dicoids and lobsters and dubias...oh my!

[Gesticulator]

discoids and lobsters and dubias...oh my!

Been searching the threads and the sticky http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=463&page=1&pp=15&highlight=discoid+roaches

Still I'm unsure of which roaches to get...had it with crickets. Don't think I want the lobsters beacuse they climb, but do I need "climbers" for my arboreal T's?

Discoids seemed like an option, but how important is the temperature? will they still breed, but breed slower, if i leave them at "room" temperature (abt 70 degrees, I guess).

Planning on coming home on Sunday with some sort of roaches (Ugh, growing up in a rented apt in Queens, I have no fond memories of roaches) but still perplexed over which kind.

I am able to pick up crix with my bare hands, but will I get accustomed to the roaches??? :8o
Also..."frass" = poop?

 

[Stylopidae]

Frass=poop

That's pretty much all I'm qualified to say. I have no experience keeping roaches.

From what I've read, even the climbing roaches seem to want to go down more than up.

If you toss the roaches up in the web, the T should find them I guess.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Hm... partial as I am to the subject I'd say.... DUBIA (Not Dubya mind you! Well... unless you can breed him into some more than roach-intelligent species and unless you don't mind touching him in order to throw him into the web.)

With a heat source of constant a 35' Celcius and enough food you'll get one entire breeding cycle within about 7 months. Dubias will dig into the substrate the first chance they get so I'm now always cutting their legs off unless I drop the insect right infront of the T and I know she's hungry. There's no problem putting the roaches into an arboreal net, they'll climb arround on and in it for a while (for the most part) which will have them end up on the lunch table.

 

[Gesticulator]

Yes CU, i've read of your partiality toward dubias. Dumb question, but do you use your hand to put them into the T's tank or a tweezer? What is the best source of heat?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Depends on into which tank they go. I have feeding ports for a few tanks. There I just unscrew the screwcap and toss the bugger in with my hands. If I have to feed by opening sliding doors I take tweezers, hold the roach by its outer exo rim and drop it near or infront of the arachnid.

 

[Schlyne]

You shouldn't need climbing roaches for your arboreal T's. I have many arboreal species and have never had a problem feeding off the dubia roaches to them.

I usually squish the heads of the smaller dubia nymphs before I feed them off.

 

[Empi]

Dumb question, but do you use your hand to put them into the T's tank or a tweezer?

I know what your thinking. These roaches are not like the ones you find in houses. They are pretty clean. I would rather pick them up with my hands than crickets. They are probly cleaner. A roach is only as dirty as it's home. So keep there container clean and you will have clean roaches. I just ordered a 100 lobster roaches. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Gesticulator]

I read that the dubia's frass is messier than say the discoids. Will I be scraping roach poop of the container or changing the egg cartons?
So far I've heard most praise for the dubias...anyone use discoids? Also...what abt temperature?? Do I need a heat pad? Thanks for all the support, I want to be as best prepared as possible.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Messy dubia frass? Hm... wouldn't say so myself. They're like tiny, hard and dry pellets. When cleaning you just need to scoop them up.

 

[Scythemantis]

They're not feeders, but I have lobsters and no trouble keeping them contained with a thin layer of vaseline around the walls of the tank (it has to be thin, though. If it's globbed on they WILL climb it) which you never, ever have to reapply.

I don't clean the cage, either. Their droppings get lost in their sandy substrate and there's just no point because I've never noticed a smell.

And, actually, household roaches are pretty sanitary as well. Like any animal a roach is only germy if it's JUST walked through something germy, and really, how often do you have rotting flesh or dung in the walls of a house? Roaches are no dirtier than butterflies or flowers or anything else outside.

 

[Gesticulator]

I get get past the negative association I have had with roaches thus far. I've narrowed it down to 2...discoids or dubias....( rather avoid the climbing lobsters, I think)...
So AB members...discoids or dubias???????

 

[8 leg wonder]

I get get past the negative association I have had with roaches thus far. I've narrowed it down to 2...discoids or dubias....( rather avoid the climbing lobsters, I think)...
So AB members...discoids or dubias???????

Why not get both?

 

[KJE]

I have/use discoids. I have had no problems with them breeding at temps of 74 degrees. They can't fly or climb glass/plastic. I LOVE them! It has taken about 6 months to go from about 18 adults and 2 juvies to over 300 various size roaches. I have never had any of my 35+ tarantulas or crested gecko refuse them. Even my P. regalis and A. versicolor likes them. A lot of people use no substrate. I have opted to use a 1" layer of peat as a substrate. The baby roaches seem to like to burrow in the peat until they are bigger. I have hot glued several pieces of cardboard together to make a vertical "hotel" for them, which they seem to like. When I first got them I couldn't pick them up by hand, but that problem was gone within a few months. Now I find it easier to just reach in and grab them by hand.

I home school, so every few months my 11 year old and I clean out the enclosure and count every roach. We use tally marks to mark each size. The sizes we use are: adults; large juvies; medium juvies; small juvies; large babies; medium babies; small babies; tiny babies(newborns). She then does a little math with the tally marks to get the totals. This year I will have to come up with some algebra stuff for her to do with them. Ugh! So, you see, roaches can also be educational! Not just with math, but also science, geography, and literature.

Anyway, I'm sure you will be happy with either dubias or discoids. I'm not sure if there's really that much difference in them. I got discoids because that's what the person I got them from had.

 

[Gesticulator]

Thanks KJE. I'm sure you'll think algebraically abt the roaches too. I'm too crazed right now (just went back to work and kids started school today) to think of something clever to post on roach mathematics. I guess I'll make my choice on Sunday when I talk to the dealer.

 

[Randolph XX()]

i'd say dubia is much more softer than discoids
but both are great feeders

 

[Gesticulator]

Well ended up with 2 dozen Blaptica dubias to get myself started. I must admit I'm not all that comfortable with these mighty sized roaches, but I can't deal with the crix anymore.

Okay, stupid question time...do the dubias bite? I made myself hold one and it clung onto my finger. When I tried to shake it off, something pinched me.....ewww! I swear I was laughing and crying at the same time.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Well ended up with 2 dozen Blaptica dubias to get myself started. I must admit I'm not all that comfortable with these mighty sized roaches, but I can't deal with the crix anymore.

Okay, stupid question time...do the dubias bite? I made myself hold one and it clung onto my finger. When I tried to shake it off, something pinched me.....ewww! I swear I was laughing and crying at the same time.

HAHAHA... the six-legged fear Well, eventhou they look big and as if they could have quite a bite, I've not experienced anything from them, and I believe that you would have to queeze them really hard before they'd actually bite. But when they do I doubt you feel it. What you proberbly felt was the stinging or tickling of the legs on your skin.

 

[Empi]

I agree. The legs probly poked you. I have never seen or even heard of a roach biting.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I just realized something that should be calming for you - dubias have much weaker jaws and "teeth" than crickets have. I bet crickets could give you some kind of an ant bite, but dubias? I really don't think so..

 

[Gesticulator]

Thanks for the reassurance. I assumed it was from its legs, rather than an actual bite. It was definately weaker than the "pinch" I have felt when holding a cricket too long. "Good Dubias..."