Will feeder roaches go feral?
- Thread starter Bfreeman
- Start date
andy27012
Member
It depends on the roach and where you are, I have kept Dubia and had escapees and they don't survive. I have found that my guys don't care for roaches but supposedly they like green banana roaches. If it was me I would invest in a setup to raise silk worms before I messed with reaches.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Banana roaches can escape if you don't have a good enclosure. They fly and climb glass and plastic, however they die within 24 hours of doing so because they need very specific Temps and humidity. Dubia or any of the blaberus roach family can't colonize in California though they can in places like florida. However they can't escape out of a rubbermaid bin with a screened in lid. Horse shoe crab roaches never leave the soil in their cage. Most tropical species of roaches, which are the preferred ones for feeders, can survive in the US outside of their cages unless it's somewhere like florida.
Extensionofgreen
Chameleon Enthusiast
Andee meant they can't survive.
Roaches are the best feeder, as a staple, in my opinion. They are less laborious to maintain than most other feeders, especially silkworms. Silkworms also are fatty, spin silk, which if eaten constantly could pose problems, though I'm not aware of this happening. If you don't want to keep roaches, order small amounts, as you would crickets. I find it pretty ridiculous that people will endure the stench, noise, and escaping of crickets, but turn their nose up at roaches, simply because they associate them with pest species, which they have very little in common with.
Roaches don't smell, are easier to contain (Blaberus genus), are healthier feeders, and can eliminate the need for spending money on additional feeders. Variety is best, but roaches are the only feeder I find practical to culture, in the volume I need, with minimal effort, but maximum results.
Roaches are the best feeder, as a staple, in my opinion. They are less laborious to maintain than most other feeders, especially silkworms. Silkworms also are fatty, spin silk, which if eaten constantly could pose problems, though I'm not aware of this happening. If you don't want to keep roaches, order small amounts, as you would crickets. I find it pretty ridiculous that people will endure the stench, noise, and escaping of crickets, but turn their nose up at roaches, simply because they associate them with pest species, which they have very little in common with.
Roaches don't smell, are easier to contain (Blaberus genus), are healthier feeders, and can eliminate the need for spending money on additional feeders. Variety is best, but roaches are the only feeder I find practical to culture, in the volume I need, with minimal effort, but maximum results.
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
I agree with the above.
I have a roaches colony and I order crickets...
Crickets are more work to breed, they smell, are loud and escape.
Roaches don't require much maintenance, just food and a little bit of heat.
The only downside of the roaches is that they don't move around as much as crickets so your cham may not find them interesting.
I also try to breed silkworms, it looks to go good but it's a lot of work compared to roaches.. You need to clean their container and replace their food (that isn't cheap) every other day, when they are very big you clean them every day...
They stay in their cocoon for 2-3 weeks so you can't feed them to your cham then and their eggs need to remain refrigerated for 2-3months so it's a lot of work and planning to create a continuous supply.
Silkies are super healthy for your cham but all that work makes them better as a treat than a staple.
I have a roaches colony and I order crickets...
Crickets are more work to breed, they smell, are loud and escape.
Roaches don't require much maintenance, just food and a little bit of heat.
The only downside of the roaches is that they don't move around as much as crickets so your cham may not find them interesting.
I also try to breed silkworms, it looks to go good but it's a lot of work compared to roaches.. You need to clean their container and replace their food (that isn't cheap) every other day, when they are very big you clean them every day...
They stay in their cocoon for 2-3 weeks so you can't feed them to your cham then and their eggs need to remain refrigerated for 2-3months so it's a lot of work and planning to create a continuous supply.
Silkies are super healthy for your cham but all that work makes them better as a treat than a staple.
