Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay I narrowed down my preferred roaches to:

Death's head = Blaberus craniifer
Orange Spotted = Blaptica dubia
Discoid = Blaberus discoidales

I am still waiting to find a source who sells them in lots of 10 to 12. In the mean time I can learn more about them and have things set up and thought out before getting them.

My questions now are:

1. Would it be acceptable to use Layena substrate and a shallow bowl of water? I will also give them fruits/veges and dog food.

2. What type of dog food is better? Puppy, adult, lite, senior forumlas.

3. Are they even legal to own/have in Southern California, much less have them shipped here from out of state? I would hope that if I end up with a surplus of roaches that I might be able to sell some to local pet shops, but that can prove difficult if they are illegal or no one knows if they are or aren't legal.

4. Are there any good sites with caresheets? This seems difficult to find, but if I can get into of how other people set up their cages (cage size, substrate, temp, humidity, food, special care, etc) then it would help. But likely some things might be learned from trial and error.

I am thinking of setting up a container (size unknown still for 10-12 roaches) with Layena substrate as mentioned above. Couple of egg crates (or pieces mattering on size of container) for hiding. A shallow bowl of water, a bowl of fresh food, and a bowl of dog food (or cat food if better). Cage will not be heavily ventilated so only enough vents to allow good air exchange and a heat pad at bottom of cage to keep one side about 85F. Sound okay?

Okay I narrowed down my preferred roaches to:

Death's head = Blaberus craniifer
Breed good should do fine.
Orange Spotted = Blaptica dubia
My personal favorite. Breed good and easy to tell males from females.
Discoid = Blaberus discoidales
These are good roaches if you have a big colony. They are slow breeders and get a little larger than the death heads.

I am still waiting to find a source who sells them in lots of 10 to 12. In the mean time I can learn more about them and have things set up and thought out before getting them.
Roachman is is only one, but its $35-$45 a dozen. There still are not many roach sellers, as most who breed use there offspring for food. You probably are just going to have to pick one and go for it.

My questions now are:

1. Would it be acceptable to use Layena substrate and a shallow bowl of water? I will also give them fruits/veges and dog food.
Have no ideal what Layena is? Water need to be very shallow or babies can drown. The will get water from the fruits and veggies.

2. What type of dog food is better? Puppy, adult, lite, senior forumlas.
You want stuff high in protein.

3. Are they even legal to own/have in Southern California, much less have them shipped here from out of state? I would hope that if I end up with a surplus of roaches that I might be able to sell some to local pet shops, but that can prove difficult if they are illegal or no one knows if they are or aren't legal.
I think most are, but you will have to check on the death heads. I own the here in California, but the arn't as bad as some of the other animals I keep. The state sucks for herpers. To many damn laws. Let me know if you find out.

4. Are there any good sites with caresheets? This seems difficult to find, but if I can get into of how other people set up their cages (cage size, substrate, temp, humidity, food, special care, etc) then it would help. But likely some things might be learned from trial and error.
I posted some off this stuff if you scroll down. I will probably do a care sheet and website in the near future.

I am thinking of setting up a container (size unknown still for 10-12 roaches) with Layena substrate as mentioned above. Couple of egg crates (or pieces mattering on size of container) for hiding. A shallow bowl of water, a bowl of fresh food, and a bowl of dog food (or cat food if better). Cage will not be heavily ventilated so only enough vents to allow good air exchange and a heat pad at bottom of cage to keep one side about 85F. Sound okay?

I cut most of the top out of my bins and taped in mesh. You need good ventilation to prevent molding. These guys are not going to escape. The only reasom I have lids at all, is because my clumsy rear will knock one over someday and I would have roaches everywhere. I have at least half of the bottom at 100F plus. The hotter they are the faster they will breed and grow.
James

Thanks again for your help. I will probably be ordering my dozen Death heads from Dave this weekend so I have some time to prepare their cages. I also found a source for orange spotted, but they will be more costly because of a minimum order of $40 plus $20 shipping. Orange spotted nymphs are $1.50 at www.goldenphoenixexotica.com. If I can find another source that will cost me less, then I will go that route. I will probably end up waiting on getting discoid roaches since 2 roach species should be enough to try out.

Layena is chicken mash. Dirt cheap I think if I can find a feed store. I saw one caresheet somewhere that suggested using this as a substrate since it can also be food. Mold is just the biggest concern.

If roach food needs to be high in protein, I am thinking cat food might be better since they have higher meat contents in their food. That or puppy dog food.

Send me an email and I will give you some more info.
james
james.tuttle@afc.com

it is a higher quality diet than chicken layena diet and it is not medicated.
Also if you will look below at your previous post I gave you an e-mail for a guy that sells roaches cheaper than what you are ready to pay.