# roaches as food



## massaman (Aug 4, 2010)

just wondering what would be the best roach species to feed a mantis like a shield mantis or chinese as I still use crickets but am debating on whether to use roaches or not and if its better to use then crickets because of the noise and smell crickets tend to make!


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## kitkat39 (Aug 4, 2010)

Turkistans seem to be cool. They are fairly weak, run around like crazy and get all this attention, and their exoskeletons aren't very hard. They are also the same size roughly as a cricket.

Dubia are annoying to me because the first thing they do when I put them in there is run and hide under something until the day they die.

I like the hissers when they are smaller because their exoskeleton isn't so hard yet. They also like to walk around and explore the enclosure when I spray it with water for some reason. However, after they get to a certain size they are like TANKS and are very hard and strong. They also get so big that nothing can really eat them once they reach a certain size, but I guess they make cool pets?


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## LauraMG (Aug 4, 2010)

I use b. lateralis for mine and they are so dang quick and like kitkat said they also crawl into someplace dark until they can't live anymore. The mantids love them, but I have to snatch one out of their enclosure and then dangle it in front of them until they snatch it off my tongs. I like them more than crickets because they're not as disgusting, but these I have came with a different complication. But hey, my sister brought me the colony from Indiana when she came for vacation, so I didn't have to pay or anything for the colony!


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## more_rayne (Aug 4, 2010)

B. latteralis for sure! They're fast and attract lots of attention, plus they don't burrow like the blasted discoids. They do have a funky smell though. The discoids make cool pets and look less digusting. Kinda like giant prehistoric pill bugs.


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## Ghostie (Aug 4, 2010)

Flip the Dubias on their backs and they will struggle to flip over for a long time and make themselves noticed without being able to run away.

They are very slow so virtually no chance of them escaping and colonizing your house and they are easy to catch.

I have those for my chamies but have not given any to my mantids yet. I'm trying to get my Dubias to breed and make smaller dubias first. I'm waiting for the Dubia Ooth haha :wheelchair: Might never happen. I know I have a huge male and a couple huge females in the same warm tank with food and water for a while now.

Also the smaller to medium dubia have a softer shell.

The trick with these roaches is to mantain a colony of adults breeding enough little ones to feed them off to your pets.

I still think ooths are icky. :wacko: 

Wait till I get to watch one of my mantises lay an ooth I will be grossed out haha.


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 4, 2010)

I like the dubias!


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## manzano167 (Aug 4, 2010)

Is it ok to feed them normal house roaches that i hate? like these http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/f5/uk/german-roaches-200X200.jpg


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## LauraMG (Aug 4, 2010)

John3 said:


> Is it ok to feed them normal house roaches that i hate? like these http://i.ehow.com/im...hes-200X200.jpg


House roaches can be a risky thing because they could be tainted with pesticides. Same thing with spiders and the like. I don't like to feed mine anything off the floor for that reason. However, if they're not contaminated I'd say try it!


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## manzano167 (Aug 4, 2010)

thanks for the quick answer Laura! I'd say their contaminated cuz my dad is always trying to kill them with RAID! What about flies? My dad doesnt kill these with nothing cuz we rarly have any indoor flies but outside we have tons cuz of my dogs poop


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## LauraMG (Aug 4, 2010)

John3 said:


> thanks for the quick answer Laura! I'd say their contaminated cuz my dad is always trying to kill them with RAID! What about flies? My dad doesnt kill these with nothing cuz we rarly have any indoor flies but outside we have tons cuz of my dogs poop


So long as you don't think they're contaminated. I catch flies from around my apartments and feed them to my mantids. Caught 5 today that made it in my own house...darn flies!


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## manzano167 (Aug 4, 2010)

Thanks now for my last question if i try to hatch unknown spider eggs that i found under the rim of the trash bin and hatch them till adult size can i feed those to the future mantis am getting?


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## LauraMG (Aug 5, 2010)

John3 said:


> Thanks now for my last question if i try to hatch unknown spider eggs that i found under the rim of the trash bin and hatch them till adult size can i feed those to the future mantis am getting?


It depends on the species of each. I tried to catch and feed a spider to one of my mantids who was being a picky eater. I tossed the spider in there with the mantis and a cricket that the mantis failed to eat and about half an hour later I found the spider eating the cricket!



