# Feeder Roaches - Your Choice?!



## pinkfoot (Sep 12, 2006)

I'm leaning towards feeding my tarantulas roaches instead of crickets in future.

I need to know from anyone who has tried this if it's a good idea, and also which species you'd recommend, *and why*?

Cheers!


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## Pyst (Sep 12, 2006)

I use B.dubia. Crickets are smelly and vile. Although it can take several months for a B.dubia colony to get established it's well worth the wait. They don't fly,even though the males may flutter. Can't climb smooth surfaces such as plastic or glass. And most important, in my book, is they don't smell bad. Also they are very meaty as adults. Hope this helps. There are several threads about them if you want to read more. Hope this helps in your decision.

-Mike


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## Stickytoe (Sep 12, 2006)

I prefer B. dubias for adult T's and my geckos also. For spiderlings I am finding B. lateralis to be superior, since they are more active, and also they do not burrow in the substrate.


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## Takumaku (Sep 12, 2006)

I really like working with B. fumigatas (cuban burrowing roach) right now.  Very easy to sex (size and color dimorphic, males 1-1.5", females 2+").


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## IguanaMama (Sep 12, 2006)

I find it is a good idea to use more than one type of roach.  Roaches are so nice anyway, once you start keeping them, you might enjoy them as much as the spiders, I do.  I currently have close to two dozen species of roaches, but the ones I use as feeders are orange heads, dubias and Blatta (Shelfordella) lateralis.   Orange heads are only practical if you have big spiders with big appetites.  Full grown lateralis are the closest in size to crickets.  To me, they are just much nicer than crickets, it actually pains me to feed them off.


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## Vys (Sep 12, 2006)

For smaller/ medium sized arboreals and terrestrial and burrowing juveniles, I really like P.nivea. Boluses are easy to spot on a dark substrate, and once you get the colony going it's more action-filled than a colony of any other roach I've seen. (Faster in metabolism, faster in movement). They devour fruit and vegetables like...I was going to say 'crickets', but they don't leave visible piles of poo everywhere, so superworms is a closer call, and superworms devour things like sharks 

It is of course annoying when they flutter around your face and fly away when you keep their container open for too long, but they don't usually live long outside of it either, in my experience. At least in Sweden. Here in Ireland they do (1 month+), but that may be because the ambient relative humidity is like the Amazon Forest's.


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## Spider Tyrant (Sep 12, 2006)

G. Portentosa is the way I go.  I have a nice little colony of them, and my tarantulas love them.

I would get others, but I dont feel like having a live animal shipped out into the desert and all I can buy here are hissers.


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## cacoseraph (Sep 12, 2006)

my roach thoughts:
http://venomlist.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7689


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## Texas Blonde (Sep 12, 2006)

I have three large colonies for feeding:  Blaberus discoidalis, Eublaberus prosticus, and Byrsotria fumigata.  All three work great, and breed fairly fast. 

The E prosticus is my favorite for feeding larger Ts, and adults.  The nymphs are very fat and large.  The B fumigatas have tiny nymphs, which is great for slings.  The discoids are a great in-between.


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## TheDarkFinder (Sep 12, 2006)

Who voted that they will stay with crickets and why?


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## Stylopidae (Sep 13, 2006)

I'm going to be using lobster roaches pretty soon.

I've heard from a handful of people that B. dubia does not work well at all for arboreals.

Since I'm mostly into centipedes right now, I guess I don't have to worry about that.

Lobsters are the cheapest feeder, though.

I'll definitely be picking up more colonies as time goes on and my collection grows.

Does anyone notice if thier spiders prefer one species of roach over another?


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## NrthCstInverts (Sep 13, 2006)

i use lobsters for just about everything. they are great for for arboreals of a resonable size, and for slings as well. i also maintain lateralis, hissers, discoidales, and a few other species so i can change it up once in a while.

  With the scorps however, i dont use the baby lobsters as much. More Lateralis, other species nymphs, and yes occasionally the dreaded cricket.... (only when im feeling REAL lazy).


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## Spike (Sep 14, 2006)

TheDarkFinder said:


> Who voted that they will stay with crickets and why?


