Roach Suggestions

Hey everybody,

We are seriously considering breeding roaches because about 75% of the crickets we get from the pet stores are dying. I am confident it is not our fault, we give them gutload, potato and occasionally, we plan on some extra veggies.

We will be feeding a G. Rosea spiderling and a baby crested, but we hope to get some more cresteds soon. I know it seems silly to breed with so few mouthes to feed, and we may just order some feeders, but with the sling on pinheads and the crested on slightly smaller than small crickets (I am guessing, have not starting giving him prey yet), they would just grow to fast too quick to be cost effective, and I dont think either of them would take a f/t insect.

Let me know if you have any other info you want before you make your choice.

Overall, we want what will probably be best in the longrun, but at the expense of it being a huge pain in the ass or just impractical for right now---ie Madagascars...way to big I am pretty sure...maybe in a year.

I know Turks, Lobsters, Discoid, Dubia and I feel like I am forgetting one....let me know if you have other suggestions. When you vote (I will allow you to vote for multiples), please state why you think those would be better than the other species. I have looked at all the caresheets, and I have my ideas on which I think would be best for us, but I want some other opinions to keep me in check.

Thanks for the advice.

Jamie has had great success with breeding dubias. You should PM him about it.

What size prey do you want/need?

If you want something cricket size go with turks
If you want something larger than crickets go with dubia

I breed both and if you would like to try a few of each shoot me a pm.

discoid for sure. they cant climb glass or plastic and they come in all sizes. yum!

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Originally Posted by Clear

What size prey do you want/need?

If you want something cricket size go with turks
If you want something larger than crickets go with dubia

I breed both and if you would like to try a few of each shoot me a pm.

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Right now I still need little stuff, but I think the nymphs of all the species will be small enough, save for hissers. The sling is eating pinhead cricks, and the little crested can probably eat small, though they may be just a tad big. Not sure how this compares to roaches. As for prey size later, I am sure we will have this crested into adulthood along with the tarantula, but the tarantula is going to grow so slowly it will be on tiny prey for a long time. Other possible additions, especially if/when we get roaches are more cresteds or a beardie.

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Originally Posted by ThyTempest

Right now I still need little stuff, but I think the nymphs of all the species will be small enough, save for hissers. The sling is eating pinhead cricks, and the little crested can probably eat small, though they may be just a tad big. Not sure how this compares to roaches. As for prey size later, I am sure we will have this crested into adulthood along with the tarantula, but the tarantula is going to grow so slowly it will be on tiny prey for a long time. Other possible additions, especially if/when we get roaches are more cresteds or a beardie.

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Turks stay around the size of crickets, That would be my choice for all of your pets then, dubia breed really slow compared to turks.

Having over 150 spiders (slings, Juvs and adults) I keep turks and Dubias.

The Turks move quick and do not burrow. They stay small and the babies can be fed to spiderlings. Adults get to be as large as an adult cricket so you wont lose out there.

The dubias are nice for my more larger and aggressive species of tarantulas that will eat them right of way. Many T's however will not eat the dubia due to the fact that they play dead. They will also burrow in the substrate.

So, I prefer both and there is no smell at all and have a better meat to shell ratio in comparison with crickets. Depending on suppliers, crickets are big carriers of mites and will lay eggs in humid enclosures. They are just nasty in my opinion. Roaches are the best.

If you plan to expand your spider collection, I do recommend both. They are easy and cheap to care for. :banana:

Dubia are not as small as you would think.

The turks are small, and from what I've read, reproduce quickly and easily. They also, as mentioned, are more like crickets in size.

Dubia are slow moving and get to a great size. Fantastic for beardies, I think, but adults will be far too large for your use. Turks are quick suckers - be warned, I was surprised and freaked the first time I saw them - but will definitely work well for geckos and spiders, I'm sure.

Be sure to read up on the care of your roaches if you want them to reproduce well for you. Also be sure to check into the legalities of keeping them for your area.

dubia because 1 they are hardier so easier to breed/raise. 2 they can not breed with native roaches. 3 they ahve more meat to shell ratio. I breed them and they are beyond easy to breed, feed, and feed off. The sizes they come in are a huge rance and can be fed to almost everything and to top that off they need very little suplimentation.

I've been breeding dubia for my bearded dragon for the past six months. I love them! Yeah, they're creepy, but they're super easy to breed and need zero maintenance. I just got back from a six week vacation and they all lived. They can't climb or fly like other roaches, too, which makes them easier to keep.

The adults are much larger than crickets, but you can always feed off the nymphs.