Just got my feeder roaches...

[scooter]

Have been doin the cricket and mealworm thing for several years. Got tired of the smell of crickets and decided I would try feeder roaches. Ordered 200 lobsters from Blaberus.

Here's the question(s): how the crap do you catch the little beasts. They run like the wind. And do any of your T's have difficulty catching them?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Jeri]

I havn't had the pleasure of raising a roach colony, (Sonja gets queasy at the thought of roaches intentionally brought into the house) but I doubt the T's would have a problem catching them. T's are ambush hunters and move very quickly when they want to. When a roach (or any other feeder, for that matter) gets close to a T, they'll be snached and pierced before they have any time to react. Even if they get away a few times, they'll be eaten fairly soon. I've had quick crix escape their grasp several times. After a few missed strikes, my T's seem to begin determinedly hunting them. Within a few minutes. The rouge cricket is cornered and munched. I'm sure roaches would pose little problem, due to the fact that they're bigger than crix, and therefore have more to grab onto.

Jeri

 

[Schlyne]

Hm. I don't have lobsters, I have B. dubia. I use forceps or put on some gloves and scoop some into a large deli cup (to be distributed by forceps later).
However, B. dubia cannot climb and lobsters will climb on everything...maybe something tall and made out of glass might work? Use a little bugstop (fluon, I think) around the rim of a tall container and make it a "dedicated" roach transport?

The T's don't have a problem catching the roaches at all.

 

[Dark Raptor]

I use my hands to capture them. They are slow enough
Before giving them to T's, I cut their heads off. They dont burrow in substrate and don't escape.

 

[xelda]

Lobster roaches are a little smarter than crickets when it comes to evading the tarantulas. I don't really use lobsters for any of my arboreal Ts anymore because the lobsters prefer to bury under cover than climb up. I've had some go for weeks without being caught because they're that good at hiding. However, they usually get eaten quickly by terrestrial tarantulas.

To collect the roaches for feeding time, I just tap the egg cartons they're hiding under so that they fall into a tall cup.

 

[scooter]

Thanks for the responses. Perhaps I should try a different roach species ?

 

[ScorpDemon]

i just got some orange heads.. just gotta make sure whatever youre feeding is hungry, and sees the roach.. or they will burrow..
are there any non-climbing non burrowing roaches out there?

 

[SpiderDork]

I have a colony of lobster roaches and I use a pencil with a bit of double sided carpet tape on the eraser to catch the smaller lobster roaches, it works quite well. I have never had a problem with my T's not being able to catch the roaches. I normally feed at night, as that as when the roaches are most attactive and a majority of the time the T has the roach before I have moved on to the next enclosure.

 

[Gsc]

I grab them by hand- takes a little practice, but you'll get the hang of it...My t's, centipedes, and scorps catch them just fine...sometimes it takes a day or two... oh well- gives them something to do...lol.

 

[cacoseraph]

Thanks for the responses. Perhaps I should try a different roach species ?

lobsters are good... you'd be hard pressed to find something easier to breed, or more fecund.

i have noticed lobsters are pretty good at evading capture. most tarantulas will take pre-killed prey, though... so it should really only be an issue for those that won't accept PKP

and i just reach in and grab them. takes a little practice but it's not too hard to do after a while