Need info on keeping B. lateralis roaches!

[massmorels]

I just found a colony of 30-50 freebie roaches in one of the boxes that someone shipped me a T in.. not sure how long they've been in there, but they are still runnin' around like crazy.
I have them in a tall tupaware container with a thick 2in. wide layer of vaseline around the inside at the top (to keep them from climbing out), a water dish filled with pebbles to avoid drowning, cardboard egg cartons, a couple apples halves,.. and 2 layers of screen under the lid.
Im sure the safety precautions are a little over done, but i hear these ones climb and i dont want them running free all over my new house.
ok, now the questions..
the delicup said "x2 queens", how do i sex them, know which is which.. which ones do i use for feeding, and do they get big enough to feed my 5"-11" Ts or are these just feeders for smaller girls?
any answers, housing suggestions, and info on this sp. would be great.. thanks.

 

[massmorels]

wow.. 14 hits and still no help, what a great idea this was.
nevermind, I got it under control..

 

[Vermis]

Blatta lateralis? Nope, don't climb.

Out of the few roaches I keep, I have to say these are the most voracious. Where other species will just have nibbled at a dish of food after 2-3 days, prefering certain food over others, the lats'll have devoured everything within a few hours.
They're also fond of a little more protien, almost to the point of being predatory. As well as apple, I feed mine a few different kinds of fish food, and occasionally I throw in a crushed cricket or superworm. Almost frightening the way they circle it, nip at it, until one darts in and hauls it away.

As for sexing: pretty easy. The mature males have wings, the females don't, beyond slightly larger vestigal wings than the nymphs. The females are also a lot darker than nymphs, with much less red around the thorax, and seem to have a squarer abdomen too. The males are thinner, and are much lighter, almost a fresh-baked golden brown.

 

[massmorels]

thanks.. you get a gold star and a nice shiney nickel (US of course)..

 

[james]

lateralis

Lateralis are a good feeders, but I've had mixed results with some T's loving them and others not touching them. Although they cannot climb use caution if you build a colony. When females lay egg cases they also deposit a sticky substance. Sometimes smaller babies will get this on them and climb. They also can climb surfaces with water spot build up or particals from the sunstrate. I just keep mine in bins with vented lids and I use the bug boundary for extra protection, but they will breed very fast and provide lots of food. For T's that don't like them I would use B. Dubia. They are very easy to keep and breed as well.
James
www.blaberus.com

 

[138]

i have a colony of b. lateralis. they don't climb unless the enclosure is very humid. they are pretty fast moving though. male adults can fly. i've had 2 take flight but i was quick enough to bat them back down. the males are a much lighter shade of brown like Vermis stated. the juvies and nymphs have a redish color to them. i use them as feeders for some of my T's. i say some because i have a few adult and sub-adult T's that don't even bother with them. all of my slings love them. they don't burrow or have a bad odor. and the nymphs are small enough to feed 1/2" slings.

 

[Kimo]

I keep B.lateralis also and only for about 3 months and I think I have somewhere between 1000-1500 now, I started with 100-150 adults. My questions is do they eat their oothecas or not, cose I saw some of them, even nymphs, bite them and grab and move somewhere. Anyone now something about that? And also if the ootheca is very dark brown, what stadium is it then?

Thanks!

 

[arachnocat]

I just wanted to mention that these roaches go crazy for popcorn. Other foods they will just nibble on for a while but the popcorn disappears within a few days. They will even come out from hiding to munch on it. I made a whole bag of buttered popcorn and dumped it in the tank last night. They seemed pretty excited. I tried bananna too but they didn't like it that much. Maybe I've spoiled them with the popcorn.

 

[musihuto]

just a note...
the oothecae have a tendancy of drying up and dying (i.e. not hatching) if the humidity is insufficient. hence, unless you have a humidity controlled roach room, or like misting all the time, i would recommend using substrate, or moving oothecae to a seperate high-humidity hatching chamber...

also, water dish with pebbles dries out pretty quickly, i feed mine agar gel, made with fruit juice--98% boiling fruit juice + 2% agar, or slightly more for more acidic fruit juices... usually i use some combination of blueberry, raspberry and pomegranate... mixed well and put in the fridge, becomes gel over night, doesn't spoil like gelatin. the only thing is, it will moult slightly if they aren't eating it fast enough. so put in a size (i.e. surface area) such that they are constantly nibbling the upper layer at a rate that it cannot mould!

feeding note: hard core arboreals that never venture near the ground like avicularia, if they're not the type that eat immediately, you might want to feed them males, since males climb up, but females tend to stay closer to the ground i find...

Vermis: interesting that you say they like high-protein, i tried feeding mine a mixed cereal once, and they ate all of it, except for the soy protein clusters! then again, maybe its animal protein that they're attracted to...

 

[138]

I just wanted to mention that these roaches go crazy for popcorn. Other foods they will just nibble on for a while but the popcorn disappears within a few days. They will even come out from hiding to munch on it. I made a whole bag of buttered popcorn and dumped it in the tank last night. They seemed pretty excited. I tried bananna too but they didn't like it that much. Maybe I've spoiled them with the popcorn.

i tried it a few nights ago. they LOVE the popcorn!!!!!!

 

[massmorels]

i tried it a few nights ago. they LOVE the popcorn!!!!!!

crap.. i just ate the last of it. AND I WENT CRAZY FOR IT!!

 

[pinkfoot]

crap.. i just ate the last of it. AND I WENT CRAZY FOR IT!!

ROFLMAO!

@musihuto - what the heck is agar? Any other name?

Anyone else concur about substrate? Mine are without, at present, but I'm willing to change...

 

[138]

they definitely don't care for bananas or mixed nuts... :?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

they definitely don't care for bananas or mixed nuts... :?

Odd. Mine certainly eat bananas. Maybe it depends on what else you give them on the side. Hm.. nuts, gotta try that some day.