Fastest Growing and Breeding Large-sized Cockroaches?

[richard22]

I am wondering which species of cockroaches in the family Blaberidae are known to be the fastest growers (from egg to adult) and fastest breeders. If any other cockroaches of considerable size are known to grow and breed fast but aren’t in Blaberidae please let me know. I am a breeder focusing on the most cockroaches in the least amount of time, rather than a slow-growing and slow-breeding exotic pet like the rhinoceros roach. I have some ideas of what I am to do with the fastest breeding roaches, I could start selling them as feeders or dehydrate and grind them into a protein powder for food, maybe both. I am willing to take the responsibility of taking care of multiple large colonies of roaches, as I am doing now but to a lesser extent.

I have noticed the smaller the roach the faster the more prolific they are, like the green banana roaches or lobster roaches probably breed very fast while the largest cockroach, the giant rhinoceros roach, breeds every 10 years or so. I’m looking for an exception to that theory, to get the most cockroaches and raw cockroach weight in the least amount of time from the largest roaches I can buy online. I have heard G. Portentosa can grow to maturity in 3-5 months, but they have maybe one litter every month for a few years so they don’t breed very fast. I have bred them and they have matured in 4-5 months, a bit faster than the dubias which are smaller so obviously the rule isn’t always the case. Dubias might breed faster though. I’m looking for the most practical and efficient breeders for raw weight production that AREN’T less than 25mm.

I found little info on the growth speed of G. Oblongonota, maybe they take twice as long to grow, if anyone knows how fast they grow that would be nice. They get 20+mm longer than normal hissers so I’m wondering if they’re worth it.

 

[cold blood]

dubia

 

[richard22]

dubia

Dubias are known to grow pretty slowly, maybe they breed fast but a culture of them would probably take awhile to expand. You might get 2 generations a year even with high heat. I have noticed myself I have more 2nd generation dubias than hissers, but the dubias are just now maturing while the hissers have been mostly mature for about a month. Maybe in the long term dubias would be a good choice, but they’d probably not resupply the colony with a new generation often like I am looking for. The discoid roach is probably better and it’s not even known as a prolific breeder to my knowledge.

 

[mantisfan101]

Eublaberus posticus, blaberus hybrids, giant lobster roach

 

[richard22]

Eublaberus posticus, blaberus hybrids, giant lobster roach

Thanks. I’m probably going to try orange heads and I’m already doing giant lobsters with three remaining nymphs that luckily weren’t all killed by celery I fed them once, but I have read on forums blaberus hybrids may or may not breed more than pure, and some may have high mortality rates. B. Craniifer x B. Fusca (Brown Wing Death’s Head) seems to be the best bet judging from Wikipedia. If you know of a place to purchase the hybrid in particular send it my way, otherwise I’ll have to breed death head and dusky cave roaches and then put some adults of both species in another bin.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

E. posticus is larger than dubia and is supposed to grow faster. B. fuscus is also a fast growing species (those ones i've actually kept and can confirm), but I don't think it'll give you any more roach mass output than a colony of dubias or posticus.

Dubias aren't slow growers for their size though. Yeah, they take a while to reach maturity, but so does any roach that has a lot of growing to do. They certainly grow much faster proportionate to their size than things like hissers.

But if your concern is just mass, why is the body size of the roaches important? You'd probably get more total roach meat out of lobster roaches than a colony of larger species since they replace themselves so fast.

 

[mantisfan101]

Thanks. I’m probably going to try orange heads and I’m already doing giant lobsters with three remaining nymphs that luckily weren’t all killed by celery I fed them once, but I have read on forums blaberus hybrids may or may not breed more than pure, and some may have high mortality rates. B. Craniifer x B. Fusca (Brown Wing Death’s Head) seems to be the best bet judging from Wikipedia. If you know of a place to purchase the hybrid in particular send it my way, otherwise I’ll have to breed death head and dusky cave roaches and then put some adults of both species in another bin.

If you do get them watch out for their spiky legs. These tend to burrow in the wild so you’ll have to keep that in mind.

 

[richard22]

E. posticus is larger than dubia and is supposed to grow faster. B. fuscus is also a fast growing species (those ones i've actually kept and can confirm), but I don't think it'll give you any more roach mass output than a colony of dubias or posticus.

Dubias aren't slow growers for their size though. Yeah, they take a while to reach maturity, but so does any roach that has a lot of growing to do. They certainly grow much faster proportionate to their size than things like hissers.

