crickets & roach question

[edie]

i hope this is where this belongs, please let me know if i'm wrong.

this is what i've been keeping my crickets in..

i usually have about 100-200 crickets a month, and i clean out the tub & everything in it once a week because i can't stand the smell and i try to keep things looking healthy.. let me know if i should change anything about it, i've had this set up for about a year and its been working fine as i'm not trying to breed crickets at all for the moment.

i'm interested in starting a roach colony, i've heard they are easier to breed than crickets and the smell isn't as bad, is this true? i would just like to give my T's and spiders a litte variety in their food. would the same type of set up be okay? and are there any roaches out there that make good food but are not super creepy looking? i love all insects but the roaches we have in AZ scare me to death, my sister locked me in the garage with one last year and i cried! it was pretty pathetic, i just need ideas on roaches that don't look like the american/german/oriental roaches that are wild out here in the US, oh and nothing that can fly at me. any help would be great thank you

 

[Stylopidae]

I use N. cinerea...they always remind me of the dude with the eyepeice from Star Trek for some reason.

They're glasswalkers, but tend to stay on the substrate if you put them on the substrate or on the side of the tank if you introduce them on the side of the tank...of course, this is only about 60/40 so...take it for what it's worth.

They're glasswalkers, but that doesn't bother me...vaseline keeps them in check pretty well. I have my colony under a heat lamp and probably couldn't feed enough out if I wanted to. They are incredibly prolific.

The smallest nymphs are a little smaller than those seed things you see on big mac buns.

The only smell I'm able to detect is a slightly musty odor, but most of my friends find it pleasant and I hardly ever notice it.

 

[edie]

those ones don't look too bad, as long as none of them scurried up my arm! i make the most horrible noise when that happens, or when i accidentally crush a cricket in my hand or tweezers, i cringe just thinking about it.
where do you get yours from?

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I use Blaptica dubia, I started with 55 (mostly adult and sub adults) about a month ago and haven't noticed any odor from them. I keep them in a 93 quart non clear tub, no substrate, 17 paper towel rolls for security. I cut about an 7-8" hole in the lid and put screen on both sides and heat it using a 50 watt (75 would probably be better) infrared light.

These cannot climb smooth surfaces. The tub that I bought wasn't the glossy finish kind, while the adults weren't able to climb the nymphs were able to. Using "Cirith Ungol" advice I bought some smooth packing tape and put a couple strips inside which did the job keeping the babies from being able to climb.

IMO these are one of the LEAST creepy looking roaches.

Pics of mine.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=87638

 

[edie]

thanks, those aren't too bad either. that freshly moulted one kind of creeps me out but so do white crickets. that big female is pretty, i like the color

 

[Aquanut]

B. dubia are good, i also like B.discoidalis. B. dubia is one of the more popular of the feeders, but it depends on what you feed. Neither climb smooth surfaces and have almost no smell. A couple of good sites with info on many good feeders are www.blaberus.com and www.buckchick.com