Roach questions?

[ElliotG]

So I’m wanting to start a roach colony soon. Or at least get some more variety for my reptiles.

My question is what would be the best roach to start a colony with? And could you possibly keep multiple roaches in one container?

For example could I keep green bananas with red runners? Or keep dubias with green bananas in the same enclosure, or would that not work?

 

[ERKleRose]

Why start with one? You can get sample amounts of all of the roach species you’re willing to try and see what your cham likes! I say start with dubia/discoid (I prefer discoid because they move more in the feeding containers), red runner, and green banana (if you’re okay with flying and climbing roaches)!

 

[ERKleRose]

As for your other question, no, though I have kept orange-headed and ivory-headed together on accident

 

[Flick boy]

Hi I think in my thread ( dubia) that it was mentioned red runners breed quicker than dubia . Trying to breed dubia myself and locusts

 

[jamest0o0]

I wouldn't keep them together, with a few exceptions. Red runners would most definitely eat banana roaches. Others might out compete or stress each other. I do keep certain species together in a temporary feeding bin, but not with intentions to breed them.

I agree, discoid>dubia imo or really any blaberus>dubia... eublaberus might be my favorites(pantanal/orangehead/ivory/six spot/etc). Green banana are better as a variety snack, too small to be a regular staple in most cases. Byrsotria are also very underrated, they even have a morph that looks similar to dubia, but is much more active and have small wings making them easier to digest.

 

[ElliotG]

Thank you guys for the advice. I’m wanting to try discoids here first and maybe some green bananas. One of my Chams loves bright colors and that’s usually how I get him to start a feeding at times.

 

[Flick boy]

I found this quite helpful. Don't know if it's any use for you but thought I'd share Zoosnippets.com

 

[ERKleRose]

If you want to, get some red runners, as well! They're a great cricket replacement and their colors help with getting feeding responses, too!

 

[Flick boy]

That's what I was going to ask @ERKleRose someone said that red runners are a one size fits all. So iyo would these be good to breed if you /me had baby panther's?

 

[ERKleRose]

I wouldn't breed these for babies, as they grow fast. Rice flour beetles, aphids, pinhead crickets, newborn silkworms, fruit flies, and some babies of tiny roach species is what I'd use for panther babies if I had any. I'm talking about newborn to a month or two old, are you talking about 3 month plus babies and juveniles?

 

[Flick boy]

No babies to 3 months old . I don't have any but just trying to learn if or even when I decided to breed panthers what alternative to crickets or just additions to them . Sorry @ElliotG not trying to ruin your thread

 

[summerseeking]

Hi I think in my thread ( dubia) that it was mentioned red runners breed quicker than dubia . Trying to breed dubia myself and locusts

I started a red runner colony and my crew loves them but something I wish I knew ahead of time…those suckers are FAST with ninja level evasive maneuver skills I’m not even exaggerating. When I go feed them I have to plot on the best way to catch them lol.

 

[Flick boy]

Surely they can't be worse than crickets plz say no

 

[ElliotG]

No babies to 3 months old . I don't have any but just trying to learn if or even when I decided to breed panthers what alternative to crickets or just additions to them . Sorry @ElliotG not trying to ruin your thread

No don’t be! It’s called roach questions for a reason, ask away! Helps me and possibly a lot of other people too.

 

[ERKleRose]

Surely they can't be worse than crickets plz say no

Much better than crickets! They help keep your brain and reflexes sharp, too! I use paper towel tubes to pour them into the supplement cup, all while over the bin, which helps my anxiety very much! Haven't had an escape when doing it that way!

 

[Flick boy]

@summerseeking now I'm intrigued been trying to get some rr I don't mind speed as I used to be a ninja in a past life I just hate jumpy crickets. Anyway death's head and funny enough madagascar hissing roaches are as known and proven to be good feeders ( Zoosnippets.com) info

 

[ElliotG]

Another question. Could I possibly split a 10 gallon and start breeding two species there? I only have dubias in there and some mealworm beetles for a cleaner crew. I don’t have a breeding pair of dubias and ordered a bit more as I was getting low and don’t have a colony established. I was thinking of keeping the dubias but also splitting the tank and starting on red runners and green bananas (I might get some roaches from Kamikaze too, not confirmed though, I’ll split the tank for them then if possible!). I have heat lamps for the other split side if needed. I have a heat pad I could also restick to the tank in the middle and split too. Right now their substrate is just some organic soil and they’ve got egg cartons and little tubes to hide in. I could buy critter keeps or use plastic tubs but splitting the 10 gallon would be nice so I could save on space.

 

[Flick boy]

Hi @ElliotG did you look at my last post #16 Zoosnippets.com

 

[ElliotG]

Hi @ElliotG did you look at my last post #16 Zoosnippets.com

Just looked into it!

 

[jamest0o0]

Crickets grow faster than red runners and people still use them for baby chams