But if your concern is just mass, why is the body size of the roaches important? You'd probably get more total roach meat out of lobster roaches than a colony of larger species since they replace themselves so fast.

Well why can G. Portentosa grow to maturity faster than dubia? Some sites say they can mature in 3-5 months, while Dubias can mature in 5-6 months; other large roaches probably mature faster than dubia too. Maybe it’s just that species is a bit faster to grow for some reason, or the diet. Why can most roaches larger than dubia grow to maturity faster, or am I wrong? How long does it take for Blaberus to mature in high heat and a pretty good diet? I haven’t recorded it myself but the hissers became mature faster than the dubias. I read somewhere G. Oblongonota might grow slower than normal hissers but little info exists on the growth rate of Widehorn Hissers, so I don’t know if it’s worth it just because they’re the largest hisser. Are dubias even edible in the first place, because some sites said you can be allergic or develop an allergy, so ingesting them might be an even worse idea, this isn’t stated about other roaches generally, although very little is said about eating roaches in the first place. I am still skeptical of dubias.
I did consider smaller roaches for a higher mass output, and they probably are better, but I was wondering which large ones grew or bred fastest. I already have lobsters, Turkestans, and Green Bananas so I was wondering which larger species I should try next and now I have an idea.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

I don't think G. portentosa can reach maturity faster than dubia.

Dubias don't take 5-6 months to mature, I've personally observed them reach maturity in around 3 months with high temperatures and a high- protein food source. Hissers grow much more slowly than dubias in my experience.

I think you're relying too much on anecdotes as rules when insect maturity varies dramatically depending on conditions, considering that I have anecdotes that conflict directly with the ones you gathered. Roaches especially will vary quite a bit since they eat a wide variety of foods so their growth rate will depend heavily on their diet as well as temperature.

 

[richard22]

I don't think G. portentosa can reach maturity faster than dubia.

Dubias don't take 5-6 months to mature, I've personally observed them reach maturity in around 3 months with high temperatures and a high- protein food source. Hissers grow much more slowly than dubias in my experience.

I think you're relying too much on anecdotes as rules when insect maturity varies dramatically depending on conditions, considering that I have anecdotes that conflict directly with the ones you gathered. Roaches especially will vary quite a bit since they eat a wide variety of foods so their growth rate will depend heavily on their diet as well as temperature.

There is no single source detailing growth and breeding rates of roaches unfortunately, at some point a website needs to be made by an experienced breeder of all sorts of roaches that includes detailed info on each bred species. There is a book on Amazon I ordered about feeder roaches but it might be outdated or not quite as indepth as preferable. My dubias have been in an enclosure with wheat bran and buffalo beetles, while hissers started off with nothing and then after frass built up I added ecoearth; humidity and temps have been similar for both at one time since I started but in June (started in February and March) I relocated them to my hot attic.
If diet is more important, should I feed my roaches expensive fish flakes, Flukers Cricket Gutload Powder, a roach chow from Amazon thats relatively inconvenient to purchase, chicken feed, or a mixture into a homemade roach chow? For the mixture I can use the gutload powder, fish flakes, soy protein powder, Good Bug Diet powder (google it), and/or wheat germ or wheat bran. Which would be economical and best for growth and breeding?
My entire roach room is average humidity and normally ~90F, I know some roaches need higher humidity but doing that without an inconvenient misting schedule means I must lower ventilation and increase mold and grain mite development at the same time.

I am trying to breed surinam roaches without feeding them produce (the care sheet said mostly leaf litter and grasses) but most of the adults have died rapidly like how all my house crickets die and they’re supposed to be prolific and one of the easiest roaches to breed. Ventilation is in a few holes in the lid to increase humidity and so far no mold has appeared. I used ecoearth, sterilized leaf litter, reptibark, forest moss and a piece of lichen, and a small egg carton piece. I also added some fish flakes in the middle but it was not smart so I removed it later. The substrate is not very thick but I added the leaf litter in some areas so I thought it was fine. I misted the substrate but it seems to dry out fast in the heat so it’ll have to wait every other day to be remisted. I hear they need substrate moisture and/or air humidity (one care sheet mentioned conditions like florida, humid and hot), its unclear to me though, maybe I should just keep them like my other roaches but with some more leaf litter. They’ll probably be all dead soon though, if they arent already. I guess I could try adding more substrate and flooding part of it so moisture stays longer.

How have you bred hissers compared to dubias? Do you use substrate for both, one, or none of them? Maybe something is holding my dubias back, very far back, while my hissers are normal. They eat the same diet.