I did I originally get them to get over my initial fear of them and use them as feeders for my T's .  Now that I have had them for a while and watched them grow a bit, I can't seem to bring myslelf to feeding them to anything:8o  So they became my pets and I let the evil crick's do the sacraficing :evil: :}  .   They very interesting and misunderstood bugs IMO.


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## pinkfoot (Sep 14, 2006)

Heh, heh!!

Interesting info coming out...

42 votes and B. dubia is at 47%, which is awesome! Sadly, there are none available in South Africa, and the only species I can find thus far (but don't worry - I'll find the others!!) is G. Portentosa. Now Beardo, you find these smelly, which is curious, as I didn't realise any of them smelled.


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## Michael Jacobi (Sep 14, 2006)

_Blaberus _hybrids or _Blaptica dubia_ as primary and _Blatta lateralis_ as secondary for small specimens.

Cheers, Michael


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## IguanaMama (Sep 14, 2006)

Plenty of roaches are smelly, there are species that are known to put out a defensive odor, but I do not believe that hissers are one of them.  I think if your husbandry is correct for them, than there should be no odor.  However, I am with Spike on this one, the more I am around roaches, the harder it is to feed them to my other animals.  I started to get that way with mice too, as my snakes got bigger and I had to feed them full grown mice instead of pinkies.  Just have to grin and bare it.  Hissers are particularly charming, however, I must warn you.  You might have a hard time using them as feeders, a lot of people keep them as pets.  What about Giant Lobsters--Henschoutedenia flexivitta, they are really good feeders.


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## Stylopidae (Sep 14, 2006)

Just got my culture of lobsters (200 or so) today and am really eager for them to start breeding.

I'm using a 35 gallon tub (on clearance for $3 plus employee discount), so...yeah. I'll definitely have enough.

They do seem small, though. I'm concerned that when my G. aureostriata is full grown, it won't really notice them.

It always amazes me how expensive feeder roaches are, so I prefer to do this on the cheap.

Iggyma...do you have a link to the roaches you mentioned (preferably a sales link, as I can't seem to find them on blaberus.com).


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## IguanaMama (Sep 14, 2006)

I get a lot of my roaches and millies from Richie "Roachman" Willis.  He's the guy that co-wrote the Allpet roach book, an expert in the field and one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet.  Lucky for me, he is local.  His website is listed in the classifieds section under Roaches of the World -- http://www.angelfire.com/wy/roaches/ -- but I don't know how often he updates, so you are better off emailing him and asking him if he has what you want.   He also has had a lot of other interesting things that we talked a little bit about at Arachnocon.


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## OldHag (Sep 14, 2006)

I have 12 different types of roaches and my favorite is the B. dubia. They're fat, non-smelly, plump, juicy, and finger lick'n good!


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## Scorpendra (Sep 14, 2006)

crickets may be loud, messy and smelly, but it's because of that you can't develop an affinity for them and enjoy seeing them get killed. i don't feed roaches to my Ts yet, but when i do, i guess B. dubia of whatever i can find nearby. i live in a bad spot for diverse inverts, pet or feeder. 

is there any real distinction in terms of if they're not feders? like i know you wouldn't give a T an M. rhinocerous but it's pretty hazy beyond that.


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## Stylopidae (Sep 14, 2006)

Molitor said:


> crickets may be loud, messy and smelly, but it's because of that you can't develop an affinity for them and enjoy seeing them get killed. i don't feed roaches to my Ts yet, but when i do, i guess B. dubia of whatever i can find nearby. i live in a bad spot for diverse inverts, pet or feeder.
> 
> is there any real distinction in terms of if they're not feders? like i know you wouldn't give a T an M. rhinocerous and but it's pretty hazy beyond that.



If it grows and reproduces slowly or is hard to raise (hey...they're roaches, but this applies to any animal)=bad feeder for inverts.

Hissers are debatable because they're thick shelled, high in fat and tough as nails.

Lobsters totally have a defensive smell BTW...but I kind of like it and I'm guessing my culture isn't different from anyone else's so...yeah. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Molitor, if you PM me I'll give you a great roach dealer. I just used him for a deal and his prices are great.

