Crickets Vs. Roaches...

[Kris-wIth-a-K]

So... Here is a poll to really figure out which ones are better..

I hear that roaches are awesome and all but I personally like crickets better... In my experience they are easier to take care of, yes smell sometimes (when they die) and could carry mites but are still all around worth while. I use them for fishing and feeding and I am not certain but can get more for your money...

Whatcha think? Opinions anyone?

 

[Draiman]

I have had all sorts of horrible experiences with crickets, from mites to dyskinetic syndrome to nematodes, yet I can't even get roaches here. You're much more fortunate than I am. Stick to your roaches!

 

[kupo969]

I have had all sorts of horrible experiences with crickets, from mites to dyskinetic syndrome to nematodes, yet I can't even get roaches here. You're much more fortunate than I am. Stick to your roaches!

He can't, he's in FL like I am. I WISH I can get roaches.

 

[Pacmaster]

Roaches were a gift from the heavens, so all the herp(ish) keepers of the world dont have to deal with filthy nasty stinky vermin that crix are . . .

 

[radicaldementia]

Crickets are horrible. When I used to have a leopard gecko my only option was getting crix every week at the pet store. I hated them so much, they smell and jump everywhere, and make so much noise. Years later when I first got into T's, I started with crix again, and after a week I said "no more!" and got dubia roaches.

No noise, no smell, easy to handle/pick up, easy to take care of, breeds easily, eats almost anything, plus several species to choose from; I honestly can't even think of one reason why crickets would be better than roaches.

 

[Draiman]

He can't, he's in FL like I am. I WISH I can get roaches.

What do you feed your Ts then? I'm asking since I'm in the same situation as you.

 

[Pacmaster]

In Fl, roaches(any kind) are considered an invasive species and thus they are illegal to buy/sell/own/etc . . .

 

[zwd22]

My opinion is probably bias cuz in canada and we have very little problem with nematodes. Crickets are just more accessible, and since i only have slings and juvies they are more practical.

I don't find them too hard to take care of, i keep mine in a shoe box. I bought 25 from a local store about 2 3 weeks ago didn't feed them a thing and most of them still survived(minus the ones that have been turned into boluses). I heard ventilation really help.

 

[GailC]

I can't think of one thing that crickets have over roaches. Crickets stink, jump, escape and are a pain to breed. Roaches don't jump, rarely escape, don't smell and breed easily.
I will never go back to crickets, nasty little buggers.

 

[LeilaNami]

Crickets only for the fact I have a small collection. Once I get more I might graduate to roaches.

 

[Ritzman]

Roaches FTW.

 

[zwd22]

wait hold on... don't roaches tend to burrow or sumthin??? or is that only in rare occasions.

 

[jeff1962]

I feed crickets because they are easy to come by here and I have never had any problems with them. One of the folks who sells cricks. is getting a hisser colony started so when I can I will get some of those to feed also.

I am sure roaches are a better choice but I have yet to sell the idea of starting a colony to the wife. I had to ease her into my ever expanding T. collection. When I first started keeping T.s I kept them at my office and gradually brought them home.

 

[GailC]

wait hold on... don't roaches tend to burrow or sumthin??? or is that only in rare occasions.

Some species like dubia will dig down in the substrate and hid. I personally like lateralis for my T's but some of the big adults get dubia.

 

[betuana]

My opinion is mixed. I love how easy the roaches are to care for, the lack of anything resembling a bad smell, the fact that they breed so well, are easy to catch and handle, don't jump away and get lose in my house, don't risk hurting my Ts like crickets do (biting and such), survive better, etc etc. They are just all around easier to keep and deal with.

That said, except for when my big haplo was really hungry when she arrived, not a single one of my Ts will touch the dubias so far. Its been months. I've had to keep buying crix just so they will eat. Even the big haplo, who ate a few dubia at first, went off of them - so much so that the female roach that was in her cage for a day or so had babies (there are little dubia in that cage now, and they are a bugger to try and catch with all that substrate to burrow in!). And my juvie pokie...I put a roach in there that was about half its size (1" or so roach), and looked around the next day, didn't see it anywhere, figured the pokie at it. Just recently, a couple MONTHS later, I was watering the cage really good, and a FULL GROWN dubia came up out of the substrate!! Had to catch that bugger that was now bigger than my T and put it back in the colony...

I really like the roaches, I just wish I could get my Ts to accept them as feeders! If I don't figure something out soon I may just have to pack up all my dubias and send them to someone who can use them.

Crickets are so stinky, even alive straight from the store, and bitey, and tend to jump around and occasionally escape (found one walking across my living room carpet yesterday, its been a week since I last opened a cricket container!), don't breed well, die ALOT before I can even use them, etc. I'll still have to get them for my leopard gecko though, so its becoming more likely that I'll just have to deal with massive amounts of crickets..

So technically I'm feeding crickets right now, out of necessity. I like the roaches better, and if your Ts will take them, and you are allowed to have them, my vote is TOTALLY for the roaches!

 

[mike12348]

No noise, no smell, easy to handle/pick up, easy to take care of, breeds easily, eats almost anything, plus several species to choose from; I honestly can't even think of one reason why crickets would be better than roaches.

You took the words out of my mouth. Oh yea and they look WAYY better than crickets IMO.

 

[Aubrey Sidwell]

Roaches only. I used to feed crickets but they die easily if they get dehydrated, which can happen very easily in a heated room of tarantulas. They stink, have a shorter lifespan, and the worst thing imaginable is that they can fatally injure a tarantula. If a tarantula grabs a cricket wrong then the cricket might be able to inflict a serious wound with it's biting ability. Also, if a tarantula molts and there is a hungry cricket hiding that you missed it might munch on the helpless tarantula. I feed lobster roaches, which are climbers, and they rarely burrow. They live for 8-10 months, breed rapidly at room temperature, and smell is negligible when the cage is kept clean. I have had my roaches accidentaly left in with molting tarantulas and they don't seem to have a crickets instinct to know that their predator is now helpless and nothing bad has ever happened.

 

[Cocoa-Jin]

Roaches are so easy to care for. They require minimal fuss. They return your efforts, energy and investment so willingly.

Quiet, less smell to no smell...especially with kitty litter filters placed over the air vents, rapid reproduction.

Man, roaches are the cat's meow...the bee's knees!

 

[Yanose]

I have a colony of Dubia roaches and a colony of crix and I say roaches all the way. I still feed crix occasionaly I personaly belive that one should feed their T's as many different types of insect as is possible. Although dubias do dig in to the soil they do not creat burrows and will come out in the dark when they think they are safe if you have an apropriate size of enclosure the digging behavior of dubia roaches won't save them from an angry T.

 

[Yanose]

or a hungry T dang to late to keep trying to type. I am obviously losing the abilty to spell even at the rudimetery level I posses. good night.