Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I noticed many of you posting about lobsters down below.

I will warn you.

You cannot kill them.

you cannot stop them.

They will not stop breeding.

They will not die.

They will escape.

They will win.

I have hissers and orange headed roaches, and both are breeding(finally).

but they lobsters have outpaced them.

I got 10 lobsters a few months ago, now I have hundreds. I INTENTIONALLY underfed them, deprived them of water and attention. They still mated.

I have fed off almost all of my adults--the young just molt to take their place. IT seems that there's nothing I can do.

The chameleons freakin LOVE them, otherwise I would have burned allof them long ago.

I hate roaches--I'm terrified of loose roaches--they actually scare me. I'll reach in to the tub, pull out a hisser, no big deal. I drop it, it hits the floor and scurries, I flip out.

Hissers that escape, end up dead. I find them dried out and dead, very comforting.

Orange headed roaches, same deal, only they really don't escape.

Lobsters havent gotten out yet. However, if they DO, they will NOT die like the hissers, and they WILL infest. And it's always a matter of time until they get out...it always is.

When I get a separate building to keep them, I'll get more, as they're so prolific. I just can't take chances now.

sounds like the beginning to a horror movie!...i have them..they scare me too!..their numbers seem to double on a weekly basis...no escapees but it's a frightfull thought

EWWW this is why I will NOT have roaches! they freak me out! maybe one day when I figure out a way to breed them outside in the heat and never have to touch them... then maybe ... but since that does not look possible... cricktets and silkies it is. they are much cuter bugs.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Veileds
1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

can they fly and climb glass?
I am like you the roaches freak me out. If they fly it's even worse

with the orange heads they do not climb glass at all. they also cannot really fly, but only flutter horizontally, so i hear. i haven't had any fly, so i wouldn't know about that yet. i even leave the lid part way off of mine, and no escapees. i did have 2 escapees when i first got roaches. i wsa dumping them out of the bag, and they were heavier than i thought. they spilled on the table, and i thought i got them all. one day i picked up the cushion on the coach, and one was hanging out there. another day i picked up an empty box, and one had fallen in there, and was likewise just hanging out. we since moved, and didn't find a single roach anywhere. so i would say they are safe, as long as you don't spill them!
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groups.msn.com/JEChameleons
1.2 Chameleo Calyptratus
1.1 Furcifer Pardalis (Diego Suarez)
0.1 Furcifer Pardalis (Nosy Be)
0.0.1 Chameleo Melleri

OH roaches are awesome. Mine are FINALLY breeding, I came back, and it looks like two more females had babies.

The get REALLY big, like american cockroach big, but they are not disgusting. They are actually kinda adorable when young. they have a round shape, and a pretty maroon color.

The adults have a distinct marking on their heads that makes them less repulsive than other wing-ed roaches, and their wings are tan, so they LOOK different enough from American roaches to not freak me out.

They do flutter, and can kinda glide fly horizontally. They are too heavy to fly upwards enough to escape.

They get big enough that feeding adults is not necaessary--the larger wingless juviniles are big enough for most chameleons.

They have a good crunch, but their armor is not sharp and spikey like hissers, and they don't smell tooooo bad. They don't hiss much either, like when you're holding them with tweezers---lobsters hiss like crazy, really annoying.

The "Not climbing glass or plastic" thing is a real plus. You can put them in a shallow p;lastic bowl, and they'll be in there for ever. You're nuts if you put a lobster in a bowl, with or without bug-barrier--they'll find a way out.

Crickets chirp and jump, and they climb MUCH better than OH roaches. Add the increased weight, and OH's will almosts never climb out of anything. Crickets will usually climb out of something that is not perfectly smooth, and they can jump out of bowls. I also do not like having to pinch legs all the time, it leaves a sticky residue on my fingers, takes time, and they leak, causing the supplements to clump.

Hiss? If a roach hisses at me I will pass out!

Madagasgar giant hissing roaches hiss quite loudly, especially when annoyed. The lobsters seem to hiss only when you grab them violently, like with tweezers. It's actually even more digusting than giant hissers, as they are quieter, and hiss more painfully when injured by tweezers.

I will need years of therapy! LOL

But they won't breed! I have some dog food ion there, as well as some veggies. I have around 30 in there. But nothing so far... Any help? Thanks...

Tony-DH

I got 10 adults in a year ago. They LL BRED WITHIN A MONTH. THE YOUNG MATURED OVER TIME, BUT NEVER BRED UNTIL THIS PAST WEEK. i THINK THE LACK OF A HEAT SOURCE IS THE CAUSE, AS THEY WERE VERY WELL FED. tRY A SMALL HEAT PAD, AND GIVE THEM TIME.

STUPID CAPS. sorry

I don't know what lobster roaches are, but your description was great. Thanks for the fun post.

I've had lobster roaches for over two years and they haven't infested a thing, other than their bin .

The comments about them getting out and 'winning' simply aren't true if you set up your bin to contain them correctly.

German cockroaches are terrible, but that's not what lobsters are at all. Anyone that takes the time to really get to know them will find this out. I find escaped crickets much more annoying.

just my opinion,
Joel Fish

>>I've had lobster roaches for over two years and they haven't infested a thing, other than their bin .
>>
>>The comments about them getting out and 'winning' simply aren't true if you set up your bin to contain them correctly.
>>
>>German cockroaches are terrible, but that's not what lobsters are at all. Anyone that takes the time to really get to know them will find this out. I find escaped crickets much more annoying.
>>
>>just my opinion,
>>Joel Fish
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Joel,

I have to agree. Even though I wish I had non-climbers right now I have had no escapes since the very beginning and that was b/c I had no top on...yeah, yeah, I know. I had the double-sided tape which was working out great and I guess I was sure that would would contain them. Then I found an adult and a few nymphs downstairs (must have traveled with me on/in something) and later I found an adult on a damp towel covering one of my tanks. I fed off all the adults to Luna but since she's not eating much (but will take a cricket over a roach) and am just "keeping" them. If I get real fed-up with them come summer I may put them some place where birds can get a meal as those that live will not survive our winter.