Does anyone use glasswalkers for arboreals and non climbers for terrestrials/obligate burrowers?

Does anyone notice if their Ts (or other bugs) have personal preference over different species of roaches?


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## Scolopendra55 (Sep 14, 2006)

N.cinerea all the way!!
As for my larger T's I have a sickeningly fast breeding hisser colony


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## Spider Tyrant (Sep 15, 2006)

I have no problems with my T's eating Hissers.  I am waiting for the next batch to pop out...

How long is the gestation period on those?


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## Scorpendra (Sep 15, 2006)

i meant like if there's any roaches kept exclusively as pets.


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## Stylopidae (Sep 15, 2006)

Molitor said:


> i meant like if there's any roaches kept exclusively as pets.


You know...I don't really know the answer to that. Lobsters for me are just as much pets as feeders.

Hissers are more pets than feeders to me, but aussie rhino roaches are definitely pets.

I guess it depends on how you personally see them, as well as cost.


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## pinkfoot (Sep 16, 2006)

Michael Jacobi said:


> _Blaberus _hybrids or _Blaptica dubia_ as primary and _Blatta lateralis_ as secondary for small specimens.
> 
> Cheers, Michael


Michael

Is this your general choice, or specifically for your arboreals?


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## Lorgakor (Sep 16, 2006)

Anyone else notice that their _B. latteralis_ stink? Mine smell horrible! I just got them, and they have stunk ever since I openend the shipping box. Anything I could feed them to reduce the smell? Or something?

I have _discoids_ and they have no smell whatsoever. I am a little disgusted by the smell. I haven't even fed any of them to my spiders yet so I can't say if they like them yet.


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## IguanaMama (Sep 17, 2006)

my lateralis don't stink.  They are feed roach buffet from blaberus.com, fresh organic fruit and vegetables (apple, carrots, melon, banana, orange) and whole grain nut bread.  I keep them on organic potting soil with spagnam moss, oak leaves and cork bark.


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## Mechanical-Mind (Sep 20, 2006)

_N. cinerea_ is my roach of choice. They breed faster than I can use them, and they do so with little to no food, all while at room temperature. That means, at least at this point, I could keep as many theraphosids as I have time to feed, and space to house. 

I have found, though, that some scorpions have trouble catching them, whereas theraphosids show no trouble at all.

As for smell, I do believe that most animals have an odor of sorts; however, even a mildly ventilated room would remedy the stench of the strongest smelling colonies of _N. cinerea_.

-Matt


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## Galadriel (Sep 20, 2006)

My lateralis have started to smell a bit like amonia since they've started reproducing. I cleaned thier bim this past saturday and by sunday evening, the smell was back. Not horrible, but certainly noticeable when I open it.


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## IguanaMama (Sep 20, 2006)

Galadriel said:


> My lateralis have started to smell a bit like amonia since they've started reproducing. I cleaned thier bim this past saturday and by sunday evening, the smell was back. Not horrible, but certainly noticeable when I open it.


Are they on a substrate?  I think substrate absorbs smells.  I have mine in a fairly small container for the number of them, and still no smell.  They are reproducing like crazy too.


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## Lorgakor (Sep 20, 2006)

I tell yeah, mine smell so bad I am thinking of turning the whole lot loose in a field somewhere!


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## bugmankeith (Sep 20, 2006)

Yeah ammonia smell is very bad, if it's bad enough it can feel like your suffocating.


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## Taceas (Sep 21, 2006)

I have two species so far, Blatta lateralis & Nauphoeta cinerea living in the same container.

I used to have Lobsters when I had my bearded dragon. I just can't get good quality crickets locally (30mi drive) and ordering in bulk was such a waste, half died before I fed them off. I will NEVER do crickets again.

So when I got into tarantulas I was pleased to discover a lot of folks breed their own roaches as well. So I invested into a new colony of Lobsters and one of Turks. 

After experiencing both, I really like the B. lateralis better. The Lobsters climb glass and smooth plastic and they also put off a defensive liquid that stinks. When stressed on the way to the tarantula cage for meal time, my _Avic. metallica_ has stopped eating them due to the smell I'm guessing. It'll only consume the lateralis roaches. Most of my other spiders could care less and eat either.

