How many Ts before I can reasonably breed my own roaches?

[04lss]

Hi all,
I hate hate crickets. I bought some red runner roaches recently and they seem much much easier to keep and feed. I have 5 Ts 3 small slings and 2 bigger ones. I know that's not enough.
Im just wondering when it would make sense for me to consider a small colony. Does it make more sense just to get a large number of the roaches and feed them to keep alive?

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Hi all,
I hate hate crickets. I bought some red runner roaches recently and they seem much much easier to keep and feed. I have 5 Ts 3 small slings and 2 bigger ones. I know that's not enough.
Im just wondering when it would make sense for me to consider a small colony. Does it make more sense just to get a large number of the roaches and feed them to keep alive?

It is dependent on what roaches you want to start a colony of. Some species reproduce prolifically over others. Some will breed at room temperature like my E. posticus roaches and others need higher temps and moisture.

You will need to research the different type of roaches and what is legal to have shipped to you. Buy local if you can.

If you don't have a lot of T's start a colony that either 1. reproduces slowly or 2. keep temps lower to hinder breeding.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I have 15 Ts and my dubia are swamping me . So definitely start out with a small number I now have hundreds of roaches for a small t collection. So the roaches have become pets. I shut the heat off for good until my numbers are reasonable again.

 

[04lss]

I was looking at the red runners, but it sounds like until im at least in the double digits of hungry Ts, i should just get a big batch and feed them until i run out.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

I was looking at the red runners, but it sounds like until im at least in the double digits of hungry Ts, i should just get a big batch and feed them until i run out.

Nothing wrong with that

 

[Matt Man]

Red Runners are awesome but you have to be careful with a colony. If any escape they breed with domestic roaches. They are my fave roach but have multiple levels of containment,
I have close to 30 Ts, 4 Leopard Geckos and a Giant Hispaniola Galliwasp. I still find it less hassle just to buy them, but I have a dealer between work and home so it is really convenient.
It's the similar debate I get in with my wife, we have grocery stores really close to our home. If the produce goes bad on their racks we aren't losing money. I'd rather someone else
incur the losses

 

[viper69]

A few hundred

 

[04lss]

Red Runners are awesome but you have to be careful with a colony. If any escape they breed with domestic roaches. They are my fave roach but have multiple levels of containment,
I have close to 30 Ts, 4 Leopard Geckos and a Giant Hispaniola Galliwasp. I still find it less hassle just to buy them, but I have a dealer between work and home so it is really convenient.
It's the similar debate I get in with my wife, we have grocery stores really close to our home. If the produce goes bad on their racks we aren't losing money. I'd rather someone else
incur the losses

Thats good to know, Am i at less risk just having 25 of the smalls and Xs? Is there another roach to keep that wont bread if it escapes?

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Thats good to know, Am i at less risk just having 25 of the smalls and Xs? Is there another roach to keep that wont bread if it escapes?

You need to do some research on roaches. B. dubia seems to be the most abundant in being offered everywhere. However in my experience they are one of the worst roaches to feed off to sub-adult and up tarantulas. All my T's once they hit sub-adult absolutely show no interest in them. Couple with that and the first thing they do is burrow. This makes them only a viable option for slings maybe up to juvenile depending on the individuals.

One thing to learn about the different types of roaches are the ones that can climb and fly. Also some roaches are really good jumpers like B. lateralis common name Red Runners or Rusty Reds. I had one escape, a female by jumping off the eggcrates when I lifted it just barely above the top of it's bin.

B. lateralis are one of the fastest roaches so whenever opening their bin for whatever reason I used a giant bin as a secondary containment. I started doing that after that one escaped due to my over-confidence working with them.

E. posticus roaches what I have now referred to as Orange Head roaches cannot fly, climb or jump. They are huge and my adult T's never refuse munching them. However, they are one of the most gross roaches to work with. When disturbed they emit the most foul smell you can imagine. They are also capable of shooting excrement at you, which only happened once to me. I use a face mask most of the time when opening their bin. They also make a hot mess of their enclosure as well.

Discoid roaches are another option but they are very similar to B. dubia as in the burrowing type.

 

[Ramen]

Have you tried banded crickets? They don't stink like regular pet store crickets, have a quieter chirp, better digestible/more protein.

 

[TheraMygale]

I am starting to breed mealworms. They are way more nutritious then thought to be. Yes they have fat too, but its not just fat.

mealworms can take a while to breed if you start with less then 500, like i am doing. But it also means the enclosures dont get nasty quickly. And its easier to get into the routine.

as for roaches, im in canada. We can only own discoids. This might interest you because it can take up to three months + to get going. Might fit your timeline better too. I have less then 20 tarantulas. Once discoids get more available here, i will get a small colony going.

in the meantime, i am studying their husbandry, and reading the threads on how people arent successfull with their colonies, to prepare myself better.

crickets are great. I get 50 at a time. Have almost no losses. Then dont stink. I can do a month on 50. I also clean enclosure often and have a system to avoid moisture issues.

they are easier to breed then it seems. Its just not like american roaches where you lose one and then the next day you find 1000 in your utensil drawer..

crickets need a bit of care and especialy, clean enclosures.

what you feed them will also cause smellier fecies. I just do carrots, leafies, cucumba, grouned oats, corn and wheat bran.

for the record, i treat my feeders like royalty. When i go at the petshop, my enclosure is spotless clean and filled with food. It reduces my losses and causes less shock on the crickets that already badly kept at the petshop.

am i overdoing? Maybe. Do i have a smelly house and lots of losses? Nope.

 

[darkness975]

Hi all,
I hate hate crickets. I bought some red runner roaches recently and they seem much much easier to keep and feed. I have 5 Ts 3 small slings and 2 bigger ones. I know that's not enough.
Im just wondering when it would make sense for me to consider a small colony. Does it make more sense just to get a large number of the roaches and feed them to keep alive?

Use superworms and meal worms and supplement with crickets now and then so you don't have to keep them long term.

Also, for the cricket species, try Banded Crickets. They are overall hardier and they seem to be healthier too as well as longer lived.

 

[Kada]

Dubia and hissers. Get big, babies aren't tiny and don't breed crazy fast. Hissers make good display pets in their own right, but pretty slow.

Even when I had 1 or 2 spiders, I kept a small colony of roaches around. Moreso because if I can't get any, I won't be stuck.

As many point out, mealworms are great too.