# Madagascar Hissing Cockroach vs. Death's Head Cockroach



## Bagan (Oct 27, 2003)

I have been racking my brains trying to figure out which one of these roaches would A.) Make a good pet Roach B.) Become a very good source of food for my L. parahybana since I'm quite squeamish about feeding mice or lizards to my Tarantulas. I've been doing a little research and I've narrowed it down to these two breeds of cockroach. I'm leaning a little to the Death's Head since it can neither fly nor crawl up walls, therefore  not being a big threat to infestation of my apartment. But the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach has some favorable properties as well in that they get pretty larghe once reaching adulthood. I was just wondering what your opinion was on these cockroach breeds, so I created a little poll about it.


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## Wade (Oct 28, 2003)

I'm selecting niether.

I'd say the B. craniifer (or the cheaper and more readily available B. discoidales) makes a better feeder. It's softer-bodied than the hissers and nearly all my tarantulas love them, while some reject the very hard-shelled G. potentosa. If you're rearing large numbers of them for food, then you will apperciate the non-climbing Blaberus. 

I think the hissers make better pets, however. Mostly for intagible reasons, I just like 'em. When handled, the will normally sit or wander around on your hand, while the blabs will just scramble off as quickly as they can. I think they also live longer than the blabs, up to six years I've heard (although I haven't tried to verify this with any in my colony).

Wade


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## james (Oct 28, 2003)

*non-climbers*

I recently sold all my hissers as I'm trying to get away from the climbers. they do make better pets, but most of my reptiles did not like their hard shell. I also have death heads, orange spots, orange heads, discoids, and 6 spots.  The death heads are the largest of these, but the slowest breeders. The discoids are good, but I still think the orange heads and spots are the fastest breeders. The 6-spots get very large and meaty as nymphs and are also a really good option. Keep a hissers for your pet, but breed one of the non-climbers for your feeders.
James


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## jaijjs (Oct 28, 2003)

I would have to stick with the hissers for most of the reasons that have already been covered. The young make good feed and the females [mature] should provide you with between 20 to 30 young.  They are cheap enough to see if they will meet your feeder needs. If you decide to keep them as pets keep the temp on the low end of the scale and you shouldn't have a population explosion..


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## Bagan (Nov 1, 2003)

So in essence, I should stick with either B. craniifer or B. discoidales? Do they get reasonably large upon adulthood? And where would I purchase these roaches from? Who do you recommend is the best?


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## MrDeranged (Nov 2, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Bagan _
> *And where would I purchase these roaches from? Who do you recommend is the best? *


Bagan,

That's what the Classifieds and the Dealer Review Forums are for 

Scott


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## Elytra and Antenna (Nov 3, 2003)

Since they're primarily feeders, just about anyone selling the Discoids is good, just check for a decent price and dealer record.
Sadly, almost everyone selling the Death's Heads is actually selling Blaberus fusca (make sure you're getting the black ones like on the allpet roach site or you're paying for the wrong thing).
The Discoids are the smallest Blaberus out there but they're still a lot bigger than giant lobsters.


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## Mojo Jojo (Nov 3, 2003)

I think that Lobster Roaches (Nauphoeta cinerea) are supposed to be a pretty good breeder for tarantula food.   I'm thinking about getting a colony going.  

Jon


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## Buspirone (Nov 3, 2003)

Blaptica dubia is a nice roach. I just got some and they are a good size, can't climb glass and the ease of being able to sex them as adults  is a great characteristic, IMO.


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