The roaches do have their own odor, but they still don't hold a candle to the stench of crickets. I used to use a substrate with the roaches, but it made it hard to clean out without tossing out quite a few nymphs. And I've been worried about their feces molding on a dirt based substrate. So mine have just been in a plain bottomed container for the most part. 

I feed mine the pre-prepared roach food from Blaberus.com as well. Its similar to what I used to make a few years ago when I had my own roaches, just cheaper and easier for now. 

My only question is, how long does it take for the egg cases of the lateralis to hatch out? I seem to have a ton of egg cases but relatively very few nymphs. :?


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## GoTerps (Sep 21, 2006)

I got rid of all my roaches (had 5 species) except my good ole _N. cinerea_, which is now the only roach I use.  I feed other things, but don't keep other roaches.

Eric


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## Stylopidae (Sep 21, 2006)

I'm planning on getting a larger blaberus species for my larger spiders...

...any reccomendations? I'm thinking B. fusca.


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## padkison (Sep 21, 2006)

Can someone comment and contrast B. dubia with Discoids re: feeding?


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## Aquanut (Sep 21, 2006)

I had both.  The dubias seem to have a softer shell and more meat.  Its easy to tell males from females as adults. For me they seemed more prolific. I recently sold off the Dubias and kept the Discoids only because I'd had the Discoids for much longer and 2 colonies were to much. They were my first roach and i have a special place in my heart for them, i also think they are cooler looking.  I got the dubias with the idea of replacing the Discoids since the Dubias seem to be more of a favorite with the hobby and would be easier to sell off.  I still think the Discoids are a great roach for feeding.


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## Arlius (Sep 21, 2006)

The diet of the roach seems to have an effect on the smell of the container. I noticed when feeding my B.l's ground catfood, they started to smell. Once off it, they have been gradually smelling less (far as I can tell... they dont smell that bad either way). If the food by itself can smell when warm and moist in an enclosed space, then it will make the roaches smell also.
Im curious about the egg casings too... I have about 50 casing and 0 nymphs. Im thinking something in my setup isnt quite right, but I dunno what it is. The humidity is high, the temp is high, they have food. I have found only 2 case shells, and no nymps in sight. Did they get eaten by the adults? Did they somehow escape?? (high improbable, but not impossible I guess)


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## Lorgakor (Sep 21, 2006)

I just don't get it. I feed mine fruits an veggies and roach food from cricketfood.com. Same as I feed my Discoids.
But these guys stunk from the moment I got them. And the smell has just intensified. It is in no way shape or form a pleasant smell. 

I live in British Columbia, do you think these guys would pose a threat if I let them go? Seriously, I don't want them in my house. I don't even want to stick my hand in there. It smells that bad.


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## padkison (Sep 21, 2006)

I wouldn't let them go.  Get them into the freezer overnight and then toss them.  They will be dead then.


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## IguanaMama (Sep 21, 2006)

Do you have them on substrate, like I do?  I think that absorbs smells--organic soil, peat, vermic and cork bark.  My husband always complains about my sensitive nose.  He says I complain that this smells and that smells.  I even complain that toothpaste smells, so when I say my lateralis don't stink, they don't stink.  It must be something you are feeding them or the substrate.  I think they are a great feeder roach, my Ts LOVE them.  Maybe there is something in that cricketfood.com stuff:?   Is it wet or dry.  I'm going to the website now.....  I think they would just die if you let them loose in a field btw, why don't you just go on a feeding frenzy instead and feed them off, make all your Ts fat for the winter.


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## Lorgakor (Sep 21, 2006)

No, it can't be what I'm feeding them, because they stunk already when I received them. I opened the packages and it was like, EWWWW. 
My discoids don't smell whatsoever, and they eat the same food. They've been eating the same food for over a year. 
No I don't have them on substrate, I worry about mites so I leave them substrate free. 

I guess I could start feeding them off, but honestly I am so grossed out by the smell that I don't even want to open the bin. Plus there are 250 of them so that would take a long time!  

I guess I'll do that though, it would be better than letting them all go. 

Thanks for the advice though, much appreciated.


