B. lateralis vs Dubia roaches which do you prefer.

[Mojo288]

So i absolutely hate crickets, they jump, they smell, they lay eggs in moist sub, and they never shut up so im about to do away with the little buggers once and for all.

Now im leaning towards a Lateralis colony, as there are tons of pros for them.They don't dig, the reproduce fairly quickly, they are quiet, much less smell than crickets, no chirping, no climbing, easier to breed, and they run like mad inciting a great feeding response from most Ts.

My question is this, if all of this is true, why does anyone bother with dubias? I mean they are know to play dead, burrow into the substrate and take MUCH longer to establish a colony. Is there something i'm missing? For some reason Dubias are much more popular than B. lats, and i really can't see why... is it just their size? Or is there something about the B. lats that makes them undesirable?

Any input or alternatives would be greatly apreciated.

 

[Moonohol]

Lats are invasive and can infest your house if they get loose. Dubias won't unless you live somewhere with a humid, tropical climate. I've never bothered with Lats but I can say that Dubias are stupid easy to care for and they can be used to feed any size T, from a tiny sling to a 9" monster.

 

[Nightstalker47]

B.dubias are non invasive, they require very high temps to breed so in the event of an escape they are unlikely to infest your home.

B.lateralis are the opposite, they will thrive and breed if they escape. This makes them much less desirable, and quite frankly much riskier to keep.

 

[beaker41]

Dubai do seem to hide more often than other types of roaches I have used but they are certainly easy to care for and if you put them in an extremely hot environment they will establish a colony much faster. Ultimately with roaches you are going to end up with too many at some point and the Dubai's inability to infest is certainly a very large consideration.

 

[EulersK]

B. lateralis breed multitudes faster than B. dubia. But as has been said, they can infest.

Speaking strictly about them as a feeder, B. dubia have a much larger range of sizes. Newborn nymphs can feed the smallest of slings, and large nymphs (not even adults) are a decent sized meal for the largest of birdeaters. B. lateralis have slightly smaller nymphs, but why would you need anything smaller? The largest B. lateralis adult females are also hardly a snack for the largest tarantulas. B. dubia are also quite a bit slower, and thus easier to catch. Their downside is that they burrow as nymphs, but that is easily avoided by simply crushing the head (they'll walk around for days with a crushed head, they likely die of dehydration rather than the injury).

 

[Mojo288]

thank you for all the replies, so i'm guessing everyone here would recommend Dubias over b lats? I wasn't worried about infestations because its so dry here in socal, so i didnt think they could survive (as iv read that they require some humidity to breed). As for them being smaller than Dubias, i actually found that to be a pro for me, to help keep the colony in check (just dump multiples, or feed more frequently since my collection isn't all that big). So i guess avoid the B lats? Any other roaches i could try? Or just stick with Dubias?

 

[mconnachan]

I prefer dubias, far more nutrition than B lats, also they're not invasive, I've had a colony for over 3 years and haven't had to buy feeders since the colony was established, good sizes for all my T's from slings to adults alike....and they don't stink near as much as crickets, my wife smells everything and she doesn't mention any smell from the colony bin.

 

[EulersK]

thank you for all the replies, so i'm guessing everyone here would recommend Dubias over b lats? I wasn't worried about infestations because its so dry here in socal, so i didnt think they could survive (as iv read that they require some humidity to breed). As for them being smaller than Dubias, i actually found that to be a pro for me, to help keep the colony in check (just dump multiples, or feed more frequently since my collection isn't all that big). So i guess avoid the B lats? Any other roaches i could try? Or just stick with Dubias?

I'd be pretty surprised if they couldn't infest your home. I've got a buddy who had B. lateralis infest his home, and I'm in the Mojave Desert. Meanwhile, the B. dubia desiccate very quickly in this environment.

Note that B. dubia, again, breed and grow pretty slowly compared to B. lateralis. However, either species of roach will absolutely breed quicker than you can feed them off. You won't even make a dent in their population. When my colony first started getting out of hand, I just got a bucket with water and made a drowning pool for my excess roaches. Then I started giving them away. Then I started selling them

As for other roaches that serve as good feeders, @Hisserdude may be able to shed some light. But dubia will probably be the easiest to keep, cheapest, and most readily available.

they don't stink near as much as crickets, my wife smells everything and even she doesn't mention any smell from them.

