Is it worth keeping 2 roach species (ivory head vs. orange head Q)

[artgecko]

Hello all,

I've done a little more digging on my feeding plan and have decided that I will be adding super worms (in addition to dubia) as a staple and hornworms / silks as a treat. That said, I know variety is a good thing and I've found a couple roach species with care very similar to my dubia colony that I'd be willing to tackle so that my cham will have a third staple species to eat.

First, I have 3 questions for you guys:
1. Is it worth feeding 2 species of roaches nutritionally (are they different enough to make a difference)?
2. I'm looking at orange head vs. ivory head roaches. I have heard that orange heads produce faster, but wing-chew and also produce a VERY strong defensive odor, which the ivory heads do not. If you have kept both species, or orange heads, I'd love your input on this.
3. For those who have kept orange head / ivory heads, do you use substrate in their enclosure or just them in a bare enclosure with crates like dubia are kept?

 

[nightanole]

Feeder variaty should be based on the gut load. supers and "roaches" and silkies have vastly different food requirements, that is a good thing. However if the all the feeders get/need the same food, its not going to help. Now if your roaches act completely different and look completely different that can at least prevent hunger strikes. Dubia and green banana roaches are like night and day.

 

[jamest0o0]

Why not superworm as a treat, hornworm/silk staple? They are much more nutritious.

I keep orange heads, The smell is strong when they are crowded, but only within their bin, it doesn't fill the room or anything. They need more room and the smell and chewing shouldn't be an issue. I was actually just about to post a thread about roach substrate, I don't currently use it, but roachcrossing has a very good care guide saying otherwise so I might look into it. Orange heads are soft and meaty, my cham likes them more than dubia it seems. care is the same as dubia and I'd recommend them.

 

[jamest0o0]

Just found out roaches pick out the food they need micro nutrients for. So 2 roaches of the same species might have vastly different food preferences based off what they need at that given time.

 

[artgecko]

Thanks.
I was thinking supers because they are easier to raise... From what I've found online, the hornworms / silks have to either eat pre-made chow or mulberry leaves and I'd have to buy the chow. I have not been able to find a reasonable price for it online though. I was figuring the dubia would be the main stable (maybe 1/2 dubia, 1/4 supers, and 1/4 "other" (silks or hornworms). With another roach species, I could do 1/4 evenly split...or whatever the cham wants / prefers.

Thank you for the info on orange heads. I'm not opposed to substrate, but I think it might make sifting out feeders a lot more difficult. I haven't seen any input on that. Right now, I keep my dubia without substrate, but give them plenty of vertically stacked egg crates. Shaking nymphs off the crates for feeding is not a big deal, but I think having to dig them out of substrate would make things a lot more complicated. I wonder if keeping a thin layer of substrate (i.e. 1") would suffice to help with humidity and hold a CUC to make it bio-active, while still allowing most of the roaches to crawl on the crates and be easier to remove.

 

[leedragon]

P novea is the shit. btw you want to have different type of insects due chameleons tend to tired quite fast of the same food depending on the species. my trioceros usually did so every 2 weeks.

 

[artgecko]

Thanks! I'm also looking into raising land snails, but apparently it is hard to find a breeder in my state lol. I originally thought about green banana roaches, but read that they tend to fly and not have enough meat on them to do much good.

 

[leedragon]

Thanks! I'm also looking into raising land snails, but apparently it is hard to find a breeder in my state lol. I originally thought about green banana roaches, but read that they tend to fly and not have enough meat on them to do much good.

the re good enough and chameleons love flying insects. no a biggy there.