Ew...how do you do it?!

karebear41486

Established Member
Ok...so I was enticed by the idea of roaches as feeders...and now I'm wondering how the heck that happened?? They arrived today...100 various sized lobster roaches. I'm not a very squeamish person when it comes to creepy crawlies...but these things are suuuuper creepy! Anyways...I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one in my apartment that will cry if they find one of these little critters sharing the bathroom with them in the morning...or anywhere else they aren't supposed to be! Any suggestions on how to keep them effectively? Any suggestions on how to touch them without getting squeamish? :)

Also...I have a super cool story. So today at work I was bagging up some crickets for a lady and she asked me if we bought animals from people at petsmart. I told her that we didn't, and she told me that she just inherited this "big lizard" that she wanted to get rid of. Needless to say, my interest was sparkled, so I asked her what kind it was, and she said that it was a chameleon. So of course I started asking her a million questions and she didn't know what kind it was, so I got out a book and showed her pictures and she pointed to a greenish/blue panther chameleon. She then asked me if I knew anyone that would be interested....Hello?! What are the Odds?? So I gave her my email address and she is going to send me some pictures and I'll try to get more information out of her on his past living conditions. This could be a killer deal!! I'll keep you all updated!
 
I don't get lucky like that, occasionally we have people calling in for snake ID's and stuff, but barely find anyone who calls to look for someone to adopt or whatever their herp. I work for a local museum and do some rehabbing.
 
They will try to break free when being handled...so i would suggest you get a stainless steel tong when grabbing them. As far as housing them, you will have the same setup as you would for cricket.:D
 
I've read everywhere that they are climbers...so would a rubbermaid tye container with a lid be alright if there were holes poked in it? Or are the babies going to crawl to the lid and get out the holes? Iiiicky...I've also read about putting vaseline or something of the like around the inside of the container since they cant climb on it. I'm headed to wal-mart to pick up some stuff now...I'll see what I can find!
 
Yeah.......
You'll have your hands full with those!
I don't use lobsters for that reason. In fact I keep no climbing species (except the hissers and they're pretty slow).
Size-wise B. lateralis are a better choice (non-climbing) but they can be trouble too...I'm about to get rid of mine 10 times a day and then I think about the smell and mess of keeping crickets again and I don't.
Roaches carry an extra responsibility and require attention to security.
I would feed them all off and keep a different species if I were you.....
B. dubia are the greatest!

-Brad
 
Agree...I LOVE DUBIA!!!:D:D:D. They are very entertaining too. Male always chase each other at night, flapping their wings yet they dont fly. Female are cute too.... they look like trilobite.:D
 
I've read everywhere that they are climbers...
Howdy,

If you don't have http://www.blaberus.com/FORMgallery5.htm "Bug Boundary" teflon coating then you need to put a 3" band of Vaseline (messy) around the top of your tank. They usually don't get across it.

I pull-off the 4 largest legs before I feed them off. This slows them down yet they still can climb around on the screen. They can live for months without those legs if they still have access to food and water. If you want to have lots of them then keep them at 90F. They will still multiply at lower temps but not as fast. I hate their babies :(. They are super small compared to duba babies.

Oh, by the way, skip the hissers:
Madagascar1.jpg

Yummy.jpg
 
Thanks guys. I offered a small-ish one to my cham before he went to bed, and of course he ate it, never turns anything down! :) I think I will give the HUGE ones to my friend for her Bearded Dragon, and then wait till the tiny ones get big enough to feed to my cham. As I was reading all about roaches and how easy they are and how easy they breed, It all sounded like an awesome idea! I just don't think I'm ready for it...I'm not THAT sick of crickets yet to be excited about those little creepies! I won't give up totally though...maybe I'll give another species a try. Thanks!
 
I have five female Dubias. They are pets, they trust me, and I cannot feed them to my cham. Does anybody want to send me two males? I'll reimburse the postage,yeah?
I'd be SO appreciative... and moreso, my cham.
 
Faunagirl,

I can help you.
I am going to the post office tomorrow anyway to send special packages to
a couple other "like-minded" folk so it would be no trouble.
I won't send any other way than overnight though. I know to New York that's about $18. Don't know what it is to Cali.
Let me know.
[email protected]

-Brad
 
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