what eats Discoid roaches (Blaberus discoidalis)?

[tttaylorrr]

so this might seem a little weird (and long) but here it goes:

i work for a science education company and work with a lot of scientists (biologists, chemists, physicists, etc) that create kits for classrooms. one of our biologists wanted to test this kit she ordered where you essentially shoves nodes(?) into cockroaches' brains that allow you to control them with a phone app like a friggin' RC car until they die a slow death (i'm assuming on that last part). needless to say it didn't pan out, but she was left with these 4 roaches living in 2 lil' critter carriers on her desk.

like 6 months later, she's leaving the company and decides to ask me if i want these cockroaches (apparently when people know you own snakes, they think you'll own any weird animal). she informed me she hasn't given them food or water for like 5 months and isn't even sure if they're alive anymore. me, being the sympathetic person i am, say yes and immediately set them up with a wet sponge and some of the food she gave me. they immediately came out to drink. i felt bad. ):

i was told these cockroaches could not breed...my surprise when i noticed babies in the enclosure. so now i have 2 colonies of Discoid roaches at my desk and no idea what i'm doing or what to do with them. i assume they're Discoid based on their looks and google. the biologist i work with offered to freeze and kill them, but i want to try and do something with them instead of just killing them off.

any idea what i can do with these roaches? is there a pet that eats these? or if you guys have any other ideas on use or how to dispose of them, i'd appreciate it. thanks for reading!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Pretty much anything that will eat dubias or other insect are likely to eat discoids from Crested Gecko, to Chahoua (for the low maintenance type pet lizard) to Blue tongues to Bearded Dragon.

A colony can grow fact and the one that will eat the most will be the last two I mentioned.

You can also sell them on ebay, many people who have a colony explosion will sell their extras.

[dakski]

I think nutritionally, they are similar to dubai roaches, but also think they are a little bigger.

Bearded Dragons and other larger insect eating lizards would probably love them.

The babies might be able to be eaten by geckos like Leopards and African Fat Tails.

I would compare sizes with Dubai roaches (sold by pretty much every insect feeder company out there). For example, I buy small dubai roaches for my Leopard Geckos, and they gobble them up. They stay healthy and grow in a cricket keeper at room temp with water pellets and food (I gut load with feeder specific diet mostly). They do not breed for me - not adults, too cold, and not humid enough. That's fine with me! However, my geckos can eat up to a small-medium dubai (nothing bigger than there head). They are adult geckos and about 65G.

In general roaches are better feeders than mealworms, for example, because they have higher protein content and they are easier to digest.

Mealworms have a strong exoskeleton that some lizards do not digest well. Leopard geckos do ok with that, and love them, but I feed more dubai because they last longer and have more nutritional value. I mix it up for them.

[dakski]

Pretty much anything that will eat dubias or other insect are likely to eat discoids from Crested Gecko, to Chahoua (for the low maintenance type pet lizard) to Blue tongues to Bearded Dragon.

A colony can grow fact and the one that will eat the most will be the last two I mentioned.

You can also sell them on ebay, many people who have a colony explosion will sell their extras.

My BTS eats dead things happily. I offered a big dubai, he chased it around, ate it, but not happily. It's as if he didn't know what to do with it. When I offered another, he was not interested. I could try again and report, but Katie is very happy he does not eat bugs. She loves him.

He probably thought it was too much work having to hunt for food. Very intelligent lizards those BTS (great personality too).

I also got him at about 1 YR old and he had been on dead stuff most or all of his life. So, I imagine not all skinks are created equal.

[tttaylorrr]

Pretty much anything that will eat dubias or other insect are likely to eat discoids from Crested Gecko, to Chahoua (for the low maintenance type pet lizard) to Blue tongues to Bearded Dragon.

i've always kept my eye out on low-maintenance lizards; both Crested Gecko and Chahoua are really cute! can they eat Discoid for life or is a varied diet better? i guess i can just ask google...lol.

A colony can grow fact and the one that will eat the most will be the last two I mentioned.

You can also sell them on ebay, many people who have a colony explosion will sell their extras.

interesting. i wonder if there's a market in my area...any tips or ideas for how to go about this?

[tttaylorrr]

I think nutritionally, they are similar to dubai roaches, but also think they are a little bigger.

Bearded Dragons and other larger insect eating lizards would probably love them.

The babies might be able to be eaten by geckos like Leopards and African Fat Tails.

I would compare sizes with Dubai roaches (sold by pretty much every insect feeder company out there). For example, I buy small dubai roaches for my Leopard Geckos, and they gobble them up. They stay healthy and grow in a cricket keeper at room temp with water pellets and food (I gut load with feeder specific diet mostly). They do not breed for me - not adults, too cold, and not humid enough. That's fine with me! However, my geckos can eat up to a small-medium dubai (nothing bigger than there head). They are adult geckos and about 65G.

