# Turkistan roach farm



## KevinsWither (Sep 24, 2016)

Any good setup for turkistan roaches? Do they need a lot of space to breed? Any drawbacks to them?


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## G. pulchra (Sep 24, 2016)

The biggest drawback is if they get loose in your home.  Prolific breeders that are actually displacing the oriental roach in some areas.


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## KevinsWither (Sep 24, 2016)

Yea are there any other profile but small species of roaches I can culture for food? Any methods of preventing escape? Do I need to heat the enclosure for Turkish roaches?


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## Andy00 (Sep 24, 2016)

This is how I keep mine. Pretty simple but it works. They're pretty hardy ime. The toilet paper roles make it easier to shake them out into a feeding container. Also you could fit max 100-200 in a small critter keeper, that's what I did and it turned out fine. Haven't had any of them breed, but I'm not trying to get them to. I keep them without a heater, just the same as my T room temps. Also I have only noticed one mature male.

Reactions: Like 1


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## BobBarley (Sep 24, 2016)

Andy00 said:


> This is how I keep mine. Pretty simple but it works. They're pretty hardy ime.
> 
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> ...


May I ask, is the vial for humidity?


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## Andy00 (Sep 24, 2016)

BobBarley said:


> May I ask, is the vial for humidity?


Yeah. It doesn't really do much though but I still leave it in there haha

Reactions: Like 1


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## KevinsWither (Sep 24, 2016)

Alrighty, now is there a cheap method of heating? I am trying to breed them for food so that I don't have to buy crickets.


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## Hisserdude (Sep 24, 2016)

KevinsWither said:


> Any good setup for turkistan roaches? Do they need a lot of space to breed? Any drawbacks to them?


For breeding, you'll want a substrate, it makes it easier to keep the cage at the humidity levels that the ootheca need to hatch. 

A decent sized plastic bin that has a tight lid should be good for these guys, be sure to get a clear one as opaque storage bins usually have a textured that makes it easy for the roaches to climb up to the lid. This species can't climb smooth surfaces, so as long as there are a few inches of space in between the hides and the top of the enclosure, they shouldn't even reach the lid. I'd still try to get a container with a pretty tight lid though.

They also require temps in the 80s or above for fast reproduction rates, colonies kept at room temperature may not reproduce quickly enough to be used as feeders often. I would suggest getting a heat cable, it's cheap and easy to use, just plug it in and place it under your enclosure and it should keep it warm enough for optimal reproduction.



G. pulchra said:


> The biggest drawback is if they get loose in your home.  Prolific breeders that are actually displacing the oriental roach in some areas.


This species is already present in AZ, he could probably go catch some to start a colony if he wants, lol! They generally stay outside though, like _Periplaneta_, so they aren't that big of a concern, unlike the _Blattella_ or _Supella_ that love breeding in houses.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## KevinsWither (Sep 25, 2016)

Okay that's good. Now I googled heat cables and they seem pretty long.


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## nepenthe (Sep 25, 2016)

I use a regular sterilite storage bin and a back heating pad by Sunbeam (make sure it doesn't have auto shutoff, you'll now because it has a switch control instead of buttons!).  I've never used heat tape so I'm not sure what is cheaper. Make sure there is always a protein source (dry cat food, fish flakes) or they will start to cannibalize each other. I also suggest toilet paper rolls rather than egg crates because it's almost impossible to pick one roach up, so you'll have to shake them off of something to get them out and they will cling like crazy to egg crates.  Turks are definitely not picky and I've bred them, albeit probably more slowly, without substrate or heat or separating the oothecae.

I used to be paranoid about my turks getting out but then I acquired some truly pesty species and I like them much better now.  If you're really paranoid get a gasket bin, they're only a couple of bucks more.   I'm actually transitioning to all gasket bins, I like the look better and the peace of mind is totally worth it!

Here's what I use!
small heating pad (I think they cover about half of a large bin)
large heating pad (I uses this size and put multiple bins on these, half on and half off so they have a cooler side as a retreat)

small non-gasket box 6 pack (I'm transitioning away from these but they're okay for non-climbers)
small gasket 6 box pack (they're on sale now!  I think you can get singles at target too)
larget gasket 4 box pack
Note: if you get the gasket boxes, I suggest cutting any openings for screening with a rotary tool because the plastic cracks more easily if you use a razor blade.  The non-gasket box lids are a softer plastic, so that wasn't an issue.

