Private breeder feeder & pet exotic roaches. Residing in sunny S. Ca. This blog is all about my collection of various critters, past & present. You'll find care sheets, tutorials and various information on my former reptiles & current inverts.
I was feeding and watering and though I would do an update feeding video of my Blaberus discoidalis roaches. Discoids make a good alternative feeder to B. dubia roaches. Discoids are a little larger, more meat for size. They breed pretty good in large numbers. Discoids have a bit more defensive odor than B. dubia, but nothing overwhelming and nothing like the stench of crickets. If your looking for a good alternative feeder, discoids well suffice. Checkout my website for availability and pricing.
Valid comments on/about/experience are all welcome. Spam, hate, offensive, etc… will be ignored/deleted. Your welcome to share videos as long as it is doesn’t violate any terms. Thanks for reading, Greg Hagedorn.
I was separating one of my G. potentosa roach bins and managed to catch some males left in the bottom fighting, or as I call it, jousting for territory. Cheap entertainment and hilarious to watch. I have probably around 50 or so extra males housed together and they can make quite a ruckus at night between all the jousting going on. They move the egg flats and there food dish around the bin.
Valid comments on/about/experience are all welcome. Spam, hate, offensive, etc… will be ignored/deleted. Your welcome to share videos as long as it is doesn’t violate any terms. Thanks for reading, Greg Hagedorn.
Setting up your feeder roaches!
The video shows one variation of how a typical setup would be for your B. dubia / B. lateralis and various other feeder roaches. Items you may need are listed below. If you live in a dry climate, less ventilation to hold humidity in. More humid climate, more ventilation. Proper ventilation is necessary to keep humidity levels right and to prevent mold and bacteria from growing. Also try to avoid glass tanks as they don’t hold heat and humidity well. The essential items below can also be purchased from our website.
Supplies Needed:
Plastic tub/bin (shoe box size up to 73 qt is adequate for most).
Shoe box size containers work great if you just need a small colony to feed a couple or a few tarantulas, etc. If you have larger reptiles or need a larger colony, then step up to a larger tub / bin. If all you can find are clear tubs / bins, thats fine too. Roaches are nocturnal for the most part and prefer it dark. Take some black or dark colored paper and mask around your roach bin to give the roaches the darkness they desire. Personally, we use clear bins and the roaches continue to breed without a problem.
Before you begin preparing your roach bin, make some water gel from the water crystals you may of gotten with your roaches. Water crysals are a safe alternative to keeping your roaches hydrated without the risk of drowning. Takes a few hours to make, so now is a good time to start.
Use scissors / razor to cut a hole out of your lid anywhere from a quater the length to full, depending on where you live. If its dry in your area, smaller hole to keep humidity in. If its more humid where you live, more ventilation to keep condensation from building. Use a hot glue gun or similar to glue / secure a piece of metal screen mesh over the hole you cut.
Even though most feeder roaches are non-climbing, the newborn baby nymphs can generally climb because there so small and light. So as a precaution, use clear packing tape, roach barrier or similar along the inside top portion of your roach bin. A good 2″-3″ strip will usually kreep them in.
Now add a few egg flats / cartons, placing them vertically close together. Helps the roaches feel more secure and comfortable allowing them to hide and breed better. Leave room to add a food and water container as well. Any shallow bowl or lid will work just fine. Add some high protein roach chow, dog food or similar to one of the bowls and water gel to the other.
Most feeder roaches don’t require any substrate, so none is needed. It just makes it more difficult to cull your coloony for new nymphs as most like to burrow first chance they get. Well now your reeady to add your roaches. If you bought them from Greg’s Exotic Inverts, they’ll be in a small video size box or similar. Take the box of feeders and open it over your roach bin. Using your fingers, tongs or similar, pull the piece of egg flat out with roaches atatched. Either shake feeders loose or set piece of egg flat in bin and remove latert. Dump / shake remaining feeders into bin and your setup.
Roaches are very easy to keep, breed and maintain. I sugest you use 3 tubs / bins. One for breeders, one for feeders and a spare for containing feeders while cleaning. Happy roaching!!!!
Valid comments on/about/experience are all welcome. Spam, hate, offensive, etc… will be ignored/deleted. Your welcome to share videos as long as it is doesn’t violate any terms. Thanks for reading, Greg Hagedorn.
I was changing out and upgrading my B. fusca roaches and figured it would be a great time to do an update and show there progress. Back in May/June 2009, I had discovered 2 adult B. fusca in my B. dubia roach bin. Turned out to be male and female. Shortly there after, the female started producing. She has had 3 clutches of baby nymphs to date, I counted 31 roaches, including the adults. A few of the 1st generation nymphs are now subadults. Won’t be to much longer and they’ll be adults too.
Blaberus fusca (Dwarf Cave Roach) comes from South America. This species ranges in size from 2″-2.75″ (55-70mm). B. fusca is identified by a black band across its mid-section. Although not as long as the B. giganteus, this roach tends to weigh more as its much bulkier. This species seems to breed well. These roaches usually mature in 3-5 months and live another 8-12 months. Both males and females have wings. This species are very reclusive and fast to move at first disturbance. This is a non-climbing/flying species and also used as feeders. This species of roach also makes a great display pet because of there size and beauty.
Valid comments on/about/experience are all welcome. Spam, hate, offensive, etc… will be ignored/deleted. Your welcome to share videos as long as it is doesn’t violate any terms. Thanks for reading, Greg Hagedorn.
