Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm currently feeding my beardie crickets as his main staple. I was just curious as to how much better roaches are for them. Also what's the easiest and best roach to breed for a bearded dragon? And where would I order them from?

People sometimes get upset if I say a food item is better than another. I believe for several reasons that roaches are one of the best food items. I raised and very successfully breed frilled dragons on roaches. There are several reason I prefer them over crickets and mealworms. First off they can live for 1-2 years and are easy to breed. Second, the eat anything so you can gutload them. I feed mine a blend of dog food, lab chow, bran, and oats, plus they get a daily slice of apple, orange, carrot, or whatever else I have. With crickets they usually smell and there are a lot of little things you have to do to breed them, which is why there are so many breeding farms because most people don't want to spend the time it takes. Mealworms are a little easier, but you still have to seperate the worms, get the beetles, and then get them to lay eggs. With roaches you just keep them all together in their rubbermaid container on top of a good heat source and they breed and breed and breed. There are a few downsides are; like dealing with the climbing species (hisseres and lobsters) can be tricky. They females usually have around 20-40 babies and the babies take 3 months to become adults so getting a good breeding colony takes time. Although one advantage is most people feed them off at 1-2 months old depending on their size, and they usually weight much more than the same sized cricket or mealworm. Certain species like orange heads put off a defense musk that can be strong it you have hundreds of them, although it is not a constant stick like crickets. One last thing to add. I found even animals that where tough feeder always jumped after the roaches. I think they are a very natural food items , and most reptiles really love them. I would recommend going with a non-climbing species. There are a few good one I will list in the order I like.

1. Blaptica dubia (orange spotted)
2. Eublaberus distanti (4-spot)
3. Eublaberus prosticus (orange head)
4. Blaberus craniifer (death head)
5. Blaberus discoidales (discoid)

I would check the feeder classifieds or do a search on the web. If you use the species name most of the sites are in German or Chinese, but you will find some people selling them. Roaches are very popular feeder in other parts of the world. One of these days I will build a website.
James

Thanks James, I printed out your reply and also a care sheet for orange head roaches. Would all roaches need the same type of care to breed? and how long would it be(avg) before I could start feeding the roaches to my dragon. ie. how long before the colony takes shape. I've searched a few places online to order them from and it seems pretty costly upfront. around $20 - $40 for a dozen roaches. What's the survival rate of a colony that size?
Once again, thanks for the help and any additional you might choose to provide.

Send me an email!! The care is the same, but I can give you a few more pointers.
James

Actually, Mealworms aka Tenebrio Molitor (Spelling is probably off) you don't need to seperate to get them to pupate.. Its Zoophoba worms or Superworms you need to seperate for them to pupate. I have a 4 tier rack system of Mealworms.. started with 1000 and now produce well over 3000...And I just started with superworms... just recently got beetles....I'm feeding supers to a savannah monitor...but anyway, Mealies don't need to be seperated.. just superworms... I find both an excellent source of food for my animals... Crickets ocassionally thrown in... all in all its really personal preference.

I just got some mealworms and waxworms in today. He LOVED them. Now waxworms I understand not feeding as a staple, but most ppl have discouraged against mealworms because of the chitin. The suggest either crickets or roaches. But how much harder on the digestive system can mealworms be than crickets?

They aren't really.... I've fed all my geckos on mealworms since I got them....and my hatchlings were started out on mealies too.. I've seen nothing to suggest the chitin causes any problems... The mealies are easier for them to catch.... are a perfect fit for all sizes of leo's... or even a bearded dragon at the mealies largest size....or even superworms which are similar just bigger with more "meat" content. Crickets are good for their calcium content.. but gutloaded and supplemented mealies are just as good.... and breeding females don't waste energy trying to chase them down like they do crickets....they can put all those nutrients to good use during egg production.

They aren't really.... I've fed all my geckos on mealworms since I got them....and my hatchlings were started out on mealies too.. I've seen nothing to suggest the chitin causes any problems... The mealies are easier for them to catch.... are a perfect fit for all sizes of leo's... or even a bearded dragon at the mealies largest size....or even superworms which are similar just bigger with more "meat" content. Crickets are good for their calcium content.. but gutloaded and supplemented mealies are just as good.... and breeding females don't waste energy trying to chase them down like they do crickets....they can put all those nutrients to good use during egg production.

Seems like we could debate this issue all day. One of the websites I used to visit which had several types of different bug qualities (protien, calcium, fat, etc..) is gone. Does anybody else have data on this. The order went something like roaches, crickets, mealworms, waxworms, and maybe one or two others. I don't disagree that mealies can be good feeders and your pets will eat them, but it would be interesting to see if you fed two babies, one on roaches only, and one of mealies only, which would do better. I will put my money on the roaches. There are uses for all these feeders. For example even though waxworms are at the bottom of the list, they are loaded with fat and great for putting weight back on a females which just laid. In my spare time (hahaha) I will try and find some data.
James