Reactions: Like 2


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## KevinsWither (Sep 25, 2016)

Do the baby turkish roaches get eaten by the bigger ones? Also could I just have a dish of cocofiber in the tank for humidity and breeding purposes? Would I be able to culture sow bugs and springtails with them? Could banana roaches work for the setup too if I had cocofiber cover the whole floor? 

On the rotary tool, sadly I do not have one. So i'll have to find another way to cut the plastic. I have a hot glue gun and I might be able to heat a large thumb tack with a lighter and melt the holes in the plastic.


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## nepenthe (Sep 26, 2016)

I keep babies and adults together with no problems.  I can't speak much about cohabitation with other species because I don't keep them with anything but buffalo mealworms.  You will have to be careful about your enclosure with banana roaches because the adults can both climb and fly.


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## KevinsWither (Sep 26, 2016)

Also the other thing is that I have an old zoo med Heater pad (for Kritter keepers. Could I use that? So far when I had it it was not bent at all. I took it off carefully and used tape on the sticky side to preserve it.


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## KevinsWither (Sep 26, 2016)

Also I kind of realized that since its 5 gallons, could I raise dubias productively in there?


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## nepenthe (Sep 26, 2016)

I've never used them but I don't think a reptile pad would cause issues.  You might want to test it for a bit to make sure you're getting the right temp and coverage, and then check periodically while it's in use to make sure it isn't warping the plastic over the long term.


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## nepenthe (Sep 27, 2016)

You'll probably want to move to something bigger eventually, but I think 5 gal is a good size to start off a colony of dubia.


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## KevinsWither (Sep 27, 2016)

Any other roaches other than dubia or red runners that make good feeder food?


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## KevinsWither (Sep 27, 2016)

I also forgot, are red runners smelly?


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Sep 27, 2016)

An established colony smells more than dubia, but the odor is still 100x better than a cricket that's been dead for 12 hours.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Hisserdude (Sep 27, 2016)

KevinsWither said:


> Do the baby turkish roaches get eaten by the bigger ones? Also could I just have a dish of cocofiber in the tank for humidity and breeding purposes? Would I be able to culture sow bugs and springtails with them? Could banana roaches work for the setup too if I had cocofiber cover the whole floor?


No, they won't eat each other, unless they are underfed that is, and they'd only go after each other when they molt. 

You are gonna want more than just a little dish of substrate, lots of them probably won't even find it. Just a thin layer of substrate, about an inch, should work nicely to keep humidity up. 

You don't want to keep isopods with egg laying roaches, as they can eat the cockroaches' oothecae. Springtails would be just fine though.
I wouldn't keep the green banana roaches in with them since they like conditions more moist than the red runners, plus they'd need a deep substrate to burrow in. Additionally, the red runners would probably outcompete them fairly quickly.


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## Hisserdude (Sep 27, 2016)

KevinsWither said:


> Any other roaches other than dubia or red runners that make good feeder food?


Sure, there are plenty of great feeder roaches out there! Some good ones are _Nauphoeta cinera_, (Lobster roach), _Paraplecta_ sp, (Little Kenyan roach), _Paratemnopteryx couloniana_, (Red goblin roach), _Pycnoscelus surinamensis_, (Surinam roach), plus many others, take your pick man!


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## Introvertebrate (Sep 27, 2016)

In the larger sizes, Kyle Kandilian recommends Discoids.  They're more active than Dubia.


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## BobBarley (Sep 27, 2016)

On a different note, I've found superworms (Zophobas morio) very easy to breed...  Check out the latest video added to my Instagram below


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## Hisserdude (Sep 27, 2016)

BobBarley said:


> On a different note, I've found superworms (Zophobas morio) very easy to breed...  Check out the latest video added to my Instagram below


But you gotta pre-kill them for most predators, or else they burrow down into the substrate. Plus the jaws on a large larva could seriously hurt some predatory inverts if they are given the chance to fight back.


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## BobBarley (Sep 27, 2016)

Hisserdude said:


> But you gotta pre-kill them for most predators, or else they burrow down into the substrate. Plus the jaws on a large larva could seriously hurt some predatory inverts if they are given the chance to fight back.


True true, but for most/all t's there isn't really a problem with them getting hurt.  And most t's I have will eat superworms right when I drop them in front of the t.  And pre killing isn't really an inconvenience to me.  Though, with all that said, I'd switch to roaches in a heartbeat lol.  I'm just not allowed to have any because my mom *DESPISES* them.


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