Lobster roaches, can they keep up?

[Adamant]

Hey guys,

Along with my T's and scorps, I also have a pair of gold dust day geckos (small, very active, diurnal gecko) who daily eat about 2 doz 2 week old crickets.

I'm considering lobster roaches as an alternitave but am wondering how large of a colony I would have to keep to consistantly produce 100+ nymphs a week. I currentlly feed about 140-160 2 week old crickets a week but I figure a single nymph has a lot more meat than a single 2 week old cricket, therefore I would have to feed fewer roaches.

Should I breed lobster roaches or stick with fruitflies or crickets? Thanks everyone.

 

[xelda]

Once the ball gets rolling, you won't have any trouble at all. I started with 100 lobsters, made sure not to feed to heavily out of it, then 2-3 months later I already had thousands of nymphs. I'm currently keeping them all in a 10 gallon tank, and it seems to work fine since I stack a lot of cardboard and egg cartons in there. If you keep them in too large of an enclosure, gathering the nymphs is a pain in the butt.

 

[Adamant]

Thanks xelda. I was thinking about getting 250 to start with. How do they compare nutritionally to crickets? I'm assuming as long as they are properly gutloaded they would be the same if not better?

 

[Bean]

When gut loading your lobsters, make sure not to use calcium fortified load.. it will kill them if used long term. (reference )

Also, I just got rid of my lobster colony, primarily because the nymphs could escape my T enclosures. They can contort their bodies very effectively (easily fitting out of air holes 1/2 their size) , are fast, and can climb glass and plastic. I am looking into an alternative roach (prob death heads or hissers) that isn't so nimble. I'm not sure how the breeding of the latter two compare w/ the lobsters, but I'd be willing to wait a little longer for a good colony start than having to constantly babysit feeding/ and or worrying about an "unauthorized" colony in my home.

 

[Merumontanus]

Lobsters

We are currently running a special on lobsters $50/1000 shipped.
You wouldn't have a problem starting with a colony this size.

Our lobsters, as are all of our roaches, fed a good protein source, out-of-shelf-life grains from a local health food store, and a variety of fresh spoiled organic produce we pick up from a local natural produce store. I think they eat better than I do. :}

Bean, we also have the Death's Heads if your looking for some. Once these guys get started they breed mad crazy.

Kenn

www.justbugs.com

 

[423]

Hey there, what's the latin name for lobster roaches? Here in Sweden they're probably called something else but the latin names are always the same.
So, anyone who knows?

 

[Wade]

Nauphoeta cinerea

 

[423]

Thanks Wade

 

[mantis2000]

what kind of substrate do you use for breeding lobster roach?do you need a heat tape?any more info will real help.

thanks,
phil

 

[xelda]

Phil, it's easier to not use any substrate at all. All they need are egg cartons and pieces of corrugated cardboard, which the babies like to hide inside. Then every few weeks, sweep their droppings with a brush. It's very easy to clean that way.

Heat tape does make them breed more quicky. I used to provide mine with heat, but after the first couple thousand roaches, I stopped supplying them with heat because my pets (25 geckos and 9 Ts) cannot keep up.

 

[mantis2000]

thanks xelda, .and does anyone selling any green banana roaches? :? i would interested to buy some. :}

 

[Adamant]

Thanks for all of the help guys. I appreciate it. My T enclosures have 1/8th inch holes and my gecko enclosure has a screen slide top. Do you think the nymphs could escape either types of enclosures? Escapees kind of worry me, haha.

 

[mark poznak]

my lobsters are invincible

they use stealth tactics to avoid being eaten by all my pets (t's and geckos) live forever but dont breed i still have the same 30 i started with in november

 

[Scolopendra55]

Lobsters breed CRAZY fast!! They are among the fastest breeders and once they start breeding they dont stop!! I would recomend them over crickets any day.