Small feeder roaches

Christianb96

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I'm looking for a species of roach that stays rather small, don't burrow, and are very easy to breed. They will be used mostly for slings. The Dubia roaches I have burrow as soon as I toss them in.( and I'm using roaches because crickets stink)
 

Andrea82

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Shelfordella lateralis (formerly know as Blatta lateralis) stays small. I've just recently bought these as feeders, and i must say they are very well received by mty bunch of T's. Even my Avic ate with gusto :). They can be a bit more hassle to pick out with tongs, they are somewhat quicker than crickets or dubia.
 

Andrea82

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Ok cool! And they don't burrow? Are you starting a colony?
nope, they don't burrow, they just...run for cover :D
i'm not sure if I am starting a colony, i got a mixed box, so it is quite possible. I'm not doing anything to get them breeding though, just feeding and keeping them at 20C, providing a piece of eggcrate.
In warmer climates i think you need to watch out for escapees turning into pests, but im not sure if this is true, being in the Netherlands ;)
 

Christianb96

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Thanks for the information, and I'm glad your avic will eat them, mines a picky eater!
 

Andrea82

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Thanks for the information, and I'm glad your avic will eat them, mines a picky eater!
yeah, mine is too which is why I mentioned it. It loves flies and moths more though, but since those are a pita to hatch, it just have to stick to mealies and these roaches :D
spoiled little brat.
 

Christianb96

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yeah, mine is too which is why I mentioned it. It loves flies and moths more though, but since those are a pita to hatch, it just have to stick to mealies and these roaches :D
spoiled little brat.
My sling won't touch mealies or Dubia but will eat crickets. But I got some roaches ordered and they will be here next week!
 

pannaking22

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Besides lateralis, you can also use Oxyhaloa duesta and Phoetalia pallida as small slings feeders. Adults of both species are a little smaller than lateralis and don't burrow at all. Both my colonies exploded very quickly and I had hundreds, if not thousands, of nymphs running around.
 

pannaking22

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I'm not sure how much Blattidae sp. Little Kenyan (I believe they're in the genus Paraplecta now) nymphs burrow, but if you want something for very very small slings those would probably be my recommendation. Adults are less then 1/2" long. They reproduce very readily too.
 

InvertsandOi

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Schultesia lampyrydiformis is probably worth mentioning here. They're very active and don't burrow. They are pretty prolific too. I bought about 15 of them about 8 months ago and now I have a thriving colony of hundreds. They do climb glass though. Their nymphs are tiny (Hydei fruit fly sized). That's why I like them (good for baby mantids and amblys), but it can be a bit of a problem too. The L1 nymphs will get stuck in Vaseline barriers and water jelly. I have no experience feed them to T's, so I can't speak to that.
 

pannaking22

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Schultesia lampyrydiformis is probably worth mentioning here. They're very active and don't burrow. They are pretty prolific too. I bought about 15 of them about 8 months ago and now I have a thriving colony of hundreds. They do climb glass though. Their nymphs are tiny (Hydei fruit fly sized). That's why I like them (good for baby mantids and amblys), but it can be a bit of a problem too. The L1 nymphs will get stuck in Vaseline barriers and water jelly. I have no experience feed them to T's, so I can't speak to that.
I had trouble with my colony for whatever reason, but I agree, when they were reproducing and I tested them out as feeders, predators responded very well to them, especially the amblys. Hadn't tried them with mantids since I don't really keep those, but I'm sure they would have made good feeders there too.

Looking back, I just don't think I had enough heat for them, so reproduction was slowed down quite a bit.
 

InvertsandOi

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I had trouble with my colony for whatever reason, but I agree, when they were reproducing and I tested them out as feeders, predators responded very well to them, especially the amblys. Hadn't tried them with mantids since I don't really keep those, but I'm sure they would have made good feeders there too.

Looking back, I just don't think I had enough heat for them, so reproduction was slowed down quite a bit.
Makes sense to me. I've had a heating pad on their enclosure almost the entire time I've had them, so I can't speak to how they do without heat, but I can say that mine do great with heat.
 
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