Cockroaches

[Litleape]

Hello,

I was just looking for a "back-up" feeding source for my mantids who are all mostly adults now. When I look at feeder insects I see a lot of exotic roach species but I never see anything about just the good old American Cockroach. I was thinking about catching a few that I see running around outside and breeding them for feeding. I am wondering if anyone else does this or is there a reason that no one seems to sell these native roaches as feeders?? My mantids seem to like them.

 

[Emile.Wilson]

nothing seems wrong with trying that, i'd be worried about them escaping and infesting your house. If you get a more tropical species it would be difficult for them to infest your house. If you do try to start up a colony, just get some egg flats and a plastic container, and throw in some dry dog food and some fruit.

 

[Rick]

Don't bring the kind that infest homes into your house.

 

[minard734]

AGREED!

 

[lancaster1313]

Periplaneta americana can be a problem, and have been an on and off issue in my home, but if you can contain them properly they would do as feeders. Some people actually do it for pets and feeders. I am too afraid to to it personally, and I keep a few pet and feeder species of roaches. They can also make a defense odor that I just don't want coming from my bug room.

I have started some P. australasiae because I seldom see them indoors and I find them to be good looking, but I am taking a chance on that. :mellow:

There are a few good roach choices out there that make good feeders and probably won't survive the average climate controlled conditions of the average home.

Perhaps you could go around turning logs and such and find another species to culture?

You could also find some info about feeders here: http://www.roachforu...dex.php?act=idx and here http://www.roachcrossing.com/

 

[hibiscusmile]

I have some dubias, mixed sizes that can't climb, and make great feeders. the american roach is bad news as it is easy to love them and then you have a mess, plus they are not very fat, and run fast, go with dubias. I am placing an add too, so ck it out!

 

[agent A]

i have had luck catching roaches in the woods under rocks at my house, i would use dubias,but the females haven't produced nymphs yet, so i guess the oriental roaches under the rocks are what i have to use for now

good luck, and i agree, american roaches are gross and invasive

 

[PeterF]

I have a hard time getting mantids to eat roaches. The roaches burrow into the dirt, and only come out in the dark when the mantids aren't feeding.

Other people have had better luck.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I usually have to cut their heads off to offer with forceps to the mantis mouth to teach it what it is, I don't like i,t, but I do it.

 

[lancaster1313]

I have a hard time getting mantids to eat roaches. The roaches burrow into the dirt, and only come out in the dark when the mantids aren't feeding.

Other people have had better luck.

There are active species of cockroach that will be more noticable to mantids, Phoetalia pallida is one of them. Most of the common, non climbing, or non flying species just tend to hide and usually take a bit of effort to feed to a mantis.

You could make it easier for mantids to find species that hide if you don't use substrate in the mantids enclosures, or by placing mantids into a bare container with the feeder.

Unfortunately, the active climbing species are harder to contain than the common feeder types, but I find it to be worth the risk.

Personally, I prefer roaches to crickets because they need much less attention to keep and breed, are longer lived, don't need the space that crickets do. Roaches don't stink half as much as crickets do, but do sometimes produce defensive odors that are very short acting, like 30 seconds of a smell that is easier for me to tolerate than the general smell of crickets.

If you care for roaches properly, you will find that they just don't die like crickets do. I rarely find a dead roach, and their substrate doesn't have to be changed very often, if they even need any.

I have had a Blaberus discoidalis colony since January that I started with 11 roaches(now I have a couple hundred of assorted sizes), and I have only cleaned the container once(because I fed them brocolli and it was nasty). I occasionally sort the babies from the bottom and just dump the dry frass out. Their frass just doesn't stink. :tt2:

 

[Psychobunny]

I totally agree with the consenus, DONT DO IT!!

They WILL escape at least a few. They are too fast, and can climb glass just as fast.

You will end up cursing yourself for ever bringing them into your home!!

Just buy some safe dubia's. They cant climb or fly, and are clean and easy to keep.

 

[PeterF]

I have had a Blaberus discoidalis colony since January...

Paul, have you found discoids to be a suitable feeder species? I haven't even tried them, as their behavior appears to me to be very hidecentric.

 

[lancaster1313]

Paul, have you found discoids to be a suitable feeder species? I haven't even tried them, as their behavior appears to me to be very hidecentric.

I don't find Disciods to be the best feeder for mantids unless the container is bare for feeding. They do hide if you give them the chance and once they reach a certain instar, they may be too large even for large species of mantids. Still, I like them better than crickets. My colony is now stabilized and I haven't had to buy feeders for at least a month and a half.

I use the young ones as feeders and leave alone the older ones as breeders. After a while, it might be a good idea to cull the adults to keep their population under control. I plan on getting a Tokay gecko for that, but I don't have a population issue yet.

I posted a couple of links in post #5 of this topic, that may be helpful in finding some more suitable species of roaches, if you only keep small ambush predators as pets.

BTW, my name is Adrienne.