Feeder Roaches vs Household roaches

[jetsky82]

I've been told by my family that I can't order roaches as food because my family doesn't want any escaped roaches. I was wondering how similar feeder roaches are to the types of roaches that you might find in a dirty home. The roaches that I found in a dirty apartment seemed to be bigger and faster and more hardy than the feeders sold. If the feeder roaches escaped, would that lead to a roach problem in the house?

Thanks!

 

[patrickfraser]

Dubia roaches need heat to breed and it takes the female a month to produce 20-40 young(in 85-95 heat). No infestation problem with them. I have found escaped roaches(only males), but they don't seem to get too far before they "cool down" and just kinda go dormant. I pick em up and put them on a heat rock in the bin and they are off and running again. FYI...The feeders are only as "dirty" as you allow them to get. I clean my bin regularly and feed a lot of fruits and vegetables(which they LOVE). Healthy roaches=Health mantids

 

[PhilinYuma]

Dubia roaches need heat to breed and it takes the female a month to produce 20-40 young(in 85-95 heat). No infestation problem with them. I have found escaped roaches(only males), but they don't seem to get too far before they "cool down" and just kinda go dormant. I pick em up and put them on a heat rock in the bin and they are off and running again. FYI...The feeders are only as "dirty" as you allow them to get. I clean my bin regularly and feed a lot of fruits and vegetables(which they LOVE). Healthy roaches=Health mantids

Yeah, that's my experience, too. If they are out of the enclosure for too long, they just die and dry up, so tell your folks that the dubias are "blattidae" instead of roaches and maybe they'll go along with it.

I also agree about the smell. In my experience, they have almost no smell if kept clean, in contrast to crix, and they don't wake you up in the middle of the night with their chirping!

 

[jetsky82]

Dear lord, the chirping has been just as bad as the smell for the crickets I got. I think this sounds like a pretty good plan! Thanks.

Yeah, that's my experience, too. If they are out of the enclosure for too long, they just die and dry up, so tell your folks that the dubias are "blattidae" instead of roaches and maybe they'll go along with it.

I also agree about the smell. In my experience, they have almost no smell if kept clean, in contrast to crix, and they don't wake you up in the middle of the night with their chirping!

 

[GreenOasis]

Dubias are nice & odor-free...escapees die & shrivel up, as mentioned. I really like the Orangeheads for their sheer breeding capacity, but they do have an odor (only when disturbed)...smells like a locker room after the Superbowl...but still nowhere NEAR as bad as crickets. Discoids are pretty neat...very much like Dubias, except the nymphs are mosaic-patterned...they smell like an ashtray when disturbed, BUT, they NEVER escape. Ivories are nice, pretty roaches, also never escape and don't smell, even when disturbed. However, they need a substrate which includes hardwood leaves. Not bad if you want to display them in a tank of some sort, but makes finding smaller nymphs just about impossible. Turkistans (B. lateralis) have a tendency to escape and live for a little while outside their box (especially in summer), but they can't breed in the house because of the lack of humidity. Hissers are a perennial favorite, possibly because they lack the "classic roach look", but they do have a slightly "twangy" odor, an of course, they get HUGE.

The only "feeder" roach I think I would stay away from is the Lobster roach. Those escape easily, live awhile, and are just WAY too fast to be a good feeder. (I have good reflexes, but those suckers are just too fast for an old woman like me!)

Anywho, I hope you can convince the family to change their minds. My hubby was exactly the same, until he got truly good & fed up with the constant cricket smell & escapees all the time! Now, he loves the roaches! Even encourages them.

 

[Mr.Mantid]

What would a good feeder roach be for Metallyticus sp? Metal mantis is about inch, inch and a half long, but a little more thick than most other mantids.

 

[PhilinYuma]

As with crickets, you can match the roach instar to the size of the mantis. One quick way to do this is to get a plastic box and bore holes in the bottom just large enough to let the nymphs that you want to pass through. If you end up with too many sprats, use another box with holes just too small for your favorite size. Everything that falls through can be returned to the colony and the ones left will be "not too little and not too big, but just right!". Katnapper and I worked on this project a few years back, so I know that it works.