 

[Bob Lee]

I am trying to breed surinam roaches without feeding them produce (the care sheet said mostly leaf litter and grasses) but most of the adults have died rapidly like how all my house crickets die and they’re supposed to be prolific and one of the easiest roaches to breed. Ventilation is in a few holes in the lid to increase humidity and so far no mold has appeared. I used ecoearth, sterilized leaf litter, reptibark, forest moss and a piece of lichen, and a small egg carton piece. I also added some fish flakes in the middle but it was not smart so I removed it later. The substrate is not very thick but I added the leaf litter in some areas so I thought it was fine. I misted the substrate but it seems to dry out fast in the heat so it’ll have to wait every other day to be remisted. I hear they need substrate moisture and/or air humidity (one care sheet mentioned conditions like florida, humid and hot), its unclear to me though, maybe I should just keep them like my other roaches but with some more leaf litter. They’ll probably be all dead soon though, if they arent already. I guess I could try adding more substrate and flooding part of it so moisture stays longer.

Too much moisture will kill them, generally speaking you don't even need ventilation. They can maintain the moisture if you just put a lid on. Also you don't have to feed them ONLY grass, they will eat whatever other roaches eat and probably prefer fruits and vegetables for extra nutrition.

 

[The Snark]

I don't know if this helps at all but the roach of choice in China's factories for both reproductive ability and weight gain is Periplaneta Americana. Web search chinese roach factories.
I don't recall the specifics but those factories hold temperature and humidity at a very precise level and keep the females in an extremely high density population which promotes reproduction.
They have also done a lot of research on food sources and it appears they prefer household garbage. Oh yes, the keep the roaches in complete darkness.
WHO has some info as well. They are considered a potential food source in famine areas. Roach 'milk' being very high in necessary nutrients.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

I don't know if this helps at all but the roach of choice in China's factories for both reproductive ability and weight gain is Periplaneta Americana. Web search chinese roach factories.
I don't recall the specifics but those factories hold temperature and humidity at a very precise level and keep the females in an extremely high density population which promotes reproduction.
They have also done a lot of research on food sources and it appears they prefer household garbage. Oh yes, the keep the roaches in complete darkness.
WHO has some info as well. They are considered a potential food source in famine areas. Roach 'milk' being very high in necessary nutrients.

You will need to be very careful with P. americana, though, due to their ability to infest houses. They're slippery little buggers. A tip: house them in glass or acrylic, not shoebox/tote plastic. Adult males and maybe females can sort of climb on that type of plastic even with a fresh layer of petroleum jelly.

 

[The Snark]

A tip: house them in glass or acrylic, not shoebox/tote plastic. Adult males and maybe females can sort of climb on that type of plastic even with a fresh layer of petroleum jelly.

I've seen them kept in portable box like affairs made of screen mesh with some sort of rigid plastic for the top 12 inches. Plastic was slightly translucent milky white.

 

[Bob Lee]

I'm about to get some surinam roaches, hopefully they will work for me. We will see how fast they reproduce

 

[VolkswagenBug]

I've seen them kept in portable box like affairs made of screen mesh with some sort of rigid plastic for the top 12 inches. Plastic was slightly translucent milky white.

Interesting. I just keep mine in run of the mill glass tanks with Zilla screen mesh covers and petroleum jelly.

 

[scoloclown]

If you do get them watch out for their spiky legs. These tend to burrow in the wild so you’ll have to keep that in mind.

Are you talking about the orange heads or the other species?

 

[richard22]

Madagascan Hissers might have been pretty fast to mature for me, but since July when they turned mature they have yet to procreate; same with discoid roaches. One appears to be pregnant buts its been quite awhile, hissers have much worse breeding rates. The dubias have gone through at least 3 generations in the same timespan, but the turkestans have done the best even without removing ootheca. I’m going to see if American Cockroaches could have potential, but I have read their development time is not very fast and they stink and fly and climb and sprint incredibly well.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Madagascan Hissers might have been pretty fast to mature for me, but since July when they turned mature they have yet to procreate; same with discoid roaches. One appears to be pregnant buts its been quite awhile, hissers have much worse breeding rates. The dubias have gone through at least 3 generations in the same timespan, but the turkestans have done the best even without removing ootheca. I’m going to see if American Cockroaches could have potential, but I have read their development time is not very fast and they stink and fly and climb and sprint incredibly well.

P. americana don't really seem to fly much unless they're stressed, and I've only ever seen them glide downwards (no lift-off). They don't smell good and are still pretty slippery, though.