This cricket was probably about 4 times the size of the spider. I would be hesitant to put one of those into an enclosure again!


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## manzano167 (Aug 5, 2010)

lol ill see what specie it is once it grows


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 5, 2010)

Most under the trash lid are the black jumping spiders, at least here they are, show my mantis a spider and they are wild over them! I feed them when I can catch them.


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## Peter Clausen (Aug 5, 2010)

I'd venture your sac might be a yellow sac spider's, or possibly a false widow's (house spider).

I like having a variety of roach species on hand to use as feeders. I don't like B. lateralis much because they establish in the US wilds. I do like B. dubia, P. nivea and S. lampyridiformis for use as mantis feeders. Most any species will actually do well, though it's all about the size of the roach vs. the size of the mantis and getting those matched up well.

I tend not to worry about catching bugs and feeding them to my mantises. I've had far worse experiences with pet store crickets and don't recall any issues with wild caught bugs. The argument people sometimes make about pesticide-laden feeder bugs is curious as it doesn't seem to affect the still-living feeder to any concerning degree.


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## Ghostie (Aug 5, 2010)

Woah one of my Dubia molted and turned white last night in my chameleon feeder cup. :blink: 

I think it's now either an adult female with budwings or a sub adult male with budwings.


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## LauraMG (Aug 5, 2010)

I love freshly molted roaches! I've had quite a few molt in the last few days and my mantids LOVE a soft, white roach!


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## massaman (Aug 5, 2010)

is there like such a thing as a pygmy roach or a species where the roach wont get any bigger then a cricket!


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## Peter Clausen (Aug 5, 2010)

There are lots of species that size, including but not limited to green banana roaches, firefly roaches and bullet roaches. The nymphs of these species are the size of fruit flies, making them useful for very young mantises (though never as prolific or convenient as fruit flies themselves). These species are a great backup plan for hobbyists that find them interesting and/or occasionally have issues with fruit fly cultures. Few hobbyists have enough mantises to warrant keeping fruit flies in culture all the time, and so they end up running down to the local pet store and balking at the $10 charge of a last-minute fly culture (if the store has them at all). Roaches are very interesting, communal pets, related to mantises and easy to care for.

If you have half an interest in roaches, you may consider joining Mantidforum's sister site at

http://roachforum.com

Roaches are, after all, closely related to mantises. They display many interesting social behaviors and will eat your leftovers from dinner (recycling!).


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## Precarious (Aug 14, 2010)

Ghostie said:


> I'm trying to get my Dubias to breed and make smaller dubias first. I'm waiting for the Dubia Ooth haha :wheelchair: Might never happen. I know I have a huge male and a couple huge females in the same warm tank with food and water for a while now.
> 
> I still think ooths are icky. :wacko:
> 
> Wait till I get to watch one of my mantises lay an ooth I will be grossed out haha.


Dubias don't lay an ooth. They keep the ooth internally and bare live young like hissers. One of mine just dumped a load of little white babies! I've yet to see it with my own two eyes though.

That pic looks like an adult female to me, but I'm no expert.

I can only get one of my gongylodes to eat dubias, only small ones, and I have to shake it around like a fly to get her to take them. My whipscorpion (the female died last night  ) never even sees the dubias I put in. Like others have stated, they just hide and stay hidden. I guess they're a little too smart for feeders!


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## Xeo (Aug 16, 2010)

I made the switch from crickets to turkistan roaches at the beginning of the year and I have to say they are absolutely perfect. Easy to care for, no mess/smell and they breed like crazy! I haven't had one die on me yet either.

I find the freshly molted ones a bit creepy actually. *shudders*

Mine are quite noisy at night though. :lol:


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## xxdreamchas3r913 (Oct 7, 2010)

I wasn't sure whether or not to feed my mantis a roach i found but i did anyway. I figured it would be safe since i found it outside. It's been a few days a she's been fat but fine. I'm not sure what kind of roach it was. Probably American


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 7, 2010)

They are very interesting bugs, if u will excuse the expression, I find myself very drawn to them, much to my dismay! A lady I know feeds hers leftover fried chicken and all they leave is the bone! :lol:


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