Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I just recieved in the Mail some Roaches- 100 Lobster, 20 20 Orange spotted and Orange heads. Now I have many questions One is which one has people found to be the best to feed, easiest to keep, fastest breeder ect? Also what should I keep them in? I am fairly sure you can't keep them together...right? So Please if anyone has any ideas on this please let me know ASAP. I didn't realize they would be here so fast! I just ordered them Monday evening from Blaberus.com! I also need to know if Vaseline works as well as bug stop and what do you all feed these things?. Any great website that explains all of this especially about the different species.I also hope I won't have a problem handling them but they do give me the creeps! I raise Beardies and Leo Geckos so I just can't afford such a high cricket and all the other bugs I get for them( I go thru over 25,000 mealworms a week for the leos and over 20,0000 crickets a week for the beardies plus 2000 supers a week, 2000 waxworms a week( for treats)and every now and again I try to raise silkworms. Plus I still have some Ball Pythons so I go thru alot of mice, rats and Pinkies!! So I am hoping these roaches will be the way to go. I have heard alot of good things about them. Thanks for any help on this matter!!!!

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Beardies: 11.13

Pyro-Red Flaming Tiger x Orange German Giant Male
Kai-GG x Orange GG Male
Skyla-GG x GG Pastel Female
Voodoo-Yellow Red Desert Male
Banshee-Orange Sandfire Female
Puff-Citrus x Red/Orange Sandfire Male
Cera-Citrus x Sunburst Female
Moon- Snow x Hypo Female
Jewel-Yellow Sandfire x Orange Sandfire- Female
Ace-Sundial Coral x Snow Male
Sundra-Sunrise x Red/Gold Sandfire Female
Nitro(Stubbs)-GG x GG Pastel- male Juvy
Rainbow-GG x GG Pastel Female Juvy
Wicket-Sundial Coral x Snow Male
Sedona-Blood x Red/Orange Sandfire Female
Seven-GG Orange x GG Pastel male Juvy
Flame-GG Orange x GG Pastel male Juvy
Cinder-GG Orange x GG Pastel Female Juvy
Kiowa-GG Orange x GG Pastel Female Juvy
Flurry- Snow x Hypo Female Baby
Jinx- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange male Baby
Jazz- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange female Baby
Jet- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange male Baby
Joker- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange female Baby
More Beardie on the way

Leopard Geckos 6.17.3

Blossom- Patternless Tremper Albino Female(Animal Dreams)
Blaze- Jungle Bandit Female (Bruckman's Reptiles)
Bonzai-High yellow Jungle Leo Male Juvy(Bruckman's Reptiles)
Basil-High Yellow Jungle Leo Female Juvy(Bruckman's)
Ebony-Dark Phase Normal Female
Snowflake-Line bred snow Female
Twister-HQ Red Stripe Leo Male
Swayze-HQ Red Stripe Bold Jungle Leo Female(Hot Geckos)
Eclipse-HQ Red Stripe Bold Jungle Leo Female(Hot Geckos)
Ayesha-Outcross JMG x HQ Red Stripe Female(Hot Geckos)
Solar-High Yellow Leo Male
Sunspot-High Yellow Leo Female Juvy( Bruckman's Reptiles)
Phoenix-Super Hypo Tang Carrot Tail Baldy Male (Hot Geckos)
Cajun-Super Hypo Tang Baldy Leo Female(Hot Geckos)
Calypso-Super Hypo Leo Female
Bijou- Super Hypo Tang Carrot Tail Female( Pro Geckos)
Inca- Super Hypo Tang Female (Pro Geckos)
India- Super Hypo Tang Female(Pro Geckos)
Arwen-Rainwater( LV)Jungle Albino Leo Male (Hot Geckos)
Aries-Rainwater(LV) Banded Albino Leo Female (Hot Geckos)
Ice-Blizzard Leo Female Juvy (Bruckman's Reptiles)
Winter-Blizzard Leo Female Juvy (Bruckman's Reptiles
Shiver-Banana Blizzard Leo Male Juvy (Bruckman's Reptiles)

Leo Hatchlings~

unnamed- Aberrant normal high yellow baby leo
unnamed- High Yellow baby leo
unnamed- Red Stripe jungle baby leo
unnamed- Red Stripe baby leo
More Baby Leos to come~

Tortoises 1.1

Velvet-Leopard Tortoise 2 years old male
Isis- Blond Leopard Tortoise 14 mos old female

4.3 Ball Pythons

Stripe Male 05
Black Back Female 05
Het Pied Male 05
Axanthic Female 03
Reduced with Blushing Female 03
Chocolate Reduced Male 04
Banded Male 04

Tarantula's

1 Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula(my husband's)Baby
1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula(my husband's)Baby
1 Curly Hair Tarantula(my husband's)Baby

Other Pets:

8.20 CFA Reg. Manx Cats
Too many to name here (Adults and Kittens)
2.1 German Shepherds
Danzig(Red Sable)male Search and Rescue Tracking
Onyx( Black) Female SAR Air/Ground Scent retired
Sakotah(Black Sable)Male Pup ( Danzig/Onyx's Pup)
1.0 Hedgehog-White Wicca(old man)
2.2 Chinchilla's-Breezy, Stormy Nights, Myst, Black Velvet
0.1 Eastern Gray Squrriel-Paws (Squrrielee-o)
0.1 Ferret-Jumanji(daughter's)
1 White New Zealand Rabbit(rescue)-"Callie"(daughter's)
1 Brown Bear Hamster "Brownie"(daughter's)
1 Golden Longhair Hamster "Keelee"(daughter's)
1.1 Dumbo Rats (daughter's)

Hi there,

It sounds like you will need a LOT more roaches!
The offspring for the next year of those roaches that you just purchased will not be enough to feed your critters for a week.

How do we know? We used to use 10,000 crickets per week for our chameleons. That was before we got into bearded dragons and skinks. If we would have to feed our bunch only crickets and superworms - we would be in the same boat as you.

Fortunately, we got into roaches a few years back and now keep thousands on hand at all times (not to mention we sell them). We also make the dry gutload to feed them. Currently, our cricket usage is down to 5,000 per month - and most of those are just for tiny babies or variety purposes.

Our beardies can eat 2,000 lobster roaches in a day.... so you will need some larger ones if you don't want to have raise thousands. We have found that the hisser roaches serve us much better for those hungry appetites! They grow much bigger and are more filling. The nymphs are still good for beardie juvies too - as they are about the size of a watermelon seed.

IMO, the lobsters would be much better utilized for your geckos, as the nymphs are truly a soft bodied, easy feeder. You will need to use vaseline on any tank that you put them in - and watch the corners - the roaches can sometimes get up the silicone sealant.

Orangeheads and dubia are great non-glass climbing roaches - but they are much slower breeders than the lobsters. Your geckos will love those nymphs too. One adult beardie could eat 10 adult orangeheads... so you may want to reconsider which roaches to feed them.

As for care - the lobsters are have fewer requirements than the OH and OS roaches. James has great care sheets on his website, so just check those out: http://www.blaberus.com/PDFgallery2.htm

If you want to discuss hisser roaches, drop us an email. With all those beardies, I really think you will need some.

Morgana