Discoid roaches?? Good feeder vs dubia?

[Introvertebrate]

............I live very close to one of two military bases where this species was brought in to the U.S............

So, the Gulf War was good for something after all. We got a great feeder out of it.

 

[BobGrill]

Baby pinkies/ fuzzies 2" or under body size really die instantly, adult mice 3.5"+ however are dangerous!!
Hissers might be better choice, now I gotta find a cheap deal someday. Mice got teeth , can injure a undersized T.

Less cleanup w/ roaches!

Yeah, the mess left behind is a turnoff for me.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Smell of a dead mouse is very bad too.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

you're right about that, in the long run a large roach species is the best way to go. i also occasionally buy mice. my cats do bring me dead ones every once and a while, (they also eat them but i dont want to use that. they could have gods know what not.

out of all these you mentioned, hissers are the cheapest and the easiest to get here.
if you want to talk about the ease of keeping all of these, its about the same. no extra special requirements, except giganteus need more vertical climbing spaces. all blaberus appreciate some kind of substrate.
and hissers climb. also all of them need protein in their diet, dont forget that.

you might be able to find craniifer, be careful about light wing hybrid. it breeds a bit faster, but is smaller than black wing pure one. also people are really really really against hybrids.

i my self would love to find giganteus, but they are rare and expensive here, like they are made of gold or something.


if you can, get one of these huge roaches, give them some time and let nature run its course, you'll have plenty in no time. its way cheaper in the long run that way.
i assume breading mice is out of the question? its out of the question for me too. some things i just dont want to keep

Do Blaberus discoidalis roaches get big enough for larger T's?
Can Orange head roaches attack Ts?
if i found really cheap seller I could try Blaberus discoidalis & orange heads see which one gets bigger:biggrin:

---------- Post added 10-27-2014 at 10:26 PM ----------

pinkies can't.

Neither can little fuzzy mice, 2" or smaller body size get munched like potato chips. Less armor than a roach also. Adult mice though are dangerous.

 

[RegallRegius]

Just buy some Hissers. Problem solved.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Hissers might be too noisy room to keep in my bedroom , discoids however are bigger than dubia and not as noisy.

 

[punkrock868]

If not hissers you could always look into Blaberus fusca as a large feeder

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

If not hissers you could always look into Blaberus fusca as a large feeder

Yeah Good idea, They are bigger than discoid & dubia right? Dono were I can find them cheap though.

They grow just as fast as discoid ? Dubia are too small my larger Ts could prob eat most of my colony. Dubia did way better when I had a heater in my room.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

If not hissers you could always look into Blaberus fusca as a large feeder

Yeah I actualy might get those, Dubia colony of mine is big but Id rather feed a spider one Roach than 2-5 female dubia.

 

[Akai]

Why don't you feed your larger Ts more then one Dubia? I feed my T. stirmi and anything larger then 8 inches 3 or 4 Dubia at a time. What do you think people who use crickets as feeders do? They toss in for or 5 crickets at a time. Its not like it's going to make a dent in your Dubia colony. Lol I feed off females sometimes too especially to gravid Ts. There are pros and cons to every feeder, you just have to make good with what you got.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Why don't you feed your larger Ts more then one Dubia? I feed my T. stirmi and anything larger then 8 inches 3 or 4 Dubia at a time. What do you think people who use crickets as feeders do? They toss in for or 5 crickets at a time. Its not like it's going to make a dent in your Dubia colony. Lol I feed off females sometimes too especially to gravid Ts. There are pros and cons to every feeder, you just have to make good with what you got.

Yeah I am currently doing that. some of my 6-7" Ts eat this much. I don't own a Goliath right now wish I did, my first Goliath didn't turn out so well. It well, arrived w/a cyst.

 

[Akai]

Like I said there are pros and cons to all feeders. Some of the larger species don't reproduce as fast, or smell/defensive odors, fight with each other or have specific husbandry requirements like they NEED substrate etc. I actually think hissers are better pet roaches then feeders because they don't reproduce as often and don't produce enough offspring which is a common trait with larger species. You have to find a happy median with whatever feeder you go with. I know larger species eat more which means you have to feed more and that requires more work and effort on your part. In the end if you are putting in more work with your roaches then you are with your Ts, then you might want to switch your hobbies around. lol

 

[Eli824]

I keep discoid roaches as pets. They are about the same size as dubia. My dubia reproduce better for me. The dubia are also pets. I have a huge collection of predatory arthropods (spiders, centipedes, arachnids, scorpions) and I just feed red runners to everything. I use red runners for everything from small scorpions, to dwarf tarantulas to my large tarantulas like Lasiodora parahybana (Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater Tarantula) and Theraphosa stirmi (Burgundy Goliath Birdeater Tarantula).

