Which species of roach to choose as a feeder

[SkyeSpider]

I have a chance to get one of three species of roaches to keep as a feeder species. I don't know enough about them to know what's best for my collection. I don't want ones that breed TOO fast, but they need to keep up with my weekly feedings. Here's my tarantula/ insectivore list:

Tarantulas: T. blondi, B. smithi, N. chromatus, E. murinus, G. aureostriata (juvi), C. faciatum, G. pulchra (juvi), P. cancerides (juvi), C. cyanpubescens (juvi), G. rosea, 3 A. versicolor (spliderling), H. maculata (spiderling).
Other: centipede (juvi), sofulglid, leopard gecko.

My roach choices are hissers (what I was leaning toward), lobsters, and orange heads. I don't know the latin name for any of them, so I appologise for that.

Any advice?

-Bryan

 

[danread]

H Bryan,

i wouldn't go with hissers, i've found them to be too slow to breed, it would take ages to get the colony up to a decent size. I think the best choices would be Blaptica dubia, or Parcoblatta zebra, they are both non climbing and breed at a reasonably fast rate.
Lobsters are great in that they breed very fast, but the fact that they can climb glass is a bit of a nightmare. If you want lots of roaches quickly, go for these whilst your other roach colonies are getting estabilshed (it can take 6 months or more for the ones i have listed, depending on the size of the starter colony).

Cheers,

 

[Israel2004]

Lobster are going to breed to fast, hisser's tend to be slow breeding, and both of these species climb.

Orange Heads descent breeders and can't climb smooth surfaces. That's a big plus in my book. Some people don't mind the extra work with climbing species but I can't stand the thought of a roach on the loose in the house.

Israel

 

[SkyeSpider]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I can only get one of these three species, so I think I'm going to go with orange heads. Do either of you know the latin name for them?

-Bryan

 

[Wade]

Eublaberus prosticus

 

[SkyeSpider]

Eublaberus prosticus

Thank you!

-Bryan

 

[Wolvie56X]

glass climbing lobster roaches arent all that bad, i have a colony thats starting to boom as we speak, just put a strip of vaseline around the top so they cant climb out and a tight fitting top, they are big enough to feed all my pets and the nymphs are perfect for the smaller specimens

the makes get aboug 1.5" in length and are much wider than a cricket

now this is just my personal experience, im sure the non-climbers are great too, just anything is better than damn dirty crickets, good luck and if you want a good deal on lobster roaches, go here http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=28524

shes great and may have different breeds as well, regardless, good luck

 

[DarkRAM]

WOW! that is a nice deal, I started a colony of discoids myself. Can't wait for it to take off so I dont have to deal with stinky noisey crickets anymore

 

[SkyeSpider]

good luck and if you want a good deal on lobster roaches, go here http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=28524

Just to make it clear to everyone: I live in FLORIDA. I cannot legally obtain roaches. I finally found someone who has some, and only those tree types. Because I've found NO other source, those are my only choices. I can't price around, I can't order from anywhere. No one will ship to my state.

-Bryan

 

[chuck]

i have hissers and lobsters. use the lobsters as feeders and hissers are as pets. what everyone said about them above is correct. but if youre worrying about the lobsters escaping, dont, the vasaline trick works. and when theyre scared they tend to dive under the dirt. lobsters could also become a pest species. dont orange heads attack, or at least attack/bite eachother?

 

[Wolvie56X]

sorry about that eternal, didnt know about that problem

also on the hissers side, i heard that their carapace may be too hard for some T's and other animals to pierce

i ran into a scare when i put one in my larger Centipede enclosure(5" vietnamese), the clashed like champions, pede wrapped it up and went to bite it, i heard a click and then the pede let go, thought it broke a fang, but it didnt

so maybe hissers are not too good as a feeder unless its an animal thats strong and has big teeth

 

[Israel2004]

Orange Heads tend chew on each others wings if they don't have enough protein in their diet.

 

[Buspirone]

Orange Heads are wing biters no matter how much protein you give them but don't kill each other, unless you stop feeding them. They are extremely lively. They will put up one heck of a struggle. I've found that several of my T's won't take larger E. prosticus nymphs so I have to make sure that I choose smaller sizes than I normally would with B. dubia for the same tarantula. I also had problems the larger nymphs hiding and maturing in the enclosure. None of my T's are willing to eat an adult orange head.

 

[SkyeSpider]

I got my roaches today

My buddy only had six orange heads, so I took those and a bunch of hissers. They're all doing nicely, and BOY do they love oranges!!

-Bryan

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

Hi Bryan,
You shouldn't have trouble getting the following species shipped to you because they are native or long-time adventives in Florida (of course you could find them all outside with a bit of searching and driving).

Pycnoscelus surinamensis
Nauphoeta cinerea
Panchlora nivea
Blaberus craniifer
Eurycotis floridana

Just to make it clear to everyone: I live in FLORIDA. I cannot legally obtain roaches. I finally found someone who has some, and only those tree types. Because I've found NO other source, those are my only choices. I can't price around, I can't order from anywhere. No one will ship to my state.

-Bryan

 

[SkyeSpider]

Pycnoscelus surinamensis
Nauphoeta cinerea
Panchlora nivea
Blaberus craniifer
Eurycotis floridana

I'm not really fond of any of the roaches here. To be honest, I'm a bit scared of them

I really dig the orange heads for how easy they are to care for (especially the no climbing part). The hissers are just neat due to their size. In time, I may get over my fear of them. At least I hope so.

-Bryan

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

Good point.
B.craniifer is a rather cool one which can't climb glass.
Check it out at http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Roaches

 

[SkyeSpider]

Good point.
B.craniifer is a rather cool one which can't climb glass.
Check it out at http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Roaches

Those are native?! NEAT! I'll have to look into them, then.
Thanks!

-Bryan