What roaches do you feed and why?

[Nich]

I've got a small 5 gal. colony of Blaptica dubia and will never feed crix again due to mites/noise/odor. I give them a wide variety of grains and random foods. Im interested in geting a few different kinds just for kicks, what do you guys/gals keep? Im not much of a "roachman" but have listed what some of what Ive found on some sites I've been to, so if im missing any important feeders lets hear em... = )

 

[kitty_b]

i use b. lats because they can't fly or climb. i've heard many other roaches burrow in the substrate, so i've never tried them.

i also have a small colony of hissers, and those are primarily kept for larger slings (the nymphs) and my blondi girl.

 

[peterUK]

I have Nauphoeta cinerea, Blaptica dubia and Blaberus discoidalis (?).

The lobsters (cinerea) have really taken off with hundreds and hundreds of babies which should be mature in a few months and ready to breed themselves
The dubia have approx 75-100 babies in their box so I dont (and never did) expect to use these for at least another 6-9 months.
The 10 discoidalis that I started with bred once and nothing since, so I am waiting for the 20-25 large nymphs to mature and start breeding themselves.

Out of all 3 species I prefer (at the moment) the lobsters as they are of a size to feed all sizes of T's except the large adults which will get the dubia or discoidalis. I am at the moment thinking about selling the discoidalis and starting a colony of red runners (Blatta Lateralis ) as these although very fast dont climb glass and are as prolific as lobsters.

Check out the 3rd post down .... a picture of roaches next to each other and a measure for size comparision..... http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=686&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=40





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[froggyman]

i generally feed all my roaches other wise they would be dead

 

[KyuZo]

I have been using B. dubia as feeders, but i have to switch over to something else, like B. discoidalis because i've just developed an allergy for the B. dubia's frass.
I had the Blatta lateralis in the past and did not like keeping them because of the possibility that they can infest if they happened to escape.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I use dubia because when I first considered starting a roach colony these seemed to be the preferred feeder roach. I also used lateralis for a while because a couple of my scorpions wouldn't touch dubia but once they died I stopped keeping them. I didn't like them much though simply because of how fast they were and how fast they reproduced at room temp and like kyuzo said I could see them being a problem if they were to escape.

I still buy them occasionally from my LPS to give my cichlids a treat.

 

[OldHag]

I have over 12 types of roaches and I think B. dubia are the best. In my opinion anyway. Very fat, small nymphs, big adults, every size range you could want. No smells like orangeheads. Just a fat bag of food for your Ts and reptiles My pixie frog loves em too!!! But then again, hes a HOG and will eat anything.

 

[Nich]

i generally feed all my roaches other wise they would be dead

LOL.....I agree that sounds like the logical thing to do....:}

I didn't like them much though simply because of how fast they were and how fast they reproduced at room temp and like kyuzo said I could see them being a problem if they were to escape.

I still buy them occasionally from my LPS to give my cichlids a treat.

I also give my fish some dubia every now and then, though they are a bit more slaty.

I have over 12 types of roaches and I think B. dubia are the best. In my opinion anyway. Very fat, small nymphs, big adults, every size range you could want. No smells like orangeheads. Just a fat bag of food for your Ts and reptiles My pixie frog loves em too!!! But then again, hes a HOG and will eat anything.

Probably the reason I havent switched yet, Im just a bit bored in the winter and figure I'ld try some new roaches to compliment what I already feed.
I actually want to start a colony of Bannanas and dominos for me... Never thought I would say that, I used to HATE roaches....what is my world coming to?

 

[Ted]

its odd, but i havent ever really been able to get anything to each roaches.
my inverts seem to prefer crickets.:?

 

[KyuZo]

if you are going to get some green banana roaches, try to get the giant ones, i've heard that they are three times bigger than your average green banana.
I am actually looking to get some of those right now, so if anyone out there that have them, please pm with prices and quantity.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

LOL.....I agree that sounds like the logical thing to do....:}


I also give my fish some dubia every now and then, though they are a bit more slaty.



