Madagascar Hissing Cockroach vs. Death's Head Cockroach

Which Roach is better?

  • Madagascar Hissing Roach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)

    Votes: 11 45.8%
  • True Death Head Roaches ( Blaberus craniifer)

    Votes: 9 37.5%
  • Neither,

    Votes: 4 16.7%

  • Total voters
    24

Bagan

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 18, 2003
Messages
55
I have been racking my brains trying to figure out which one of these roaches would A.) Make a good pet Roach B.) Become a very good source of food for my L. parahybana since I'm quite squeamish about feeding mice or lizards to my Tarantulas. I've been doing a little research and I've narrowed it down to these two breeds of cockroach. I'm leaning a little to the Death's Head since it can neither fly nor crawl up walls, therefore not being a big threat to infestation of my apartment. But the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach has some favorable properties as well in that they get pretty larghe once reaching adulthood. I was just wondering what your opinion was on these cockroach breeds, so I created a little poll about it.
 

Wade

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
2,929
I'm selecting niether.

I'd say the B. craniifer (or the cheaper and more readily available B. discoidales) makes a better feeder. It's softer-bodied than the hissers and nearly all my tarantulas love them, while some reject the very hard-shelled G. potentosa. If you're rearing large numbers of them for food, then you will apperciate the non-climbing Blaberus.

I think the hissers make better pets, however. Mostly for intagible reasons, I just like 'em. When handled, the will normally sit or wander around on your hand, while the blabs will just scramble off as quickly as they can. I think they also live longer than the blabs, up to six years I've heard (although I haven't tried to verify this with any in my colony).

Wade
 

james

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 20, 2003
Messages
474
non-climbers

I recently sold all my hissers as I'm trying to get away from the climbers. they do make better pets, but most of my reptiles did not like their hard shell. I also have death heads, orange spots, orange heads, discoids, and 6 spots. The death heads are the largest of these, but the slowest breeders. The discoids are good, but I still think the orange heads and spots are the fastest breeders. The 6-spots get very large and meaty as nymphs and are also a really good option. Keep a hissers for your pet, but breed one of the non-climbers for your feeders.
James
 

jaijjs

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 26, 2003
Messages
75
I would have to stick with the hissers for most of the reasons that have already been covered. The young make good feed and the females [mature] should provide you with between 20 to 30 young. They are cheap enough to see if they will meet your feeder needs. If you decide to keep them as pets keep the temp on the low end of the scale and you shouldn't have a population explosion..
 

Bagan

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 18, 2003
Messages
55
So in essence, I should stick with either B. craniifer or B. discoidales? Do they get reasonably large upon adulthood? And where would I purchase these roaches from? Who do you recommend is the best?
 

MrDeranged

He Who Rules
Staff member
Joined
Jul 16, 2002
Messages
2,000
Originally posted by Bagan
And where would I purchase these roaches from? Who do you recommend is the best?
Bagan,

That's what the Classifieds and the Dealer Review Forums are for :)

Scott
 

Elytra and Antenna

Arachnoking
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Sep 12, 2002
Messages
2,506
Since they're primarily feeders, just about anyone selling the Discoids is good, just check for a decent price and dealer record.
Sadly, almost everyone selling the Death's Heads is actually selling Blaberus fusca (make sure you're getting the black ones like on the allpet roach site or you're paying for the wrong thing).
The Discoids are the smallest Blaberus out there but they're still a lot bigger than giant lobsters.
 

Mojo Jojo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 3, 2002
Messages
2,122
I think that Lobster Roaches (Nauphoeta cinerea) are supposed to be a pretty good breeder for tarantula food. I'm thinking about getting a colony going.

Jon
 

Buspirone

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Messages
1,064
Blaptica dubia is a nice roach. I just got some and they are a good size, can't climb glass and the ease of being able to sex them as adults is a great characteristic, IMO.
 
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