Do I need to start a roach colony?

[yamalolz]

Hey guys. Im a first timer in tarantula keeping and I'm planning to get my first spiderling (Grammostola pulchripes). I'm only planning to keep one tarantula though, so do i need to start an entire roach colony for it?

 

[Nephrite]

If you don’t have any other animals other than your soon to be tarantula then no, you’ll have more roaches than you know what to do with.

 

[yamalolz]

If you don’t have any other animals other than your soon to be tarantula then no, you’ll have more roaches than you know what to do with.

oh ok thanks

 

[Chebe6886]

No, you can feed even an adult, for Under a dollar a week

 

[TheDarkFinder]

You only need to start a roach colony when the expensive of buying feeders is greater then your budget to feed your animals. I personally gave up on the roaches, I developed an allergy to them and would literally start gasping for air anytime I got near them.

For one tarantula you are looking at less then 5 bucks a week max.

 

[Pepper]

My colony wasnt super necessary until quarantine, but i sure dodged a bullet by having it semi-ready to go when that hit. Not sure i would recommend it for a single sling though

 

[Liquifin]

If you only have one tarantula and plan on keeping the numbers to just one tarantula in your collection then a roach colony is not really necessary. While having a roach colony is good for a larger collection, it is much better to just buy crickets at the local pet shop as it saves money on your end of expense rather than starting colony for just one tarantula.

 

[MBArachnids]

If you only have one tarantula and plan on keeping the numbers to just one tarantula in your collection then a roach colony is not really necessary. While having a roach colony is good for a larger collection, it is much better to just buy crickets at the local pet shop as it saves money on your end of expense rather than starting colony for just one tarantula.

I would just like to add to this.

I buy crickets a lot, I found that if you house them in a bigger lunchbox with more ventilation and put the egg carton on the one side and feed on the other they tend to last much longer than keeping them in the small plastic containers they come in. Just my 2 cents

 

[viper69]

Hey guys. Im a first timer in tarantula keeping and I'm planning to get my first spiderling (Grammostola pulchripes). I'm only planning to keep one tarantula though, so do i need to start an entire roach colony for it?

Only if you are crazy, or want to sell roaches as a side biz

 

[MBArachnids]

Only if you are crazy, or want to sell roaches as a side biz

Which could be potentially lucrative depending on where you stay. 10 hissers here are about $8.50 when converted from our currency. (Seems like a lot to me, maybe I am wrong)

 

[viper69]

Which could be potentially lucrative depending on where you stay. 10 hissers here are about $8.50 when converted from our currency. (Seems like a lot to me, maybe I am wrong)

@EulersK is known as the USA’s Roach King west of the Mississippi

 

[MBArachnids]

@EulersK is known as the USA’s Roach King west of the Mississippi

I tried my hand at breeding B. Lateralis, not sure if it's normal but I just can't seem to breed them without encountering mites at some point or another. This was a few years ago but the bad experience stuck.

 

[EulersK]

Yeah, don't start a roach colony. Not even close to being worth it for even ten tarantulas, let alone one sling. I ended up turning mine into a business that still makes me a fair amount of money, but unless you want to do that, the whole project simply isn't worth it. Just buy mealworms, keep them in the fridge, and they'll last you for quite some time.

I can't give any advice on lat's, as I've never bred them. But I can say that I've never had an issue with mites in my roaches - although, I've never had an issue of mites period. I think it may simply be too dry for them out here, as I've only ever seen them on tarantulas I've bought from out of state. Within months, I can't find a single mite from the same spider. Now, fruit flies on the other hand... yeah, I've had to get creative with them in my roach colonies.

 

[MBArachnids]

Yeah, don't start a roach colony. Not even close to being worth it for even ten tarantulas, let alone one sling. I ended up turning mine into a business that still makes me a fair amount of money, but unless you want to do that, the whole project simply isn't worth it. Just buy mealworms, keep them in the fridge, and they'll last you for quite some time.

I can't give any advice on lat's, as I've never bred them. But I can say that I've never had an issue with mites in my roaches - although, I've never had an issue of mites period. I think it may simply be too dry for them out here, as I've only ever seen them on tarantulas I've bought from out of state. Within months, I can't find a single mite from the same spider. Now, fruit flies on the other hand... yeah, I've had to get creative with them in my roach colonies.

Thank you for the response, I have never actually had fruit fly problems so the roles seem to be reversed ...Just one last thing, do you get roaches that are "cleaner" than others? Do some clean up better than others or is a roach simply a roach?

 

[Dorifto]

Get some small mealworms and keep then cool.

If you make a roach colony for only one T, the colony will outgrow the tarantula's capacity of eating them in a short time, and if the T is a sling, much sooner.

If you have some adults, then they can become in something more sustainable.

 

[mack1855]

I have 2 large B.lat bins.Keep them clean and don’t leave veggies/fruit longer than 12 hours.I use chick feed from a feed store as my main roach diet.Never had mite/knats or any type of fly problems.
But,and this has been mentioned by many on here,myself included,the maintaining roaches will not be worth it for a single T.Or even 10 T,s.

You will end up putting more effort and work into the roaches than the T,s will ever require.
I also make a little on my excess lats,selling to other keepers locally,and giving away some.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Hey guys. Im a first timer in tarantula keeping and I'm planning to get my first spiderling (Grammostola pulchripes). I'm only planning to keep one tarantula though, so do i need to start an entire roach colony for it?

Establishing and maintaining a roach colony only makes sense if you have groups of spiders to maintain...you're not there yet.

 

[EulersK]

Thank you for the response, I have never actually had fruit fly problems so the roles seem to be reversed ...Just one last thing, do you get roaches that are "cleaner" than others? Do some clean up better than others or is a roach simply a roach?

I haven't the slightest clue. They live in colonies numbering in the thousands. All colonies seem to get dirty at the same rate, and I have to do a cleaning about once per year.

 

[MBArachnids]

I haven't the slightest clue. They live in colonies numbering in the thousands. All colonies seem to get dirty at the same rate, and I have to do a cleaning about once per year.

Ah okay solid info thank you..I am going to try my hand at red runners again...I currently have dubia roaches but not too keen to breed them since the playing dead annoys me.

 

[Chebe6886]

Yeh dubia are great if you have a lot of adults or conditions that aren’t conducive to raising Lats. I’ve noticed it can be tricky providing the moisture for Lateralis eggs to hatch in the main bin with the colony. The level of moisture they require to hatch very well can create issues like mold/mites and other nonsense. So I started pulling the best looking eggs cases every few day or weekly. I put them in a container with a lot of coco fiber that I keep pretty damp. That container sits over a low wattage heat pad. Voila I get baby roaches almost daily that I give a little food/water to for a bit and then move them to the main colony. I’m sure others don’t bother with it but it allows me to control the size of the colony and easily collect as small a roach as I need for picky slings.