Reptile & Amphibian Forums

are they any good at breeding, an feeding to leos and beardies
many thanks.
not my pic but i was thinking of buying some

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pipatic.tripod.com/reptileworld

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thanks,
but what kind are they ?and why are they no good for frreding to gecko's an beardies
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pipatic.tripod.com/reptileworld

I am wondering why they wouldn't be good for them. Especially since mine have done very well on them for over a year and that includes raising three leo gex from hatching on them.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

That is what the "experts" say...no to roaches. I've also done a lot of reading on Leos and not one book has recommended or even mentioned roaches as prey items. There must be a reason, no?

Now, I think I'll post in the leo forum to see what the reasoning is behind it, if anything. I'll come back and post here when I get some answers. LOL!

Roaches and silkworms relatively new as feeders so most books wouldn't mention them but their a popular feeder. Bottom line books are outdated and become obsolete fast so don't rely on themm for current info.

As for breeders, I don't know which ones don't reccomend them but their is nothing wrong with them. They are 100% more nutritious than superworms and people feed those regularly.

Feed a group of your leos roaches and a group of them the usual leo diet and I bet your roach eating leos will remain healthy and thrive..

The reason they don't mention them is that using roaches as a staple feeder is a fairly recent phenomenon. Lobster roaches have a softer body and thinner exoskeleton than other roach species. I use them as a staple, along with mealworms, for my leopard geckos, too.
Crickets are smelly and nasty. Roaches have absolutely no odor at all.
The roaches in the photo are not lobster roaches--I don't recognize the species, offhand.
I know a lot of people use orange-heads...might be those.

Well, thus far, the only one to reply to my question in the leopard gecko room was Winged Wolf, who also replied here...so, no one seems to have an opinion about it.

The main reason I answered this post was because no one else had...I felt stupid at first because clearly, I was wrong in my assumption but then again, I'm glad I did because not only did the person get the help they needed but I learned something too. It's a good day.

Thanks all! LOL!

I dont know anything about leopard geckos but I do have 9 bearded dragons all of which are being raised on salad and roaches (occasionally other insects as well). They are healthy!

When feeding roaches in my opinion it is important to make sure you are not feeding wild caught roaches. Roaches are one of the many insects that can carry many bacterial diseases. However, if captive raised and well cared for this should not be a issue. Next is just finding a species or two (even more) that is suitable for the reptile or amphibian you are feeding. Making sure the roaches are appropriately sized and not too hard to digest is just common sense. Also very important is providing your feeder insects with nutritionally complete diets!

Basically I believe roaches are just as good (probably even better) then most other commercial insects on the market today. The reason why they are not recommended is probably because they are fairly new as a feeder insect. 3 years ago when I bought my first dragon I did not know 1 person who fed roaches. I didnt even know it was an option. Now I know of at least 5 breeders that feed roaches. Plus a few hobbyist. Give it some time. A couple years and they will be recommended in many books I am sure

I think as more people try roaches and realize they arn't as bad as your mind perceives, then they will become very popular. With that being said the people breeding and selling roaches have a very hard time keeping them in stock. I get emails everyday from people wanting to buy roaches, but I don't have enough yet. Plus the other big factor is roaches are still very expensive compaired to other feeders. Once there are large breeders and the prices drop you will see people just buying them for feeders and not to raise them their own. I have kept a lot of thing over the past 15 years and roaches are by far one of the easiest. They don't smell, they are easy to clean, they are easy to feed, with the proper set-up you can leave them for a week and they will be fine, they don't die easy like crickets, because of there size variations you can feed one or two insects instead of ten, the are easy to gutload, and last but not least my reptiles love them.
James

I feed my very expensive knobtail geckos roaches everyday. They are a great feeders and I have been usuing them for years. The roaches in your picture are Blatta lateralis or Turkish roach. They are suppose to be a little smaller than lobsters, but don't climb. I have heard they still can be hard to keep, but want to find out first hand.
James