In general roaches are better feeders than mealworms, for example, because they have higher protein content and they are easier to digest.

Mealworms have a strong exoskeleton that some lizards do not digest well. Leopard geckos do ok with that, and love them, but I feed more dubai because they last longer and have more nutritional value. I mix it up for them.

so would a LG do well on roaches alone or do they need a varied diet? and LGs are fairly high maintenance, right? i definitely do not have the time for a Beardie.

[dakski]

so would a LG do well on roaches alone or do they need a varied diet? and LGs are fairly high maintenance, right? i definitely do not have the time for a Beardie.

An LG would do fine on roaches alone. I like to vary their diet, and my LG's were brought up on mealworms, so they still love them. Even you used roaches as a staple, and occasionally gave something else, like a treat such as phoenix worms or wax worms, that would be fine. I would try to get an LG that already eats roaches, so you do not have to entice them/switch them to roaches. My LG's converted pretty easily though. However, they were established when I switched.

The most important thing with insectivores and omnivores, if you didn't know (and sorry if you did, but others might not know), is a robust diet for the feeder insects and proper supplementation.

More important that the feeder roaches have a varied and fully complete nutritional diet than that the LG has a varied diet. Also, with LG's you need to supplement calcium with D3 regularly (3-4X a week or almost every feeding), and a multivitamin 1-2X a week. They do not need UVB to absorb their calcium though.

I feed all sorts of different "feeder food" to gutload the roaches and mealworms.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...arra-and-Kayla

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-addition-Opal

The above links should help.

I think LG's are very low maintenance, except that they need to be fed regularly and live food.

Basic heating requirements (similar to a BP), do not need high humidity, tolerate handling, come in many beautiful morphs, and even (usually) poop in the same spot.

Also, they do not need a big setup. A 10-20 gallon would be fine for life. I like bigger, and my guys are in 3X2's (read my thread), but a 20G is like a mansion for an LG. I just fine controlling the environment and husbandry is easier in larger tanks (and enclosed tanks - not glass).

[tttaylorrr]

An LG would do fine on roaches alone. I like to vary their diet, and my LG's were brought up on mealworms, so they still love them. Even you used roaches as a staple, and occasionally gave something else, like a treat such as phoenix worms or wax worms, that would be fine. I would try to get an LG that already eats roaches, so you do not have to entice them/switch them to roaches. My LG's converted pretty easily though. However, they were established when I switched.

The most important thing with insectivores and omnivores, if you didn't know (and sorry if you did, but others might not know), is a robust diet for the feeder insects and proper supplementation.

More important that the feeder roaches have a varied and fully complete nutritional diet than that the LG has a varied diet. Also, with LG's you need to supplement calcium with D3 regularly (3-4X a week or almost every feeding), and a multivitamin 1-2X a week. They do not need UVB to absorb their calcium though.

I feed all sorts of different "feeder food" to gutload the roaches and mealworms.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...arra-and-Kayla

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-addition-Opal

The above links should help.

I think LG's are very low maintenance, except that they need to be fed regularly and live food.

Basic heating requirements (similar to a BP), do not need high humidity, tolerate handling, come in many beautiful morphs, and even (usually) poop in the same spot.

Also, they do not need a big setup. A 10-20 gallon would be fine for life. I like bigger, and my guys are in 3X2's (read my thread), but a 20G is like a mansion for an LG. I just fine controlling the environment and husbandry is easier in larger tanks (and enclosed tanks - not glass).

i did not know most of this, so thank you for all the info! the research never ends...hahaha.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

i've always kept my eye out on low-maintenance lizards; both Crested Gecko and Chahoua are really cute! can they eat Discoid for life or is a varied diet better? i guess i can just ask google...lol.


interesting. i wonder if there's a market in my area...any tips or ideas for how to go about this?

Crested geckos and Chahoua will eat insect but this is not their main diet they mainly eat fruits in the form of Pangea Complete diet (So bug is only in addition to their diet), you can also get Gargoyles to eat roaches but there is a trick because Gary's are lazy and do not like to chase (basically you contain the roaches in a 4 inch ceramic bowl so they don't have to chase)

I have 2 pet geckos now (No longer breeding Crested) a Garg and a Chaouha and between the 2 of them they get 12 roaches a week, nothing that makes a big dent in a large colony.

Now Leo eat bugs as their staple diet.

As far as selling I know most people sell on EBay but I am sure they do on CL too, just not sure you would want to meet a stranger for $10 or less, I know I would not.

[artgecko]

My gargoyle and crested geckos will eat dubia, although not all of them will. My blue tongue skink will mow them down. My remaining fancy rat will also eat them. Bearded dragons will eat a lot of them too. Tarantulas will also eat them, although I don't have experience keeping those. Probably large mantids would as well.