours
thats like a fatty meal for any T, and trust me once the T gets hungry enough it will eat anything. Whats better than a fleshy meat popsicle with legs?
4)Nothing beats Being able to share my oranges with my Dubia, my wife has a bad habit of buying more food than we can consume and when the fruits start to go i cut em up off to the dubia they go. Not to mention that oranges make Dubias Hump faster.
5) I have no fear of infestation, Dubias cant climb any smooth surfaces, they cant fly or jump and its a tropic roach so even if it does escape chances of it making it on its own without my care are slim to none.
6)They are extremly easy to take care of and they even survived the winter in my house with just a heat pad. 


Why i dont like B.Dubias:

1) I had to retrain or get my tarantulas used to Dubias
2) It takes a female dubia 30 days from impergation by a male to actually give birth
3) It takes a nymph roughly aroud 6 months to mature to an adult, so you cant just buy 25 and hope to have a colony fast.
4) THEY DO NOT BREED IN TEMPERATURES UNDER 68F
5) They play pretty good gosh darn dead
6) They arent easy to aquire, pet stores dont sell them so you only have chances of getting them through a reptile show or a online dealer and that can get pricey
7) my wife is scared crapless by them so she is making me put down a number 7


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## Najakeeper (Apr 4, 2011)

My problem with dubias is that they multiply fast. My starter colony of 100 adults produce way to many even though at least 25 of them were fed to my bigger Ts. 100s of babies roam the roach bin...

A colony of S.lateralis (for pickies and small slings) and a colony of B.dubias is all you need.


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## GregorSamsa (Apr 8, 2011)

*So far so good...*

Thought I'd share my first experience with dubias...

They're pretty cool, I'll need to keep from watching them too much though or I'll start to feel guilty. I've had them since Wed. & I'm pretty sure there are new babies. I've seen a couple molt. They're so low maitenance. Love it. Definitely favoring them over crickets due to the fact that none have killed one another, they're quiet & they don't stink. Nice.



Ok, so feeding...

Last night cut one in half for two 1" slings, nom nom nom... The H. incei snatched his half immediately, no leftovers in sight. The G. pulchra drug the other half into his little burrow, it was gone by morning.


Now the "grown ups..." I wasn't sure how it'd go, so I started with the three best eaters tonight...

_A. hentzi-_ let the roach play dead under her for about 45 seconds, suddenly snagged it up butt first & had to do some work to get it to stop kicking at her. (It looked like it was swimming... Trying to dig I guess?) So she lifted her body up & spun it the roach around head first, took her sweet time eating it. Is now cleaning her chompers.

_P. murinus-_ roach stumbled into burrow, she backed up & I was thinking she didn't want it. A few minutes later she had turned around & was shoving it into her mouth.

_Avic avic- _I'm not sure if I even let go of the roach with the tongs before he snagged it. He's currently stretched out on his log, finishing his dinner.

:clap:


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## malhomme (Apr 8, 2011)

Lovin' your username Gregor.  That's one of my favorite novellas and one that describes feelings not too dissimilar to my own, of late. 

Okay, so I have found one downside to dubias:  when my arborials finish eating, every one of them deposits their dubia-boluses into their water dishes.  Well, cricket boluses aren't too bad if picked-out the next day, but dubia boluses ferment in the water FAST and stinks like death.  It's a VERY nasty smell and the water dishes have to be thoroughly cleaned.


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## Malodave (Apr 11, 2011)

I got my 100 Dubia roaches at the reptile show about 6 months ago They were small, medium, large, and adult sized. About two months later I got 250 small nymphs because I bought a bunch of slings. I was going thru all the small nymphs feeding the slings and them growing. Now I have a colony of 500+ and they are breeding like cockroaches.

They are housed in a 10 gallon aquarium with a water bottle feeder, egg crates, and a small heat pad. I use a hand held cheese grater to grate the hard dog food for them. Once a week I grind up a bunch of dog food and put in an cut up orange or apple too. 

My 16 T's have pretty much been switched over to the Dubias.

I have so many roaches now I have to get some more Ts to eat them.

Malodave

PS. I also have about 100 Hissers. I started with 10 and have given a few away to people as pets.


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## GregorSamsa (Apr 19, 2011)

*Update*

Thanks malhomme!! It's one of my most favorite stories. 
_______________________________________________________
Ok so an update... introducing dubias to the more picky T's:

_A. seemani-_ Pounce, shred, gone. She has never responded to crickets this way. Impressed.

_A. insubtilis (?)- _Tap tap tap... NO THANKS. 24 hours later the headless roach was still belly up, kicking its legs, at her butt. Which she turned on him, clearly not interested. Ok.
      *Sidenote: She has yet to eat anything since I've gotten her in Feb.

_P. muticus- _Currently on attempt #2, I don't think she wants it but I'll give her some time. She pushed the first one out of her burrow about a week ago. This ones kicking her like mad & she's alternating between tapping it with her palps and repositioning herself over it. I think it's under her abdomen @ this point. :wall:
      *Another sidenote: She's eaten once since Nov. She's been in premolt for months. SIGH.


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## webbedone (Apr 19, 2011)

sooner or later survival instinct wins and they all eat the roach.


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## herpetologies (May 19, 2011)

Hello Everyone,
I breed and sell blaptica dubia roaches and am looking into starting to breed another species. I have mostly sold my dubia to people with bearded dragons (not much with this community - arachnids). I'm just wondering, what kind you guys use a lot of and recommend. Which species of feeder roaches do you all like to keep and feed?

Thanks,
Darien
Feeder Roaches - Dubia Roaches


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## MrCrackerpants (Jun 6, 2011)

webbedone said:


> sooner or later survival instinct wins and they all eat the roach.


lol


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## MrEMojo (Jun 6, 2011)

herpetologies said:


> Hello Everyone,
> I breed and sell blaptica dubia roaches and am looking into starting to breed another species. I have mostly sold my dubia to people with bearded dragons (not much with this community - arachnids). I'm just wondering, what kind you guys use a lot of and recommend. Which species of feeder roaches do you all like to keep and feed?
> 
> Thanks,
> ...


Generaly I'd say B. dubia will work for just about everything. I use dubia for everything from my savannah monitor to scorps to slings. Discoidalis is great for larger animals.


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