I feed my Ts roaches!

[Miss Bianca]

Glad to have followed advice this time...

I received Blaptica Dubia and Blabarus Discoidalus yesterday, and am expecting a shipment of Lobster (nauphota cinerea) roaches later this week..

I absolutely love feeding them to my Ts instead of crickets!!! I made sure my Ts would be somewhat hungry and tried them all upon arrival of the roaches yesterday. I'd recommend them anytime. I love the fact that they are sold sometimes in 'all sizes included', instead of either large or small..

I am told I can have a decent colony quite soon and they are so easier to care for, feed and breed and handle. and they don't stink! I'm excited about this new change! Goodbye crix!

[codykrr]

welcome aboard...haha...just make sure to use vasilineor "bug stop" around the rim of their enclosure so they dont escape....and beware...before to long they will almost be like a new pet...

[Miss Bianca]

welcome aboard...haha...just make sure to use vasilineor "bug stop" around the rim of their enclosure so they dont escape....and beware...before to long they will almost be like a new pet...

You say this because there's a routine to care for them right? :) That part's ok... I don't think I'll be handling them in the ways I handle my pet Ts though.. LOL and hey.. at least they're not jumping a foot or more outta their enclosure..

[Moltar]

Welcome to the club. It's awesome, isn't it?


welcome aboard...haha...just make sure to use vasilineor "bug stop" around the rim of their enclosure so they dont escape....and beware...before to long they will almost be like a new pet...

It's the climbing hazard that turned me off to lobsters. Most of my arboreals get B lateralis or male dubias and they do fine.


I love watching roaches feed. It's amazing that they can just annihilate a whole apple or whatever in like an hour or less. I have a homemade roach chow mix i feed them but they also get moldy bread, old pizza, stale cookies or biscotti (no chocolate or coffee in that) all sorts of fruits and veg, cheese, you name it! Somewhere on here was a thread with pics of a discoid colony eating a dead feeder rat down to bones and fur. That was a bit nassty.

[codykrr]

You say this because there's a routine to care for them right? :) That part's ok... I don't think I'll be handling them in the ways I handle my pet Ts though.. LOL and hey.. at least they're not jumping a foot or more outta their enclosure..

hahaha....yes....i say this as theiris a routine....but watch give it time and yes you will be handeling them going oh wow....there so weird...nasty but yet mesmerizing.......trust me i think we all become more comfortable with them han we like to admit or imagine....i even find myself wanting more exotic species...like dominos or hissers....or the biggest roachesin the world(forget their name)

[sinflspeed]

So true. I had to start my own colonies or Hisser and dubia. I got tired of the smell of crickets and the constant dead bodies. I stayed away from lobsters too fast and more of a hassle. Hisser climb but aren't that fast and I love it becaause my larger T's don't need as many when they get HUGH. The crunch my big females put on a male Hisser in indescribeable

Good luck with the breeding and you will become comfortable with handling to a point they become pets too. Not close enogh to not feed them off though.

[Miss Bianca]

Welcome to the club. It's awesome, isn't it?




It's the climbing hazard that turned me off to lobsters. Most of my arboreals get B lateralis or male dubias and they do fine.


I love watching roaches feed. It's amazing that they can just annihilate a whole apple or whatever in like an hour or less. I have a homemade roach chow mix i feed them but they also get moldy bread, old pizza, stale cookies or biscotti (no chocolate or coffee in that) all sorts of fruits and veg, cheese, you name it! Somewhere on here was a thread with pics of a discoid colony eating a dead feeder rat down to bones and fur. That was a bit nassty.


why males only???

hahaha....yes....i say this as theiris a routine....but watch give it time and yes you will be handeling them going oh wow....there so weird...nasty but yet mesmerizing.......trust me i think we all become more comfortable with them han we like to admit or imagine....i even find myself wanting more exotic species...like dominos or hissers....or the biggest roachesin the world(forget their name)

I think you're right. They are uniquely mesmerizing and awesome to observe...

So true. I had to start my own colonies or Hisser and dubia. I got tired of the smell of crickets and the constant dead bodies. I stayed away from lobsters too fast and more of a hassle. Hisser climb but aren't that fast and I love it becaause my larger T's don't need as many when they get HUGH. The crunch my big females put on a male Hisser in indescribeable

Good luck with the breeding and you will become comfortable with handling to a point they become pets too. Not close enogh to not feed them off though.

Thanks for this... I'm going to start up the colony real soon.. I think I'll do Blabarus Discoidalis... they look cool and there aren't huge huge ones... like the Dubias I got there some really big in there!!

[Moltar]

why males only???

I feed MM's as often as I can for several reasons.

-The likelihood of them escaping and dropping a clutch of babies somewhere is pretty low. Every once in a while one gets out of an exoterra and I find it on the bathroom floor the next day looking up at me like "What? I as thirsty..."

-The colony produces more males than are necessary to support reproduction. They leave home for other colonies in the wild.

-If I feed off enough males maybe the reproductive rate will slow down, my colony is wayyyyy bigger than I need.

-They move around more and trigger a T's predatory instinct a little better.

[Miss Bianca]

I feed MM's as often as I can for several reasons.

-The likelihood of them escaping and dropping a clutch of babies somewhere is pretty low. Every once in a while one gets out of an exoterra and I find it on the bathroom floor the next day looking up at me like "What? I as thirsty..."

-The colony produces more males than are necessary to support reproduction. They leave home for other colonies in the wild.

-If I feed off enough males maybe the reproductive rate will slow down, my colony is wayyyyy bigger than I need.

-They move around more and trigger a T's predatory instinct a little better.


cool, thanks... and now the million dollar question:

How do you know they're males...

something about the wings right??

[rosenkrieger]

with dubias, males have wings, females dont.

This method works for immature dubias, adult and immature lobsters and discoids:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a74/iloveherp/comparison2-phot.jpg

[treeweta]

yup, i switched to orange head roaches 3 years ago after i lost several therophosa to (apparently) infected crickets, its a long story. anyway the roach batch cost about $30, and they are going strong still and they cost little to feed on catfood and carrots.

i did nearly lose the colony last year after being away for almost 2 weeks, i left the house thermostat set at 50F, i assumed they would just slow down but it killed about 80% of them! anyway they are back up and running again.

if im short on small individuals for smaller T's i simply get one, quicky kill it and cut it into a few pieces and put sections into the small t containers, they happily pick them up no problem even though its not moving.

works so far with king baboons and haitian browns.

[Miss Bianca]

with dubias, males have wings, females dont.

This method works for immature dubias, adult and immature lobsters and discoids:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a74/iloveherp/comparison2-phot.jpg


one is fatter and more swollen-like???

anyway... so here's the latest... these roaches are burrowing the minute they hit the substrate... any advice?

[Mister Internet]

I take an old scissors and snip their legs in half. Hard for them to burrow that way. :)

[Miss Bianca]

I take an old scissors and snip their legs in half. Hard for them to burrow that way. :)



Oh wow... makes sense,

duhhh @ me.. it's what I used to do to crickets when I had'm so they wouldn't be so jumpy...

thnx!

[treeweta]

one is fatter and more swollen-like???

anyway... so here's the latest... these roaches are burrowing the minute they hit the substrate... any advice?

tortugaoo

you need to compare the proximity of the cerci to the anterior edge of the end segment.

notice the distinct difference.

[Miss Bianca]

tortugaoo

you need to compare the proximity of the cerci to the anterior edge of the end segment.

notice the distinct difference.

ahhhhhhhhh... so the segment's bigger... I see it now... TY!

[rosenkrieger]

Yeah, sorry, I should've made that a little clearer. I was in a hurry. lol