Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Red runners, blatta lateralis, Turkestan roaches witch one are better for babies

Im not all that sure but are all those the same roach just differnt names for them? They are a faster roach though so sometimes its hard for beardies to catch them. I like the Blaptica dubia roaches. They are super slow easy to raise since they give live birth. You should check into them.

For babies I recommend well gutloaded crickets.

"For babies I recommend well gutloaded crickets." BDlvr why do you recomment crickets over roaches? From my understanding roaches are a better feeder than crickets although thats just from the stuff I have read. Just wondering what your ideas were behind that. I feed my beardie both but just trying to get another perspective of why. Thanks for your time!

I have fed both Roaches and Crickets. Roaches have undigestable parts, wings etc. Crickets are simply "they are what they eat". A good grain gutload makes them very nutritious and they readily eat it. Roaches don't hold much food inside. One of the best things about roaches is they process food very slowly so the don't make a big mess. One of the best things about crickets is they process food fast so their gut is filled with fresh food.

I personally feel Blaptica Dubia roaches are an impaction risk for small dragons. I hate crix like everyone else but have always fallen back to them. They're a hassle but they make babies grow like crazy. All of my babies grow and inch a week even with my cripplingly low basking temps. lol.

Thanks for the info

Roaches have better nutritional value than crickets depending on how well they are fed and watered just like crickets or any other preys. They have better calcium to phosphorous ratio and are meatier than crickets weight for weight and have less chitin. They are just bigger than crickets. That's why you see a lot of undigested part, but it takes fewer roaches to satisfied your beardie's hunger.

Sorry but I have to disagree. There are indigestible parts. Hornworms are much larger but their is never undigested parts. The reason being that they are softer so everything is digestible. Don't get me wrong, roaches are a good feeder and I kept them for a couple years. This is the first season that I decided to not feed them at all. My primary food is Silkworms. I also keep crickets, superworms, and hornworms.

I'm not comparing roaches to horned worms. I'm saying they have less chitin than crickets do and nutritionally speaking are better. Horned worms of course are great feeder since they are very soft and digestible.

Here are some links with various nutritional values of many kinds of feeder insects and one listing various roach species.

Certain species of roaches do have a higher and harder exoskeleton than others, so not all are good for young dragons. Most are fine for adult dragons though. Hissing cockroaches I wouldn't recommend for young dragons, even their babies. The nymphs may be the size of a dime but they have a touch exoskeleton.

nagonline.net/Technical Papers/NAGFS00397Insects-JONIFEB24,2002MODIFIED.pdf (have to scroll down a bit to get to the charts)

doubleds.org/contactus.html

www.house-of-reptiles.com/feederinvertebrates.pdf
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PHLdyPayne

I forgot about the hissing cockroaches. Yes, they do have tough exoskeleton. Great post and link!

As Faygo pointed out, that's just one kind of roach, it just has different common names.
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PHLdyPayne

Cory , Give me a call and you can have enough dubias to satrt a colony. Take good care Beth (Cordova)