Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I want to get some roaches to feed my lizards. I only go through 15 or so insects a week, so I dont think I need that many. I heard lobster roaches are the best but I dont think I could feed them out fast enough to keep their numbers down, so I want hissers. I dont think my adult male veiled chameleon could eat an adult hisser, but I want to get hissers. Could my chameleon eat a full sized hisser? Hissers just seem really cool and I think I would keep some to be feeeder, but also keep some as pets. Do you think I should just get lobsters for feeders and hissers for pets, or do you think I could feed out the hissers okay? Is there any way to keep the lobster fom breed so fast, like keep them cold or something? Is there any way to keep the hissers from becomeing adults so I could feed them to my chameleon? thanks, jrbl

Ok you should probabally scroll down and read what James Tu said about all the roach species.

Firstly, Hissers are WAY too big for your chameleon. They also have WAY too thick a shell to be desirable to most lizards. They breed slow too.

Lobster roaches are fast and climb anything. If you plan to feed these to your chameleon you MUST hand feed them or they will escape if you just throw them in the cage.

Get a species that cannot climb and you can more easily feed your chameleon. Get a species with a softer shell too.

I got Orange Heads recently and the adults are still a little too big for my chameleon. Im going to wait till they start having babies and ill feed those to her.

Roaches are just like crickets, but thay can offer even more. Just like crickets you can feed them off at any size. The good thing is if you have a bunch that are the perfect size and you can't feed them all off, just cool them down and it with slow there growth rapidly. I like being able to feed my newly hatched lizards 1/8" baby roaches, and also feeding my adults lizards from the same colony. I agree hissers are a very poor choice. I actually gave all mine away just because my animals didn't like them. the lobster do breed fast, but are harder to deal with and if you don't feed lots of them off you could end up with 5,000-10,000 like me. I have said this over and over. I think the orange spots are the best roach. They stay a little smaller than some of the other non-climbers. Since the males have wings and the females don't they are by far the easiest roach to sex. The males stay a little smaller than the females an make perfect feeders. As always just my personal opinions.
James

What are your feeling on SPECKLED FEEDER ROACHES Nauphoeta cinerea? I saw a website on these guys and they seem really cool. By the way, do you know where to get orange spot roaches? I think they might be the right choice for me. Thanks for the help, jrbl