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## Taceas (Sep 21, 2006)

Well I wouldn't release them. Despite the onset of winter in your neck of the woods I think it'd be irresponsible to release them. Some may overwinter somewhere and survive, and then it'd potentially be another invasive species. 

Why not just sell them to a local pet store or put an ad up in your area? Make some money and get rid of the smelly offenders. If I were closer, I'd take them off your hands. 

Like I said earlier, my roach box smells but I don't think its anything unusual. Its not overpowering, and I can only smell it when I really stick my nose in there. Plus, I too have an empty bottom. 

I only feed the food from Blaberus.com, no fresh fruits or veggies here, too damned many fruit flies. Maybe the differing diet is the culprit despite what you think. I know when my dog eats cat food, she passes gas and the nastiest stools imagineable. When the cats eat it, nothing any different. Maybe its just the way different creatures process their food is the difference between your species. 

I don't know what the weather is like in British Columbia and I'm sure it varies whether you're coastal or more interior....but when the humidity is up in the house, like when I have windows open and the AC off, they'll smell a little more than usual. But I must be used to farm animal smells or something, its nothing out of the ordinary.


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## pinkfoot (Sep 22, 2006)

Lorgakor said:


> I just don't get it. I feed mine fruits an veggies and roach food from cricketfood.com. Same as I feed my Discoids.
> But these guys stunk from the moment I got them. And the smell has just intensified. It is in no way shape or form a pleasant smell.
> 
> I live in British Columbia, do you think these guys would pose a threat if I let them go? Seriously, I don't want them in my house. I don't even want to stick my hand in there. It smells that bad.


Any reason no-one's considered they might be infected with something? 
Just a thought, since this is the only time I've read of a stench this bad outside of a gym..?


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## IguanaMama (Sep 22, 2006)

Hey, both Taceas and Lorgakor said no substrate and they have stinky roaches.  I use substrate and mine are stink-free!!!  If you are afraid of mites, just stick some roly-polies or other isopods in there!  I don't have mites, I don't have stinky roaches either!!!  I'm happy happy!  BTW, regarding which blaberus to get, I don't know the difference as far as which are better for breeding, eating etc.  I'm raising discoids and death-heads for no other reason than I think they are the prettiest.  I also have some fuscas, just because I got them and I haven't the heart to feed them, so there they be.  For some reason they aren't breeding, they are just hanging out.  The discoids are breeding however, the death heads are still nymphs.


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## Lorgakor (Sep 22, 2006)

So you don't actually have B. lateralis IguanaMama? Becuase I too have Discoids and they don't have even the slightest smell. But I will try your substrate suggestion, though I honestly don't see how it could possibly take the smell away. Even if the dirt absorbed the smell, then I would be left with a bin full of stinky dirt would I not? 

I'm not trying to be difficult, and i understand the food suggestion, but they were already smelly before I ever fed them a thing. They don't look sick (although what does a sick roach look like? ), and they are breeding fine. 

I'm going to add some substrate this weekend and see how that goes. There are some isopods in with them already, so that should help.
Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the help.


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## Galadriel (Sep 22, 2006)

IguanaMama said:


> Are they on a substrate?  I think substrate absorbs smells.  I have mine in a fairly small container for the number of them, and still no smell.  They are reproducing like crazy too.


Hey Mama! I was also told not to use substrate, just egg carton. I've been pulling the oothica before they can hatch so I can catch the little buggers. Seems like they'd be much harder to find in soil. There's just no such thing as a maintenance free pet, I guess. Even rocks should be dusted once in a while  =) And the smell is like jasmine compared to crickets.


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## IguanaMama (Sep 22, 2006)

I didn't say I didn't have lateralis.  I do have lateralis.  I have around two dozen different species of roaches.  I like roaches.:8o   I haven't been pulling the egg cases out, but they are still reproducing well.  I have just a thin layer of soil mixed with a bit of vermic and moss on the bottom, just to lighten up the soil, and then I threw in some straight spahgnam moss and some oak leaves to hold moisture and some cork bark for climbing and hiding spots.  To harvest them, I lift a piece of bark over a container and tap tap tap, but I am trying to build up a bit more before I really start feeding from it, it is still a fairly new colony.  But....  all the female adults have egg cases coming out of their butts and LOTS of teeny tiny nymphs so I know they are reproducing.