Probably the reason I havent switched yet, Im just a bit bored in the winter and figure I'ld try some new roaches to compliment what I already feed.
I actually want to start a colony of Bannanas and dominos for me... Never thought I would say that, I used to HATE roaches....what is my world coming to?

My problem with with dubia is that my jag makes such a mess when he eats them (to hard of shell perhaps?) with lateralis he eats the whole roach.

 

[Nich]

My problem with with dubia is that my jag makes such a mess when he eats them (to hard of shell perhaps?) with lateralis he eats the whole roach.

Im assuming a Managuensi (spelling?), I kow what you mean....I have a Clown trigger that feels the urge to chew and spit several times before swallowing... I think she does it to me on purpose sometimes. = P

 

[ahas]

I feed mine Blatta Lateralis. I also feed my bigger Ts Hissers. They don' t seem to like it though.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Dubia for the bigger Ts and scorps, lats for the smaller. Meal moths have recently infested our dubia tank, though.

We're waiting for our lobsters and fusca colonies to take off, as well. We've also got hissers but they're more like pets (I think the fuscas will be, too).

 

[Snake_Eyes]

Im assuming a Managuensi (spelling?), I kow what you mean....I have a Clown trigger that feels the urge to chew and spit several times before swallowing... I think she does it to me on purpose sometimes. = P

Yep, with mine all the grindings come out the gills.

 

[tacoma0680]

I feed the
Blatta Lateralis
Blaberus Discoidalis
Blaptica Dubia
They all have there greats and the worst about them the blats are really good for babys and the rest have great size

 

[Uglykid2]

I feed both dubia and lateralis. I don't really like the lats because they're so fast but their babies are like pinheads and eighth inchers perfect for feeding slings. Baby dubias are too big and fat for some slings so I like having the variety.

 

[Stylopidae]

I feed lobster roaches, Blaberus hybrids and Blaptica dubia.

The lobster roaches are my primary feeders and mainly used for arboreals. The Blaberus and B. dubia are secondary feeders and mainly used for terrestrials and centipedes.

The Blaberus/blaptica colony just matured and I just cleaned my colony of lobster roaches, so the Blaberus/blaptica colony will be my primary feeders for awhile.

If you are considering getting into roaches for feeders, here is what I would do.

First, I have my colonies set up in 10 gallon tanks with heat lamps as their heat source.

I never leave them without dog food and I give them apples for moisture once per week. I'd reccomend giving roaches more moisture than I do...but always give them water in the form of food or polycrylamide cristals (such as the type you can order from www.watersorb.com).

If you're looking to do this on the cheap (like I did), here's what I'd do.

Start with lobster roaches. They're glasswalkers, but their reputation for being an escape prone feeder is undeserved. Just toss a bit of vaseline around the top edge of the tank and you'll be just fine.

At the same time you order your lobster roaches, order a culture of B. dubia. I started with roughly 30 individuals and had a few deaths. This should be enough to start a colony, although it's going to take awhile.

I ordered 200 lobster roaches to start my lobster roach colony. This cost me about $20, including shipping if I remember right. The dubia (or Blaberus discoidales...another good feeder) should cost you roughly $10 or so on top of that.

Since you're starting with a few individuals, it's going to take your colony of non-climbers time to grow. In my case, it's taken me about two years for my non-climber colony to get to a point where I can use small/medium nymphs without worrying about depleting the colony.

However, the lobster roaches will reproduce at an incredible rate. I was using small/medium nymphs after 6 months and I was using adults after 9 months (I already had a large collection by then). These will tide you over in the mean time.

No point in spending more money than you have to.

 

[Mina]

We use B. latteralis and B. dubia. The dubias are for the larger T's, blondis, some of the big pokies, paras, and the latteralis are literally replacements for crickets.

 

[Xaranx]

I keep dubia, I would like to keep latteralis since I would like to have tiny pinhead sized feeders around. When I need them I usually just buy a few adult crickets from the store and hatch my own. I am not too excited about keeping latteralis since I live in the south and these are supposedly a pest species.