I also agree that loose flies and crickets - UGH!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

i'm gonna cut that finger off!!

I was kinda joking around, because I am afraid of roaches, yet I still keep them. They're pretty hard to kill, and all too easy to breed.

Here's where I get worried.

If I have 10 roaches, at cool room temperature, with little water, and very little food, and they flourish, then, one can further assume that these same roaches, given the same conditions, but deprived of the containment afforded by the plastic bin, would multiply just the same, or in other words, INFEST MY HOUSE!

That's what scares me. that, if given the chance, they can infest the house. Crickets can't, OH and hissing roaches can't , but lobsters COULD. The potential for that is the problem.

Eric,

I knew you were "sort of" joking and I found your initial post quite entertaining! I love to see guys afraid of mini-beasts! LOL

A number of years ago when I had to make an insect collection for one of my classes some of the neighborhood kids would help me out (usually brought to me too mangled to use). I asked Ethan and his Dad to bring me back some from their trip down to NC and of all things they brought me back a roach! It was in a jar and very much alive. They said they got it the very first night so it was in there for 10 days w/o food, water, additional air - nothin'!

Keep in mind that they have changed little from their prehistoric days, except to mutate as immunity to our ongoing attempts to destroy them! LOL! They will be here long after humans have destroyed the planet - gotta at least respect them!

Oh, as an added note they are a delicacy in many cultures and are often ground up (poor little guys!) and used in a "soy sauce" type condiment! mmmmmm enjoy!

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Have you guys been attacked by an ASIAN Coackroach!?! I'm permantly scarred for life because of them!! You 'aint seen nothin' yet till you go to kill one of them and they become sentient, flying directly for any orifice on your face/head, or plan B attack is the suicide bombing into a head of thick asian hair! A woman working in her kitchen in Taiwan was reportedly trying to kill a baby Asian Cockaroach when it flew up her nose. Kid you not, it was in the newspaper!! She tried to blow it out of her nose with no luck and it actually crawled up her nasal passage and she began to panick. Onlookers shouted to her to try swallowing it. Failing to do so, she began choking!! Then, it went down her Trachea. Weeks later, she complained of smelling the sucker's remnants. At the end, she had to have surgery to remove any left over particals to rid her of the nightmare producing odors. None of the American Cockroaches have ever come close to any behaviors like this that I can see. However, just coming close to one now due to my own traumas with them, lands me in the emergancy room for shots to bring the psychosomatically induced lifethreatening allergic reactions under control. You guys probably didn't need to hear that..sorry if I increased your fear factor. But, none of our American bugs will ever be able to produce that kind of threat. Only in the tropics does everything seem to get BIG and we get small. I'm kind of ichy now from telling you that story.

actually the Asian(or oriental) cockroach is what traumatized me. The big, black cockaroaches of my childhood--waterbugs.

They live in america, especially up in NJ... I havent seen any down here in NC.

The funny thing is that none of these are native to america. The American, german, and oriental cockroaches all originate from Africa!

German and american roaches have been known to climb into orifices of people as they sleep--happens ALL the time in the inner city, where they are infested with the german ones. Babies have choked to death on larger roaches.

But those oriental roaches are the W O R S T .
They terrify me. I have had bad run-ins with them.
I remember, taking a bath, before my brother was born. I was no older than two, and yet this memory still is burned into my mind. I saw a big black "waterbug" swimming in the tub behind me. I remember being so small and young, that I thought, or probably more accutratly, "felt" it was going to climb up my rear.

Another memory, perhaps even earlier, was when I was on the floor in my bedroom(still had yellow carpet, which meant hat I was still in the crib--we changed the carpet when I moved into a bed) A big black waterbug climbed out from under the dresser towards my face. I screamed for my mommy, but it was gone when she came. I remember crying like crazy.

Now, I'm 26, 220 lb., married, and I'd still jump if I saw one.
When we bought our house, I didn't care about termites, I made the inspectors ASSURE me that there were NO roaches.

E

See, cause I thought I was insane to be this afraid of them! To be rushed to the ER from a fear induced life threatening allergic reaction upon seeing them had me wondering if I was just nuts! But now its starts all over again knowing that they are in the US ($%&@*^! They followed me here!! ). I had not known that till this thread, and now I'm getting quite itchy. They aren't like nearly 3 inches here too are they? All those other type roaches(I can hardly type that word) mentioned above don't seem to have the same sentience as these guys. I hope my Cham doesn't suffer much, but I just can't bring myself to handling a roach! Ok, its off to get my Benadryl and Cortizone I go!!

Eric,

I knew you were sort of kidding. I just want to make sure people get the straight dope on lobsters because I am such a fan of them. Hundreds or thousands of herpers keep them without any problems. Lobster roaches have had millions of chances to gain a foothold as a household pest, yet they've failed. I suppose that if you lived in a tropical climate and there was food available and you let a bunch of them loose - then maybe you'd have a problem - you'd have to try to make it happen. But lobster roaches would rather live in your yard under some rocks or dead wood than in your house.

They do climb and you have to use vaseline, or bug stop or some other barrier. Once you get that down, it's far less bother than crickets. The thing me and my chams like best about lobsters is the nice soft body. Mmmmm.....

Alright, you've heard enough from bug boy here... I'm out...

Joel Fish