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## Gesticulator (Sep 22, 2006)

I just purchased about 50 Giant lobster roaches- Henschoutedenia flexivitta. As mentioned here, the slight odor is way better than the reek of the crickets. I am thinking its the apple mixed with the vaseline that I smell. I am less than thrilled with the surprise gooey brown excretion I was welcomed with when I held one, but I guess I can just use tweezers. They are pretty fast, but the nymphs are  cool looking. I haven't fed any yet, but I am hoping that because they are quite fast, that I have better luck than I had with the dubia. Oh well , if not, I can always ask Jodi to adopt them!!!!!!


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## eman (Sep 22, 2006)

My favourite are _B. dubia_, _A. tesselata _and _R. maderae_.  Most others will do but the above are hard to beat. 

I agree with IguanaMama - soil as a substrate is certainly the way to go.  I add plenty of bark for them to climb/mate.  The nymphs usually like to burrow into the soil (for many species). 

Cheers, 

Eman


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## IguanaMama (Sep 24, 2006)

eman said:


> My favourite are _B. dubia_, _A. tesselata _and _R. maderae_.  \\


Are yours the standard _R. maderae _or the goldi?  I got the goldi, I was wondering if there was much of a difference.


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## jbrd (Sep 24, 2006)

*Roach Poll*

I also wanted to add that we intend to use B.dubia as a feeder too but the colony is not quite large enough to feed off, so it is mostly the hissers we use for now.


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## Duc de Blangis (Sep 24, 2006)

I don't have any issues with smell, but all i feed my roaches for the most part are carrots, potatos and fresh corn on the cob.

I feed N. Cinera all three of the above and i have way too many roaches than i know what to do with.

I have B. dubia and B. fusca which completely devour the corn and a little bit of the carrots.

And i have B. latteralis which completely devour the potato.


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## IguanaMama (Sep 24, 2006)

Do you cook the potato or serve it raw?  I heard sweet potato was good, so I bought some, organic no less, but I haven't used it because I don't know if I'm supposed to cook it, peel it or what??????? :?


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## Duc de Blangis (Sep 24, 2006)

IguanaMama said:


> Do you cook the potato or serve it raw?  I heard sweet potato was good, so I bought some, organic no less, but I haven't used it because I don't know if I'm supposed to cook it, peel it or what??????? :?


i've just been giving it to them raw. the potatos and corn on the cob both. i peel just a little bit of the potato for them to get to it but i don't think it's really necassary. i don't even give the n. cinera a water supply and they're still breeding insanely fast. i still provide water crystals for my other roaches. i'm not sure they really need them either.

my b. lateralis weren't doing eating too well with dry dog food, etc but they gobble up potato. same with both my b. fusca and dubia. they didn't seem to like what i was giving them; i'd find items only slightly nibbled and i've found they go crazy over corn. the n. cinera eat anything.


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## Beardo (Sep 24, 2006)

I tried B. lateralis a while back and I did not like them at all....they stunk horribly as soon as I got them and no matter what I did, I could not get any of the eggcases to hatch, thus leaving me with a non-reproducing colony. I fed off the larger ones as quick as I could and gave the others away to a friend. 

I have used B. dubia, Discoids, Orange-Heads and Lobsters with great success.


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## Stylopidae (Sep 26, 2006)

I'm considering feeding yams to my lobsters to increase production...I'll post results.

I use dog treats for the dry food (mostly because they come in a container that isn't bad for keeping bugs in) and I use cucumber for moisture.

Would yams be moist enough to be a secondary foodstuff?

Has anyone noticed a noticible difference in reproduction whilst feeding fishfood?


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## Arachnobored (Sep 27, 2006)

This is a great thread! Why isn't it pinned?!:? 

I am also going to start feeding roaches to my collection, and I've learned tonnes already!

