Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
I was wondering if there's anyone who has fed roaches to juvenile savannah's (1yr old).

I'm thinking of raising a community of Blaptica dubia.
They are incapable of climbing vertical walls (I'm not sure how they survive as a roach in the wild...) so as long as I keep them in the enclosure, they can't get away. (tho grown males do have wings)

please help me out if you have raise a dubia community as well...
Thanks!!

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RepCom Administrator
Atsushi Koyama
Repcom.Org - the Reptile Community in Japan -

I recently started (attempting) to breed Madagascar Hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina Portentosa) for my monitor (and also myself - for fun, though, not food) after I purchased some from a reptile breeder/supply place up in New Hampshire.
I bought 5, fed 2 to my monitor, and he LOVED THEM. I haven't seen my monitor move THAT fast for his food since he was a baby eating crickets. When I saw that reaction, I did my research, found out that I have one female and 2 males left, and promptly set them up in a 30 gallon tank to propagate. I'm planning on buying a few more this weekend.
I have limited monitor knowledge, and can only speak from basic observation, trial and error and "regurgitation" from others more knowlegeable than me - but from everything I know, monitor included, roaches are fantastic...palatable and nutritious. Careful, though - I think they can climb glass, though not easily. Put a nice thick layer of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) around the inside of their enclosure to keep them in. For peace of mind if nothing else.

Thanks for your reply, tatbeesh.

Would you tell me what kind of monitor you fed your roach to?

Also one quesiton.

For roaches, does gut-loading work the same way as for crikets?

Thanks in advance!
Repcom.Org - the Reptile Community in Japan -

I feed my roaches to a savannah monitor - I have had him a little over a year now and estimate his age to be about that as well.

If you are raising roaches, you should always feed them the best food you can find. Regardless of whether your prey are crickets, mice, chick, roaches...your monitor is dependent on the nutrients obtained from its food, and therefore your monitor's food is only as good as ITS food. (I worded that strange - but you see where I'm going with this.)

I've been feeding my roaches a variety of things - good quality ground up cat food(low fat/high protein), carrots, spinach - I am new at this myself and if anyone else has any advice please jump in. I believe straight calcium supplements added to the food MAY be harmful, or impede reproduction, but I'm not sure, so do some more research. (that goes for me, too)
As long as you dust your roaches before feeding, it should be sufficient.

I aint sure what the scientific name is but I have found deathheads to breed fast and easy. They don't climb and eat anything. I just dumped leftovers, old fruit and veggies and crumbled up dry dog food in the tubs they lived in.
I kept them ouside in large tubs, I kept them in the shade and kept the fine mulch moist by spraying the surface ever few days.
I did have to place a screen top over the tubs, Birds think they are yummy too.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

blaptica dubia cannot climb up strait surfaces.
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-Marshall
1.1.0 ball pythons
0.0.1 red ackie

more commonly kept is the false death's head, and that's blaberus discoidalis. Much like your blaptica they don't fly, climb walls, or even move very fast for a roach.

I feed all but the largest adults to my mangrove monitor. The smaller roaches a great for lizards of all sizes. Gutloading is thoughtless when it's so easy to toss in vegetable scraps, leftover tortoise food, trout chow, and whatever else is around. I prefer dog food over cat food as it's lower in animal grade protein. Roaches arn't predators, thus a carnivorous diet won't really promote growth. I havn't though, seen any studies on the subject. About weekly, I do sprinkle calcium dust into the cage and they eat it with the food it's on, and when they groom themselves. It hasn't slowed growth or breeding, and I have about a gadgillion bugs to attest to that

Have fun, they are fun to watch and even funner to see eaten!

Ian

Thanks for that information.
I thought dubia was the best choice, but now I have two best choices!
all women in the house would literally get out of the house if they see a big roach, so I have to think of a way to secretly keep these things....

humm maybe I'll tell that they are bio-composts.

"here, throw some left overs! it'll be gone in a day or so!"

"oh it works wonderfully! by the way what's moving inside...?"

"oh... well, let me tell you..."
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