Reptile & Amphibian Forums

whats the best type, and how many should I buy to start a roach colony that could feed my 1.5 leopard gecko colony (and the dozons of babies i'm expecting this year)?

What size enclosure is suitable for the size colony i need?

-Thanks
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-Kris

Any should work fine. I would stick with the non-climbers because they are easy to contain. You can feed them off at any size, and if they get to big they just become part of the breeding colony.

my leopards love small blaberus discoides nymphs and the occasional lobster roach adult. They will also take the occasional hisser nymph as well. It all depends on how well you can collect the roaches without them producing a defensive smell. My roach colonies never smell--the disco colony actually has a pleasant fruity smell because of all the left over fruits they eat, but the leopards can smell something every once and a while...they turn their noses up to them.

My disco colony is in the top drawer of a rubbermaid three drawer shelf set--they don't climb glass. My hissers are in a 30 gallon tub with a 3 inch ring of vaseline near the rim--Small hissers occasionally make it out even with the petroleum jelly but if you leave a tray of food near the container you should always find them--mine are usually in a mealworm bin. The lobsters are in a smaller 5 gallon tub with the vaseline rim--the colony isn't very large.

I had 24 disco adults last spring and have been feeding most of their 200 offspring from last summer all winter long. I let about 3 dozen of their first nymphs mature into adults and am hoping that the warmer temperatures of this coming summer will allow me to start new colonies in the lower two drawers next fall and still have about 300 or so nymphs for winter feedings.

Roaches will eat all your leftovers, mine occasionally feast on unwanted defrosted mice that I feed my house snakes. Just make sure their basic diet is high in protein and calcium.