Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Where do you get them from and how would I go about breeding them?

Hands down, the best Roach person out there is the guy who calls himself Roachman:

http://www.angelfire.com/wy/roaches/index.html

I bought Deathheads from him (B. Craniifer) and he was VERY helpful.

Personally, I'd suggest something like B. Craniifer or B. Dubia. Hissers are a pain because they can climb glass. B. Craniifer and B. Dubia can't. (B. Craniifer are pretty big, too. So they'd be able to feed a Tegu for quite some time.)

He has links to care sheets, too. For the most part, all roaches are the same:

80 degrees. Fresh fruit and a bit of hard dog/cat food. High humidity, high ventilation. Give them a water dish with a rock or two in it (So they can climb out if they fall in, especially for the nymphs). Dirt is optional. If you use dirt, the babies will hide in it. If you don't, you can clean it easier and also keep better track of how many you have. If you get a glass climbing species like hissers, you need to surround the top with vasoline.

Another good place for information on various species:

http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Roaches/Roachman.html

ill see if i can find it again. but i had a breeder trying to sell me a 100 hissers for $50 shipped to your door (seems like a fair price). you can find a lot of info on breeding them off the net. check with your state laws, i know here in fl they are illegal (thats why i never had any)

sry man i cant find it but theres a lot of deals out their from people closing their breeding projects if you look. but i did find a cool site http://www.snuggeybug.com/herpsale.html. sry couldnt help ya out any more

Actually, if you go with hissers I would suggest looking at a hisser specific care sheet. They have different needs as far as temps and humidity than other roaches. The guy I got mine from (Mike Stefani) said to keep them at a daytime temp of around 105-110, and mine have bred like crazy. I have seen lots of people claim they dont breed fast, but I suspect it is because of lacking temps. They also grow very fast a higher temps, in my experience. Which means a higher gutloading bill, but also means you get the right size more quickly. Just my thoughts and experience, others may disagree. dave
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2.1 bay of la rosy boas
1.0.8 kenyan sand boas
3.3 ball pythons
1.0 central american boa
4.9 leopard geckos
3.3 assorted cali king
1.0 greyband king

I've read that with higher temps, you also get more deaths. (Maybe because they grow faster, I don't know)

A lot of people say to raise them in the mid 80s to mid 90s. But don't get too cought up with the details. These ARE roaches, after all. They're tough little things and able to survive very well.

(And the caresheets I was referring to WERE Hisser caresheets, I was saying most other roaches can be raised in exactly the same conditions)

But I'd still consider getting something other than hissers, personally. Glass climbing is a pain to deal with when you can get other roaches nearly just as big and without the hard shell.

(B. Giganteus is another good bet)

I don't know..I personally would never breed roaches in my house, just think what happens if one or two get out? You could become infested...it's just too iffy for me..but to each his own ...Good Luck if you do decide to breed them..P.S. Check the classifieds out under feeders, there are people selling roaches all the time...
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0.0.1 Argentine Black and White Tegu
0.0.1 Baby Aru Green Tree Python
2.1 Bearded Dragon
0.0.4 Hatchling Bearded Dragons
1.1 Honduran Milksnake
1.0 Florida Brooksi Kingsnake
1.0 Blood Red Cornsnake
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.0 Western Hognose Snake
1.0 Bull Mastiff

It just depends on the house. If it's like mine where it's always around 65-70F, they wouldn't survive. (Unless you were crazy enough to try to raise American or German roaches.)

These are tropical roaches, they need warm temps.