Eight colonies, tens of thousands of individuals, and only a very slight odor that is unnoticeable just a few feet away You're not exaggerating.

 

[beaker41]

Any other roaches i could try? Or just stick with Dubias?

You might have a look at www.roachcrossing.com, there are actually thousands of species of roaches that aren't pest species and they have them all classified there by climbers or non , etc. personally I have been feeding out of a colony of flat horned hissers, they are climbers and don't reproduce quite as fast but even with 50 adult t's I can't quite keep up. You may even find you enjoy raising roaches as much as t's, they are fascinating in their own way and there are some really cool species out there like ones that look like giant round donino's or Egyptian scarab beetles or mini horseshoe crabs !

 

[Anoplogaster]

I prefer dubias. They have a nuttier flavor

 

[Hisserdude]

I'd be pretty surprised if they couldn't infest your home. I've got a buddy who had B. lateralis infest his home, and I'm in the Mojave Desert. Meanwhile, the B. dubia desiccate very quickly in this environment.

You sure about that? From what I've heard they are like Periplaneta, they breed outdoors but come in pretty often, and usually set up shop right outside houses. Really don't think their ooths could survive the low humidity of the average house.

Honestly as far as feeders go, S.lateralis, B.dubia, and Pycnoscelus surinamensis seem to be among the most prolific, those are the species I'd recommend using as feeders.

 

[aphono]

thank you for all the replies, so i'm guessing everyone here would recommend Dubias over b lats? I wasn't worried about infestations because its so dry here in socal, so i didnt think they could survive (as iv read that they require some humidity to breed). As for them being smaller than Dubias, i actually found that to be a pro for me, to help keep the colony in check (just dump multiples, or feed more frequently since my collection isn't all that big). So i guess avoid the B lats? Any other roaches i could try? Or just stick with Dubias?

Actually, they do very well in deserts. Even places like 29 Palms, I know of a person who lives in hills off a dirt road miles from the main road, no neighbors for miles. Can't get more isolated, dry and hot than that. His property and whole of the hill is absolutely infested with them.

They are extremely widespread in southern California in all kinds of environments- suburbs, semi rural, shopping parking lots etc. A friend rented a suburban house in Hemet, the numbers were astromonical, they stayed outside but there were so many there would be some coming into the house by accident every night. Supposedly they are replacing Oriental roaches according to pest control.

Some downplay or underestimate their invasive potential.. no, it is way high any where the winters are mild.

 

[Mojo288]

Actually, they do very well in deserts. Even places like 29 Palms, I know of a person who lives in hills off a dirt road miles from the main road, no neighbors for miles. Can't get more isolated, dry and hot than that. His property and whole of the hill is absolutely infested with them.

They are extremely widespread in southern California in all kinds of environments- suburbs, semi rural, shopping parking lots etc. A friend rented a suburban house in Hemet, the numbers were astromonical, they stayed outside but there were so many there would be some coming into the house by accident every night. Supposedly they are replacing Oriental roaches according to pest control.

Some downplay or underestimate their invasive potential.. no, it is way high any where the winters are mild.

Wow, im REALLY glad i asked, that sounds horrible, Dubias it is. Seriously thank you all so much, this could have been a disaster.

 

[Ungoliant]

They are extremely widespread in southern California in all kinds of environments- suburbs, semi rural, shopping parking lots etc. A friend rented a suburban house in Hemet, the numbers were astromonical, they stayed outside but there were so many there would be some coming into the house by accident every night. Supposedly they are replacing Oriental roaches according to pest control.

Wow! I didn't know they were already infesting the United States.

I just did some additional reading on Blatta lateralis, and living in coastal South Carolina with its mild winters, I'm glad I chose Blaptica dubia instead. (My dubias are still mostly too large to feed to all but my biggest tarantulas, so I keep a small colony of mealworms as both small feeders and diet variation.)

Care has been very easy. I initially used my large Kricket Keeper, but the largest roaches couldn't fit in the tubes, and the tubes get pretty gross after a few weeks. So I repurposed an old aquarium. I added some vermiculite as substrate for odor control. I feed the roaches ground up oats and sliced carrots.

Their food and water gel dishes are empty water bottles that I cut in half. For harborage, I put in some thin cardboard boxes and tubes. Both the dishes and cardboard harborage are disposable, so once a week I just shake the roaches out of the old cardboard and put some new cardboard in there. Using this routine, the odor is minimal -- and unnoticeable more than a foot away.