Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need info on roaches as feeders...I'm tired of the constant chirping but want what's best for my guys...not to mention the smell and the continuous buying of bugs...thanks...
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1.0.1 Bearded Dragons - Smaug and Little One (for now, till I know the sex for sure)
3.1 Bettas - Jason, Ori, Fishy Fishy Fishy, Faith (R.I.P.)
1.0 3 Legged Bullfrog - Jeremiah Sim Choy
1.0 Leopard Gecko - Spike
0.1 Guinea Pig- Oreo

I highly recommend roaches, but only as part of a varied diet. Aside from having to use Vaseline, they are much easier and cleaner to raise than live crickets. You can use all life stages for various sized pets, including your gecko and bullfrog. The only problem I can say about them is their exoskeleton. Not only do they have sharp spines on their legs, but their carapace is especially thick. After performing a necropsy, I have reason to believe that the carapace of male hissers is responsible for the impaction and resultant death of a large bullfrog. My mistake was feeding the bullfrogs more than one cockroach at a time.

FYI: check out zoo med's "Can-o-" line of products. If you keep them frozen, they will last a long time and as long as you are diversifying the diet, you can provide them with hasslefree crickets, snails, and caterpillars that you otherwise would not be able to feed them!
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

There are lots of choices for roaches. James at www.blaberus.com/index.html has many non climbers that are smaller and softer than hissers. From what he told me, hissers are also higher in fat that the dubias, craniifer, fusca... feeding non adults is also adviseable so they are easier to digest. Lobsters are not much bigger than crix and I find them too small for adult BDs.

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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

Actually I've heard roaches are the best bugs to use. There used to be a huge posting in this forum about it... you might be able to find it if you back some pages. A few types of specific roaches were mentioned... lobster, and dead head. Lobster roaches climb, while dead heads do not. I think lobsters are easy to breed, but I can't remember exactly... anyway, good luck on finding a better bug!
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~Shana~

Must have been farther back than I remember!
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~Shana~

There are alot of different species of roaches available as feeders now. Though for bearded dragons the discus (sorry can't remember the complete scientific name) type roaches are good. I also don't think they are climbers either.
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PHLdyPayne