[Jonnyinga]

I want to start breeding roaches to start feeding my growing collection of Leos with. But I have a couple of questions for anyone who has experience with them. I live just 20 minutes south of Atlanta, GA. So pretty humid and hot most of the year.

Which roaches are the best to keep, in terms of ease and no escapes? My wife will kill me if she finds one roach in the house lol.
What site would you recommend getting them from?
And how do you sort them in size? I imagine picking out small roaches for Leo hatchlings, from a colony of thousands would be a real pain lol.

Thanks for any and all help Will check back after I get off work tonight.

[badkelpie]

Dubias are easiest. They can't climb or jump.

You can get them off reptile forums or ebay or feeder suppliers.

I just pick them out. I haven't found a better way.

[Jonnyinga]

Thanks for the info Anyone else got an opinion to share?

[Airedale]

I agree with dubia. Lateralis are also good, but I feed dubia for the most part. They are easy to sort, even when you have a ton. The roach ranch or the roach guy are the two that I got my starter dubia from. Note that prices have gone up, so they might be a bit pricier now.

[Ozymandias]

ya dubias for you would probably be the easiest, lats are another good roach but thay can escape if you aren't careful, also just tell youre wife there beetles i know of a guy who does this lol. for sorting you can make a sort of sieve that has a certain size hole in it that only allow certain size roach through it.

for places to buy them it really dosn't matter that much i personally got my colony from a local guy i know but if you want good prices keep check out fauna classifieds and there feeder section or Kingsnake, people usually have good deals on roaches there.

[Riverside Reptiles]

Lateralis are cheaper, breed faster, and are a more natural food source for leos. They come from the same region and are what leos would eat in the wild...so they're great for the leos that tend to be picky feeders. They're also much more active than dubia and thus stimulate the feeding instincts better and it gives the geckos some much needed exercise that is often lacking in our captive gecko's routine.

Dubia play dead as well as bury themselves in the substrate which can be a bit of a pain. But they do get bigger than lateralis, which means having to feed less. I like both species really. But personally I find lateralis the best for overall use in general.

[Jonnyinga]

Hmmm... I might have to just do both lol. A few of my Leos don't seem to like too much movement from their prey items. They just freak out and try to climb away from them >.> lol

[Riverside Reptiles]

Nothing wrong with working with them both. Many of us do. A varied diet is the healthiest diet. I also find that geckos that get a varied diet don't tend to go off of food like geckos that are fed one primary food often tend to do.

[Saskia]

I have been breeding earth roaches lately and I have to say I L O V E them (scientific name: Pycnoscelus surinamensis ), I prefer them over dubias for 2 main reasons:
They are smaller, the adults have the perfect size for feeding adult leos, (I read somewhere here in GU about leos being impacted from dubia's heads), also they are softer than dubias, and therefor easier to digest, they move more, and are more "alive looking" , and last but not least the breed SUPER easily and fast!! The breeding "system" is very similar to mealworms, put substrate (earth or turba) in a container and food (vegetables, cat food, bread, they'll eat ANYTHING), keep it kind of moist and they'll do the rest, you don't need to separate the babies or have specific temperatures for them like with crickets, and they have close to no smell at all!! I came across them by nearly mistake and I am super happy with them!
Downside: They DO climb (don't jump), so, you have to keep a lid on the container, I usually open a big hole on the lid and silicon a piece of fabric to cover it, thay way there is enough airflow and they can't escape, I haven't had an escape since I started breeding them a few months ago. I wouldn't know if they are sold in the US

Highly recommend them!!

[Ozymandias]

saskia thay are available in the US but you have to look for them more so also the reason thay breed so well is because thay are Parthenogenic.