Can I house discoids with my Dubias I just purchased 1000 discoid nymphs 1/8-3/8 size but I don't have another heat pad or tank I'd like to just put them in with the dubia and watch them grow then I can separate them after I attain another tank and heat pad

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Can I house discoids with my Dubias I just purchased 1000 discoid nymphs 1/8-3/8 size but I don't have another heat pad or tank I'd like to just put them in with the dubia and watch them grow then I can separate them after I attain another tank and heat pad

I would invest up front and get a tank and heating pad now. I can think of many negative issues you would avoid by giving these two species their own separate enclosures. Good luck!

 

[Draketeeth]

Hissers might be too noisy room to keep in my bedroom , discoids however are bigger than dubia and not as noisy.

I have a small group of hissers in my bedroom (6 pets), and the noise was only a serious issue when I had a container that was too small for them. I upgraded them from a large KK to a 5 gal tank, and all my noise issues vanished overnight. The males still spar now and again, but it went from hissy fits every other night, to hissy fits maybe once every two weeks. Having sufficient space is important. Don't think I could ever use the adults as feeders though, the hissing as they're nomed would kill me.

 

[Ran]

Like punkrock mentioned B. fusca colony if you can find them. I have a colony started, it took them quite awhile to get started but the colony is now growing quickly. I have dubia and lobsters also and fusca are much larger and very active like a huge red runner.

 

[UltimateDracoMeteor]

I was wondering how good Discoid roaches work as feeders.
I Have been using dubias for a year or two though. _O:

Are Discoid roaches larger or meatier for T food or about the same?

---------- Post added 10-21-2014 at 12:34 AM ----------

Anyone use these roaches?

Even though it's two years later, I'll still give my two cents for anyone who stumbles upon this question via google. Discoids get a lot bigger than dubias when adult and can make fairly good individual pets due to this, but their lifespan is short. As feeders, adults are probably only good for the largest Ts/pedes/scorpions, as they get very big (2.75 inches or so). Both dubias and discoids are unable to climb, which helps so that when you open the feeder cage you don't have roaches spilling out. I'd say dubias probably make better feeders based on my observations, although I've never used discoids for feeders.

 

[Eli824]

Even though it's two years later, I'll still give my two cents for anyone who stumbles upon this question via google. Discoids get a lot bigger than dubias when adult and can make fairly good individual pets due to this, but their lifespan is short. As feeders, adults are probably only good for the largest Ts/pedes/scorpions, as they get very big (2.75 inches or so). Both dubias and discoids are unable to climb, which helps so that when you open the feeder cage you don't have roaches spilling out. I'd say dubias probably make better feeders based on my observations, although I've never used discoids for feeders.

Ok so I heard discoids have a defensive odor that deterred me from using them although today I noticed humidity in my dubia tank and I decided to clean it out that's when I noticed a foul smell I guess the humidity and the roach poop just didn't mix so my question is if I put baking soda in the tank would that harm the roaches ? Would it help with the odor ? And would it absorb potential humidity ?

 

[Ellenantula]

I fed a huge adult female discoid to rosie once and it was pretty ugly. Dirt flying, the two of them rolling and tussling (had no idea discoids had such long legs) and occasional banging hitting enclosure sides. Discoid AF gave rosey a good fight and it must have taken 45 minutes before rosie had her subdued enough to begin dining. I even considered the possibility rosie might not win the fight. And rosie was an adult and hungry. Took her a whole day to finish eating the blasted thing -- no problem finding that bolus. Ugh.
I am sticking with B lats.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I fed a huge adult female discoid to rosie once and it was pretty ugly. Dirt flying, the two of them rolling and tussling (had no idea discoids had such long legs) and occasional banging hitting enclosure sides. Discoid AF gave rosey a good fight and it must have taken 45 minutes before rosie had her subdued enough to begin dining. I even considered the possibility rosie might not win the fight. And rosie was an adult and hungry. Took her a whole day to finish eating the blasted thing -- no problem finding that bolus. Ugh.
I am sticking with B lats.

B lats don’t get large enough for most my Ts .
How do discoids /dubia compare to orange head roaches?