Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I want to start a colony of roaches (not Hissers) primarily for my Mellers Chameleon. These are amongst the largest of all Chams so I need a roach species that gets BIG. I would also feed these to Veileds, Jacksons, and occasionally to Bearded Dragons.

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Bill

I would suggest Orange head or Discoids. Meaty and non climbers.
Joel

I suggest orange spots. These are my favorite, or should I say my reptiles' favorites! They are meaty and softer bodied than the orange heads and also smell less and are less messy. They may take a little longer to get started but once you realize that they need a little heat they take off great. They don't chew on each other like the orange heads either and the nymphs are great for hatchling and juvenile lizards too.
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

>>Hi all,
>>
>> I want to start a colony of roaches (not Hissers) primarily for my Mellers Chameleon. These are amongst the largest of all Chams so I need a roach species that gets BIG. I would also feed these to Veileds, Jacksons, and occasionally to Bearded Dragons.
>>
>>Suggestions?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Bill

I don't have vast roach experience. Everytime I try one of the better none climbing ones I am disappointed. I did just feed off some damn Lateralis. None climbers that got out EVERYWHERE. Yet my Hissers and my Lobster Roaches are great, meaty, fast reproducers and eat anything. No mess. Love them. But they do climb even so, I rarely have them get out. So I swab the top of the tub with petroleum. No biggy.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

I'm not happy with my Lateralis colony either, don't reproduce well since they are so shy, but then Bill stated that he wants a large roach. In my opinion that makes the orange head a great species since they would be good as adults and the nymphs would be great for the smaller and young animals in his collection.

The only problem I have ever had with escapees with this species is the males. If I leave more than 10 males in the colony they manage to get out and roam. This would be a simple matter for Bill to feed off the large males thus preventing them from overpopulating.

Since the females don't produce wings it is easy to tell the slender, winged males from the broader, wingless females too so keeping the numbers under control is simple and thinning the male population when cleaning the tub is simple. I freeze off my surplus since my MHDs don't eat full grown roaches.
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

And thanks to the others that replied! Marcia hit it right on the head for me. The one's she recomended sound perfect. Now, hopefully my source breeds these as well!

Bill

Bill,
I don't mean to jump in your thread here but I have a question for foggie that may help you too.. Marcia, you say you freeze your roaches them feed them off to your Mt. Horned Dragons? That is great! What is the procedure for that? Is it like pinkies for snakes? Is there any special concidration to take into account when freezing them? I plan on getting a pair of MHD as well as half the classifieds when I get home and I am going to start a few groups of different roaches. Thanks, Blue

No, I don't freeze them and then feed them. I suppose you could for an animal that would eat anything pre-killed. Just happens that my dragons won't eat anything that doesn't move. I just freeze them before I throw them out so that I don't have them running around! If the male population becomes to large the males escape looking for females. Thanksgiving 2005 with a house full of guests, my in-laws, step-kids, and all, this happened. Here we had these great big, beautiful 3" cockroaches appearing all over the house! It was bad enough when hubby went to put his shoe on and felt a large lump that turned out to be one, but the final straw for my dear hubby was when he woke in the middle of the night with one crawling across his face! I have been careful to control the male population ever since, otherwise I wouldn't have roaches at all!

Actually the adults are too large for my MHDs. They will only eat the nymphs at about 1/2-3/4". I love these roaches for the small 1/4" babies which are excellant feeders for my hatchlings which will eat me out of house and home.

So, you are going to get some MHDs? What kind? I have been breeding these for over 8 years now and just love them. I have just raised my first batch of coronata and have my first clutch of armata eggs in the incubator. The coronata will be some great breeders and I have already picked mine out! For me this is really exciting!

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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

Well, I don't want to sound too dumb, but since this is the feeder forum, I might get away with it..The MHDs I am planning on getting are the ones with the two horns on their heads.. I know, I know.. be gentile, I'm a snake guy...Switzer Rep has them on their site, not the blue mouths though.. Would they be ok for eductional displays? I take moniters and BDs as my lizard represenitives now, just trying to vary things up a bit.
As far as the frozen roaches, I wonder if they thaw well? I have a few different moniters with my savs being the rubbish removeal system for small rodents and left over bugs may be the next new thing!
I can totaly relate to the sigificant other woes. My poor wife is dealing with all my critters this year due to deployments to the great sand box and as much as she may dislike it, she didn't hesitate to bring in an Eastern Spade foot toad and has kept it alive for 5 months now.. Almost makes me want to tear up. She doesn't like the idea of the roaches but my young son complains about the noise the crix make! I kinda liked it and miss it... Thanks, and Bill sory to steal your thread, Blue

Not at all dumb! The ones with 2 horns are the easiest of all and once treated and established are the greatest and easiest of the MHDs to care for. I think they are great for educational programs. I have sold a few for school programs and have given talks to local libraries and scout groups using mine. The blue mouthed ones are a bit more timid and probably wouldn't hold up as well for that purpose.

From my experience everyone is always pleased with the dragons. They like the "dinosaur or Dragon-like" appearance. Makes for nice display.

I don't know how well roaches would thaw. They have a pretty bulky body. If you start breeding them I would give it a try and see. Nothing ventured nothing gained, right?

So you've been to the great sand box, which part? My son just did a year in Afghanistan and my stepson is on his second year in Iraq. I'll be glad when it's all over! Pretty scary!
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

Marcia,
Good to hear about the dragons! The horned ones it is. I have been reading up on them and their requirments. I am going to get a pair and see what happens! I konw that they will be WC, would parazap be ok for them? I do all of my own fecals and medicating on my other animals but I don't know too much about these guys and their immune/digestive systems.
I will try the frozen/ thawed thing when I get a good group going and post results here.. I started in this hobby for a science class 15 years ago so it stands to reason that I keep that aspect up...
I'm still in the sand box until next month. I can't wait to get home and see my snakes!..and wife and kids..and blow all that tax free danger pay on my animals...and a 10 ann. trip with the wife half for her in a TN ski lodge, half for me road curzing S. FL and picking up animals from shops along the way. Italked her into that one by telling her that it would save on shipping costs! That's why she keeps the check book!!
Tell your boys I wish them good luck and to keep their heads down...and look for ANYTHING that looks out of place on the roads if they go out of the wire. I got to meet Olie North and got on War Stories last year because I was looking left when I should have been looking right.. Not a good way to get on t.v. but we all lived to tell about it..and chicks dig scars.. Thanks, Blue

I'm not familiar with parazap but if you do your own fecals you should know what to look for and I'm sure you are aware that these are full of parasites.

I suggest you go over to the Mountain & Tree Dragon forum on this site and read through some of the posts there. There's a guy from Canada that has some really different ideas about these guys but he seems to be really doing well with them. Probably worth considering much of what he is doing!

My son is having a tough time with PTSD and sleep disorder. He went over as broadcast journalist and went into some pretty nasty situations in Afghanistan. That country is a real mess. The news media doesn't tell us much about that place. If they did I doubt we would believe much of it! Some of the photos he brought back were unbelievable and they weren't even war photos. The faces of the children tell a story in themselves! I thank God that our children look happy! After 15 years of reserves and 4 of ROTC he has decided its time to retire. My stepson is planning to make it a career

Enjoy your well deserved R&R!
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html