Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, Iam new to this forum. I got some roaches yesterday. 100 Lobsters, 20 Orange heads, and 20 Orange spotted. I wanted to see which ones I wanted to use. Wow, thought I'd be scared of them but they are cool! At any rate can anyone give me info on which is the best food for Beardies, their babies and Leo Geckos and their babies. Which ones are the easiest to raise and how fast they breed ect. I have read alittle on each one but I would like personal experience on them. I also want to know how to keep water in their enclosure. I am also interested in getting some Hissers and maybe some False Death heads. So any info on them would be great. I have them in 58 qt rubbermaid containers. The lobsters have vasoline near the top about 3 inches wide so far noone has gotten out. I plan to buy more of each also but first wanted to see what each one looks like. Thanks in advance. Deb

>100 Lobsters, 20 Orange heads, and 20 Orange spotted.

>best food for Beardies, their babies and Leo Geckos and their >babies. Which ones are the easiest to raise and how fast they >breed ect.
>I also want to know how to keep water in their enclosure. I am >also interested in getting some Hissers and maybe some False >Death heads. So any info on them would be great.

>I have them in 58 qt rubbermaid containers. The lobsters have >vasoline near the top about 3 inches wide so far noone has >gotten out. I plan to buy more of each also but first wanted to >see what each one looks like. Thanks in advance. Deb
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Deb,

I have those 3 species, as well as 5 other tropical roach species.

The best way to see which ones your Beardies & Leos like is to try each of the roach species, but make sure that the roach is a little smaller than the width of the reptile's head. **Note, with baby Beardies--smaller is better & don't overfeed, as they can die from impaction problems. Nymph roaches of various species work well for feeding to baby & juvenile herps.

I'd say that Lobsters are the easiest to raise & they propagate the fastest; the Turkestan roach Blatta lateralis--an egg-layer is reported to propagate faster than Lobsters. Keep your roach temps in the mid 80's to mid 90's & you'll be able to get some colonies going.

I provide moisture via their vegs & fruits. Some breeders use the polyacrylide crystals aka "water crystals". I'm leary about using synthetic media for moisture.

Hissers & False Death's Heads (discoidales)--use the same methods as all other tropical roaches in rearing. The main differences that I've noticed is some roach species eat more protein(cat,dog chow/chix mash) vs. carbs(vegs/fruits) than others & vice versa.

For gutloading, I give the roaches non-medicated chicken laying mash at least 24-48 hours prior to feeding to herps. It's also a good idea to dust the roaches with calcium just prior to feed off. Use Ca with D3 for indoor diurnal herps. Geckos don't need D3; unless they are Day Geckos.

Ex. Some Blaberus sp., OrangeHeads & Lobsters tend to eat more protein. The others are more omnivorous. Provide a variety & you shouldn't have probs. Avoid cat/dog chows that use added dyes in the food -(the cheaper chows usually don't have dyes). The key is to have heat & moisture via food. Provide enough humidity for molting, but not enough to cause mold/bacteria growth. You should change out vegs/fruits & other moisture retaining foods- often. I lightly spray the inner walls of the tanks/bins w/ drinking water--they do get some water through the fine droplets & provides some humidity. It's a good idea to have a small fan in the room to circulate the air.

Hopefully, some other roach breeders can add more to this. Everyone's methods vary a bit.