Feeder roach trouble

[arachnocat]

I've had dubias for a while, but I'm having trouble with them hiding in the tank too much. I have some planted tanks for amphibians and insects, some of them with nice rock wall backgrounds (with lots of tiny hide spots). Dubias are just too good at hiding out in the tank and not being eaten. Especially nymphs. I like crickets because they wander around the tank until they are found, but of course they're smelly and I don't want to have to make a trip to the pet store every week for a new bag of crix. Is there a species of roach that might work better than dubias in planted tanks? The animals I'm feeding aren't very large so they don't have to be big roaches. I have a few lateralis, haven't tried them out yet. Would lobsters work better? Or should I just forget about roaches in planted tanks and stick with crickets?

 

[Takumaku]

Try feeding from tongs or cooling dubia off in the fridge for a few minutes and see if that works.

 

[dtknow]

Feeding dish.

 

[Andrew273]

In my experience lobsters find a lot of good hiding spots in moist enviroments however in desert ones... picture chickens with their heads cut off. The only thing I hate about them is they like to climb the walls and hide in the corner. I haven't really fed dubias to anything yet except for a few just born nymphs to my slings. Oh you can cut off their feet I heard it makes it harder for them to burrow (and climb walls for lobsters).

 

[Vys]

Pulling the legs or elsewise crippling each roach before dropping them in the tanks sounds a bit tedious, as well as cruel(even if the roaches are stupid as bricks).

Lateralis should work well, I think? Don't have any personal experience with them , but they neither climb nor burrow (unlike dubia who will instantly vanish into the substrate). You could also use P.nivea =) Colorful little things, do not burrow alot even as nymphs..of course the adults fly

 

[james]

lateralis

Laterlais have no desire to burrow and will just walk around.
James

 

[Rochelle]

If you already have an established colony of dubia, you can simply crush their heads before you give it to the T. They will live for 24hrs afterwards, wiggling deliciously. This is no more cruel than what the T. is going to do to it, anyway.
They can't/won't burrow in this condition.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

I've had dubias for a while, but I'm having trouble with them hiding in the tank too much. I have some planted tanks for amphibians and insects, some of them with nice rock wall backgrounds (with lots of tiny hide spots). Dubias are just too good at hiding out in the tank and not being eaten. Especially nymphs. I like crickets because they wander around the tank until they are found, but of course they're smelly and I don't want to have to make a trip to the pet store every week for a new bag of crix. Is there a species of roach that might work better than dubias in planted tanks? The animals I'm feeding aren't very large so they don't have to be big roaches. I have a few lateralis, haven't tried them out yet. Would lobsters work better? Or should I just forget about roaches in planted tanks and stick with crickets?

Fireflies should work and don't pose the potential never leaving guest problem of lateralis.