Way to go, pinkfoot!:clap:


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## cacoseraph (Sep 27, 2006)

IguanaMama said:


> Do you cook the potato or serve it raw?  I heard sweet potato was good, so I bought some, organic no less, but I haven't used it because I don't know if I'm supposed to cook it, peel it or what??????? :?


i ALWAYS peel everything i feed to my roaches. and i don't use high surface area to volume food like grapes. and it kills me but i don't use leaf foods like spinach. the reason being that they are more likely to have pesticides on them... and i believe some pesticides can kind of "seep" into the meat of the plant things.

i like bananas for this reason... very easy to peel, all species seem to like them, and the tough thick skin makes me feel like it would be harder for seepage to occur

also, i try to feed as much stuff raw as possible. i believe that cooking breaks down some vitamins


well... ok, i do use leaf foods sometimes, but only when they are the hideously expensive, organic, and pesticide free variety. i swear my dang roaches eat better than i do!


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## IguanaMama (Sep 27, 2006)

I feed only organic to my roaches.  Every Thursday I go to the organic market and pick up organic fruits and vegetables for the roaches.   My children have started to eat better since I've gotten roaches.


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## cacoseraph (Sep 27, 2006)

make sure they are organic AND pesticide free, as i believe there are organic pesticides.. orange oil or diatomaceous earth or something


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## mikeythefireman (Oct 2, 2006)

Grow your own green leafys.  I just got my roaches, but they're eating alright already.  They're gorging on post-juiced carrot, apple, pear, raspberry, etc. pulp.  As well as whatever parts of the veggies that we're growing we don't eat.  I got a bunch of cat food all ground up for them, but they seem to prefer the fresh fruits and veggies.  I've had them for 5 days now, and I've refilled the fruits and veggies everyday and I haven't filled the cat food, yet.


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## IguanaMama (Oct 2, 2006)

mikeythefireman said:


> Grow your own green leafys.


AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHA



(If you saw where I live you'd know why I was laughing.)


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## Vys (Oct 2, 2006)

I don't _really_ know what the deal is with pesticide-laced fruits/ vegetables, to be honest. Maybe it is 'better safe than sorry', maybe some companies are worse than others when it comes to spraying their vegetables. 

I  buy mostly ecological (organic) when available (for me and the roaches), but that isn't always; and never have I seen mass death or even noticable death as a result from having fed them non-ecological rinsed fruits.

That said, I do not support buying non-eco things, generally, anyway.


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## Stylopidae (Oct 2, 2006)

I've started to wet down my dog food for their wet food. They love it, and it works very well.


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## Vys (Oct 3, 2006)

How do you keep wetted dog food from moulding?
I can't keep non-wetted hard cat food from moulding after a while, no matter what I do. Same with any sort of oatmeal. 

Darn roaches that can't eat peppers


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## musihuto (Oct 3, 2006)

*roaches for scorpions*

i've heard some scorpions can be picky with roaches...  any accounts on which species they prefer?  any differences between desert and arboreal species?
              - munis


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## Stylopidae (Oct 3, 2006)

Vys said:


> How do you keep wetted dog food from moulding?
> I can't keep non-wetted hard cat food from moulding after a while, no matter what I do. Same with any sort of oatmeal.
> 
> Darn roaches that can't eat peppers


I only use a little at a time...just enough so it dries out after a day or so. Then, I put the dried out crust that's left in the dry food dish and start over.


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## mikeythefireman (Oct 4, 2006)

I'm glad that made you laugh.   Now please share the punchline.:? 





IguanaMama said:


> AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHA
> 
> 
> 
> (If you saw where I live you'd know why I was laughing.)


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## Taceas (Oct 4, 2006)

Based on her living in New York, I'm assuming she thinks it would be impossible to grow salad greens?

If that's the case it couldn't be further from the truth. I grew some of my best salad in a window box this summer. Kept the slugs and snails out of it for once. 


OR the fact of how you said it was kind of giggle inducing, I must say. =P


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## IguanaMama (Oct 4, 2006)

Na, a window box wouldn't even work, I'm not allowed anything on the only window that has some sunlight and view of anything other than a brick wall 3 feet away because of the fire escape. If I wanted to grow anything I would need artificial grow lights, and I just don't have the space for it. Think of all the horrible things you've heard about NYC apartments and there you have it as my my last name isn't Trump.  I would like to leave NY, but my DH wants to stay.


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