Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a 10 inch tokay(male), an adult male white line gecko, a breeding trio of leopard geckos(1.2), and a 5 inch juvie leopard(female?), i need to knoe if it would be better to feed crickets or roaches and if i would be able to feed roaches to all of them or not? would it be better to get non-climbing roaches instead of climbing ones so they would stay in the bowls? are they easy to keep and breed and could i get a good care sheet on a non-climbing species? what species do you suggest? can you suggest a reliable cheap place to buy them?

n/p

Stay away from climbers. There are several non-climbing/flying species that are good. Orange head, orange spot, 4-spot, discoids, and death heads. I breed them all and like the orange spots the best. For one it is very easy to tell males from females. They are good breeders and very meaty. Roaches are the best bug you could feed your pet. I feed my roaches lab chow,high grade dog food, and a mixture of fruits and veggies. It does take some time to get a breeding colony going, and they arn't cheap, but in the long run you will save a bundle not buying crickets. I keep mine in a 20 gallon rubbermaid with either red bran or peat moss. Red bran is good because they will eat it, but you can not get it wet. Peat moss is good because you can spray it. So pick one and that will determine your set-up. If you go with the bran add a shallow water dish, and they will also get water from the oranges, apples, etc.. If you use the moss you may or may not have a water dish and you could spray them every other day. The only bad thing about this is you need to watch out for mold. Remove fruits and veggies within 48 hours. Once you get your colony going you will soon figure out how much they eat and only give them that amount. Heat from the bottom works besat and 85-100F. The closer to 90-100F the faster they will breed. Most people do not sell adults because it takes 3-4 months to get them there. Once your adults are going you should let there first few hundred babies grow, then you will have a good colony producing hundreds or even thousands of babies every month. I separate out all the adults and large babies every couple months, then when the remaining babies are large enough either feed them off, or add them to the colony. This way the are also getting a clean cage every few months. Roaches are easy and not as bad as everyone thinks. These are not pest, and without the proper care will not breed or live long.
James

One more thing. A couple off egg crates is a must.
James

Eublabeus distani and Blaptica dubia. Are these the same animal?
Also, do you have a starter colony of Orange Heads for sale?
wperkins@joplin.com

You can usually do a search on the web under there technical name and find lots of good info.
Orange head = Eublaberus prosticus
Death's head = Blaberus craniifer
Orange Spotted = Blaptica dubia
Discoid = Blaberus discoidales
4 Spot = Eublaberus distanti

Like someone else mentioned earlier is that roaches do not stink like crickets. Some of these roaches will put of a defense odor when arrosed, but it is not really a bad smell just different. I personally like the orange spots, 4-spots and orange heads. They all breed really well and are great feeders. I keep mine all in rubbermaids on top of my reptile cages. The nice warm heat from the light below keeps the breeding and growing fast. My favorite thing about roaches was being able to feed my baby lizards something other than those stupid 1-2 old crickets. They do take alot more time, but since they can live 1-2 years you can get a good size colony going and not pay for smelly crickets that as adults when you buy them arn't going to survive more than a few weeks.
Good luck,
James

i am trying to convince my parents to let me keep them and breed them(roaches) but, they are still not allowing it. i have told them advantages to roaches and disadvantages to crickets but they don't listen!

Its funny how people fear what the don't understand. These roaches are not pest. There are several hundred roach species in the world and only a handful are pest. Basically this means that these roaches are not considered a threat to escape and mass produce (or infest). The main reason for this is that these roaches come from tropical climents and would not survive in the majority of the 50 states if they escape.(exept FL or HI). Even inside the typical household there it not enough constant heat, food, and water to have active breeding. My wife said no way no how, but I got them anyway. Now over a year later she could care less, because they are so easy to contain and keep. Istill do not recommend lobsters or hissers, because they are so hard to contain.
James

how do your parents feel about "beetles". My mom had no problem with my roaches in the house because I never told her they were roaches =)

In addition to all of the advantages that James states below, I would also say the roaches don't stink and same a quantity of crickets will.

Joel Fish