Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was recently at the Midwest Reptile Show in Indy up not only a cornsnake for my girlfriend but I also picked up about 20 deathhead cockroaches. I got some big and some small. The small were for my cham to try and the big ones we just going to go to my beardies. And when I say big, these suckers are big...like around 3 inches in lenth. But after I realized how much my cham likes them I have decided to start raising them. Or so i thought I(emphasis) decided. In less then a week in a oatmeal substrate they have made over 20 lil babies and I know there will be more. This seems all too easy and they aren't picky eaters so it is very easy to gut load. Just thought I would give ya my opinion on roaches...
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1.0 Picasso panther chameleon (Pablo)
0.2 Bearder Dragons (Mic Dundee and Red)
0.1 Leopard gecko (Leo)
2.0 Red-eyed tree frogs
1.0 African side-necked mud turtle (Wrinkles)
1.2 Spring peepers
1.1 Fire bellied toads

Justin,

It is easy. Roaches are the best - especially compared to crickets. No smell, no escapes, no chewing through mesh, no noise, much easier to raise your own - and fascinating creatures.

You may, however, find that you need to raise out some babies to adults so that you have more breeders. That way, you'll have a sustainable colony. They don't grow nearly as fast as crickets or silkworms.

I'm glad that there's another convert!

Joel Fish

I'M SOLD. Where is the cheapest place to order them on the net???

I am in FL and the roaches I have seen fly, are super fast, climb like crazy and squeeze through anything. I have also seen them chew through things like thick plastic bags. How do you contain them?

I use rubbermaid snap lid containers, 18qt for small colonies & 60qt larger groups. The Glass climbers will need petroleum jelly around the top of the cage. The Green banana roaches (you've probably seen them in FL) are escape artist. So I put tape around the outside of the lid ( pet-jel) so there can be no escapees.

Ww

Do you have any green banana roaches that you want to part with? They are kind of expensive to order. I would pay you to ship me some.....

thanks much,
Joel Fish
redjello99@hotmail.com

A good species to start with is the Orange-Headed roach (Eublaberus Prosticus). They can't climb or fly, don't chew through things and are relatively slow if they do escape. They can't climb smooth sided containers like rubbermaid at all. I never have escapes, but if they do, they can't really reproduce. They are my favorites.

Here's a really good link for husbandry
http://www.cricketfood.com/insects.htm#cage

You need at least 50 adults for a sustainable colony. You can start with less, if you have patience.... Once it gets going, you'll have feeders of all different sizes!

Lobster roaches are kind of a different category. They climb better than crickets so you need vaseline or bugstop applied around the inside top. They reproduce superfast. If you start with a couple dozen, you'll be able to start harvesting small ones in a month or so. After 3 mos. it will be hard to keep up unless you have a lot of animals to feed.

ok, i'm gonna go feed my roaches now...
Joel Fish

They are awesome easy feeders to raise. Give em a Container, some heat, a bit of humidity, some fresh food & they are off. Low Maintenance!
If you think about it they are a great investment too. Other than the initial time to get them established. If you purchase some, don't use em as feeders for several months (the longer the better) until they get going. They will out perform your use for them. Start with at least 50, give em 3-6 months. By then with optimal conditions you'll have twice that or more. Colonies will take longer if you purchase nymphs.

I'm currently raising 9 species. Roaches are neat to watch too, especially the lobsters. Interesting creatures. I purchased the more lobsters than anything. These are my feeders while the other colonies grow in size.

Hope this helps. Check out the previous issue (may)on E-zine about roaches as feeders.

Ww