Raising, Breeding and using Roaches as feeders!

Adult B. dubia females

There are many types of feeders insects available for your reptiles, arachnids, amphibians, etc. The most common is probably the cricket. I myself started with crickets. Widely available at your local pet store (lps) and online via the Internet. Over the past decade, roaches, “yes cockroaches”, those little winged critters people think are a pest have entered the world of feeders.

Roaches are becoming more and more excepted in the pet trade as an alternative to feeding crickets. Although there are about 4,000 species of roaches, only 1% of those are said to be a pest and infest your home. In my opinion, after raising, breeding and keeping a few varieties of tropical species of roaches, I believe there misunderstood. Most people find them disgusting because of there reputation. Well, crickets are probably just as bad if not worse.

Some pros and cons of different types of feeders I use for my collection:

Tropical Roaches: Cost to purchase $0.075 – $0.35 ea. For ¼”-¾” nymphs via Internet.

Pros – Widely available via Internet, great meat to shell ratio, non flying/climbing of smooth surfaces (common feeders), little to NO smell, long lived (12-24 months for adults), NO escapees, higher protein value, easy care-clean every 3-6 months, easy to breed.

Cons – Don’t survive low temps below 60F, The “ewe” factor.

Crickets: Cost to purchase $0.015 – $0.15 ea. M/L thru LPS and all sizes via Internet.

Pros – Widely available, inexpressive, survive low temps down to 40F

Cons- Smell awful, escape while feeding, die off quickly and unexpectedly, short lived (6-8 weeks), very noisy when mature, may be difficult to breed, must clean daily to weekly to keep smell down.

Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) : Cost to purchase $0.02 – $0.07 ea. M/L LPS all sizes via Internet.

Pros – Easy to keep, just refrigerate to slow production, easy to breed, widely available.

Cons – Fattening, hard exoskeleton (chiton – difficult to digest)

Superworms (Zophobas): Cost to purchase $0.036 – $0.07 ea LPS and via Internet

Pros – Better nutritionally than mealworms, can be used as a staple with certain reptiles, easy to keep (room temp, DO NOT REFRIGERATE), long lived.

Cons – May be difficult to breed, if fed in excess, nay cause impaction in young Bearded Dragons, bite and may chew thru thinner plastics, cannibalize each other if lack of moisture.

See for yourself, roaches are the better feeder (imo) and can be fed as a staple food source. The pros and cons are from my own personal experience. Do your research on the Internet and you will see others agree. I have seen about 28 different species of tropical roaches available via the Internet. Florida is one of the  state in the nation where it is against the law to purchase certain species of roaches due to the tropical conditions year round.

Some of the common varieties available in the hobby. Species in bold are some of the most commonly used for feeders in the reptile and invert hobby / profession.

Different types of roaches used as feeders and pets:

Blaptica dubia – Blatta lateralis – Blaberus craniifer – Blaberus discoidalis – Blaberus fusca – Gromphadorhina portentosa – Eublaberus prosticus – Eublaberus distanti – Polyphaga aegyptica – Archimandrita tesselata – Byrsotria Fumigata – Byrsotria Rothi – Hormetica Subcincta – Blaberus parabolicus – Blaberus giganteus – Blaberus hybrids – Blaberus colloseus – Blaberus boliviensis – Gromphadorhina oblingata – Gromphadorhina grandidieri – Elliptorhina javanica – Elliptorhina Chopardi – Princisia vanwaerbecki black – Nauphoeta cinerea – Neostylopyga rhombifolia – Panchlora nivea – Phaetalia pallidus – Rhypharobia maderae – Corydia petriveriana

2¾" Male B. fusca

Roaches kept as pets: Some people keep Blaberus fusca (Swarf Cave Roach) and Gromphadorhina portentosa (Madagascar Hissing Cockroach) as display pets. Yes, display pets. These species of roaches range in size from 2¾” – 4”. A rather large roach. These large behemoths have quite a grip too when handled. The Blaberus fusca make a beatiful display as both males and females are winged.

Housing and feeding: If your just using as feeders, then there setup needs are very simple and minimal. I’ll give example for B. dubia and B. lateralis. You can use any smooth plastic Sterlite or Rubbermaid bin/tubs anywhere from 20 qt tub up to 55 gal bin for housing. Put a piece of screen in lid or on sides for ventilation. No substrate (soil) is necessary for these species. Egg flats, paper towel or toilet paper rolls work well for a hiding place. Roaches are very private and prefer not to be seen. No lighting, instead use a human heat pad without auto shutoff or heat tape/cable hooked up to thermostat for heating. If your breeding, then temps between 85F-95F are required. Moderate humidity to promote good molting for continued growth. Feed high protein dog/cat food, vegetable/fruit scraps. Water gel is best for there moisture needs. You could also just use oranges. Water gel works both as a moisture source and provides adequate humidity.

¼" B. dubia nymphs

Breeding: Roaches either give live birth or lat egg cases (oothica). B. dubia roaches are live bearers. Each adult female is capable of producing 20-30 ¼” nymphs (white) every 30 days or so. When mating, the male will dance around the female with his wings spread to try and impress her. If successful, she wil produce an oothica (egg case), which she caries inside her until giving live birth. Once in awhile she will push the oothica out her rear end and rotate it and pull it back into her body. So don’t be alarmed to see something sticking out, it’s OK. Keep your m/f ratio about 1-8. The B. lateralis are egg layers. They produce an egg case (oothica) every couple weeks after breeding and paste them under the egg flats or drop them on the ground. They produce a few less, but none the less a lot overtime. The egg cases can take anywhere from 3 – 20 weeks to hatch depending on humidity levels. Babies are about 1/8” in size (great alternative to pinhead crickets).

B. lateralis mixed

Feeding your pets: I use two types of roaches as feeders for my reptiles and inverts. I use the B. lateralis (all sizes) for my Tarantulas (slings and juveniles), Scorpions (babies and adults) because they are similar size to a cricket (about 1/8” – 1¼”), don’t burrow and are very active, good attention getter. I use B. dubia for my larger Tarantulas and Beard dragons. One of the drawbacks for feeding these to your Ts, is that B. dubia either play dead or burrow. Either way the Tarantula ends up getting them eventually. If the roach burrows, it usually will reappear at night when your Tarantulas active. If breeding roaches, feed your excess males off first.

All the above information is from my own personal experience with the species of roaches mentioned. If I left anything out or if you have questions or requests, just leave a comment. You could also look me up and follow on Twitter.

Thanks for reading,

Greg