Raise Or Buy? The Cricket Issue

[Toad]

First of all, I too wanted to add that raising roaches is so much easier and more enjoyable than crickets, and once you get your colonies established, you won't believe the money that you save. I would like to kinda clarify something that was said before, and I don't mean to offend anyone, but by USDA definition, most, if not all, the roaches mentioned here, as well as many others, are considered pest species. I only know this because I had a fellow roach breeder/seller tell me that it was illegal for me to sell my roaches without proper paperwork, and so I looked into, and sure enough, according to them you are required to file a fair amount of paperwork before you can sell and certainly before you can ship roach species. That being said, vaseline around the edges of the container and a tight top have worked fine for me, and I always make sure the animal (tarantula or reptile) has subdued the roach before walking away from the cage to prevent any escapes.

 

[Dom]

I think the S. tartara is what I know of as Blatta lateralis. Not only do they not climb but they don't dig either. My understanding is that they don't tend to harm freshly moulted T's (just what I've heard).Their babies are quite small. I've found that the non-climbing roaches don't tend to escape from me because they won't jump off the egg-crating as you lift it out of the container. I would imagine they would be easier to catch also since they run in a straight line as opposed to crickets that jump at all angles as you're trying to nab them.
Their long-lifespan also makes it easier to manage the colony, it's not as imperative to feed off adults before they die.
Also they don't tend to die like crickets do. Even though I've only had my colonies for a couple of months I've yet to find a dead roach.

 

[Schlyne]

Are little roaches small enough to feed to slings too? Have not thought about roaches....i just tend to have "Hannibal the Cannibal" flashbacks....

Yes. I kill the baby roaches first for my slings, but I've been feeding baby B. dubia roaches to my dwarf slings for quite a while.

 

[Czalz]

I would like to kinda clarify something that was said before, and I don't mean to offend anyone, but by USDA definition, most, if not all, the roaches mentioned here, as well as many others, are considered pest species.

It is because of a lack of education on the part of the USDA, if that definition is accurate.

This is from a site discussing cockroach pest species...

"Though they are very familiar as pests, fewer than 1 percent of cockroach species are considered pests. Most cockroaches live outdoors where they hide under logs, stones, and bark, or in palm fronds and ant and termite nests.

The common cockroach pests are the American, Oriental, Australian, German, Asian, and brown-banded cockroaches."

 

[Empi]

I started breeding lobster roaches about six months ago and I could not be happier with them. My slings eat them as well as my baby scorpions and pedes. I also feed them to my herps. It is so nice not having those noisy smelly stupid crickets anymore. The best part is with a roach colony you have alot of different sizes to choose from. I paid $20 for 100 lobsters and have not had to buy any cricket since. Try this site http://roaches.arbreptiles.com