Crickets vs Roaches

[Uncarina]

I hear good things about using roaches verses crickets for food: they don't smell as bad, they are quiet, and they aren't as prone to escaping. Are they as nutritious? Can they be gut-loaded like crickets?

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Matt K]

I use roaches and find they are more nutritious and do not require gut loading. However I still find a use for crickets periodically, so it really depends on what you keep/ are feeding them to. My collection is pretty much aboreal insectivorous reptiles and invertebrates, with a few exceptions (P. pictus and some leopard geckos) though I may start collecting some Pachydactylus too, so roaches would work for them.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Roaches actually gutload better than crickets as they have longer intestinal tracts and thus don't poop out the gutload as quickly. Roaches also live a heck of a lot longer than crickets. So you don't end up with bins half full of dead bugs. Lots of other reasons to go roach as well. I still use some crickets for variety. But I certainly don't like them.

 

[Uncarina]

Thanks for your info. Roaches eat the same diet as crickets?

 

[Matt K]

If by that you mean veggies, fruits, and fish food pellets (these are what I feed to mine) then I suppose so. I buy crix to feed off and they are not here long enough to feed but maybe a carrot piece or so. I don't raise them as I REALLY don't like crickets.

 

[catevala]

Yes.

I will never go back to crickets, except that I buy tiny ones for my hatchlings. But for my adults, roaches all the way.