feeder roaches for cresties?

A

artbyc

New member
I have a 6-month old crestie who eats CGD and 8-12 dusted crickets on alternate days. He eats very good and poops all the time, but i was thinking of adding some variety to his diet. has anyone had any success with feeder roaches..if so what species of roach would you recommend...
btw - he eats 1/4" crickets.

C
 
Scarlet.Escapist

Scarlet.Escapist

New member
I personally don't feed roaches, because they are illegal to keep/have in my area. Otherwise, I would totally jump on the chance to use them instead of crickets. I know a few breeders who use roaches and have had great success. It will save you money in the long run. As for what species to recommend, I'm not too sure but most likely people will recommend dubia and lateralis. One can climb and is fast moving and the other is slow moving but breeds fast. I forgot which is which lol >.<".

At six months, i'd assume 1/2" would be a decent size to feed. Imho, 1/4" is pretty small... unless i've been seeing the wrong sizes being sold lol. Those are like maybe a tad bigger than a pinhead?
 
Last edited:
Emily

Emily

New member
I feed Dubias when I can. The only problem I've found is that you need to provide a wide enough dish that is also tall enough for the Dubias to not crawl out of. The geckos need to see them moving around to trigger the feeding response (in my experience). Another issue is that Dubias play dead as a defense. I also raise Lobster roaches (for my beardies), but they are climbers. Meaning, if you want to put them in a dish for your geckos, you need to grease the sides of the dish with olive oil, or the like. I have yet to try this, as I'm afraid what olive oil residue will do to the sticky toes' ability to cling to glass.
 
B

babypiggy

New member
if your crested loves bugs

u can put non climbing roaches in a dish and let them eat from there

that's what i do..
4 of my 7 LOVES them and 15 roaches last about 2-3 days depending on the crestie
 
zohariels

zohariels

New member
I agree with SE, if you give them bigger crickets it will be a bigger meal for them and a easier for you! One rule of thumb is to feed them crickets equal to the size of their head. By 6 months my guys are usually at 2/3 inch crickets, or 3 to 4 week crickets. If you're still not sure, try putting a couple of each, I almost guarantee they'll go for the bigger ones, they're little piggies!:lol:
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
I'd go with either dubia or lateralis roaches. If you want to feed them from a bowl, I'd suggest a "gladware" type bowl. They're inexpensive, come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit your needs, and the plastic is fairly soft so it doesn't hurt the geckos nose if they dive for their prey.
 
A

artbyc

New member
thanks for all the tips on the roaches...im going to trythe dubia's in the next few weeks.

btw - my crestie can actually handle 1/2" crickets, but i have to order 250 each time so i buy the 1/4" and let them grow......when they are 1/4" he eats 15- 20 and gets plenty of exercise..but if they get any bigger than a 1/2" he only eats a few and im stuck with a sweater box full of thick healthy crickets that i have to give away.

thanks again for all the advice and i will keep you all posted to let you know how Pedro likes/dislikes his first roach.

C
 
*ZERO*

*ZERO*

New member
I dont like feeder roaches, may be a personal preferance but i beleive gut loaded crickets to be much better staple for them.. possibly the non climbing ones if they are smaller than 3/4 inche but if not i couldnt be bothered
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
*ZERO* said:
I dont like feeder roaches, may be a personal preferance but i beleive gut loaded crickets to be much better staple for them.. possibly the non climbing ones if they are smaller than 3/4 inche but if not i couldnt be bothered
Click to expand...

You should clarify yourself when making a statement like that. In what way do you feel that gut loaded crickets are a "much better staple" than a gut loaded roach? Roaches have longer intestinal tracts which means they hold more gut load and for a longer period of time. Roaches have a higher meat to shell ratio meaning more protein and less chitin than crickets. And then of course there's the benefits of keeping roaches compared to crickets in that they don't chirp, they don't jump, they wont infest your home (crickets most certainly will), they live a lot longer which equates to less dead bugs, they don't smell bad like crickets...and the list goes on and on. So, I'm honestly curious as to how you find crickets to be "much better".
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
zohariels said:
Really? This is actually whats been keeping me from using them, I just had mental images of me finding them everywhere.:lol: Do they just not reproduce well? Thank for the info!
Click to expand...


Actually, under the right conditions, they reproduce quite easily. The thing is, the roaches that we use as feeders are tropical roaches...not the common house roach. So they need high heat and high humidity to breed. Even here in southern Virginia where I live, where it's hot and humid much of the year, it's not enough for the escapees to infest. The ones that escape will live for a while. But they won't reproduce. I've been breeding dubia and lateralis roaches for quite a few years now with ZERO infestation issues.
 
Emily

Emily

New member
Riverside Reptiles said:
Actually, under the right conditions, they reproduce quite easily. The thing is, the roaches that we use as feeders are tropical roaches...not the common house roach. So they need high heat and high humidity to breed. Even here in southern Virginia where I live, where it's hot and humid much of the year, it's not enough for the escapees to infest. The ones that escape will live for a while. But they won't reproduce. I've been breeding dubia and lateralis roaches for quite a few years now with ZERO infestation issues.
Click to expand...

My husband and I have joked about releasing roaches into someone's house (totally joking, btw). I told him that the roaches wouldn't breed, so they wouldn't infest the house. He asked an interesting question: what if the house had radiant heat floors? There would be like an 8" space under the floors where the tubes of hot water run (which is what heats the floors). Dark, small, hot and potentially humid...hmmmm... :evil:
 
*ZERO*

*ZERO*

New member
Ethan i do apologize, i am not as knowledgable as u.. i have not fully researched roaches, and i guess i shouldnt have expressed such an opinion. I have considered it but what i have read didnt convince me to try them. I may look into it and try them in the future, but for now roaches are not on the diet. Again thank u for the information, and i hope i havnt pissed u off : )
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top