Different Species Of roaches for breeding!?

[CJ PELCHER]

Just wondered if anyone had ANY experience breeding any of these species of roaches?
Even better know where I can aquire these guys by the hundreds?
Dubias are nice but heck I want a variety to add to the colonly collection maybe for a bit more "COLOR and COMPLEXITY"?

Orange Head Roaches (Eublaberus posticus)

Discoid Roaches (Blaberus Discoidalis)

Headlamp Roach "pantanal"

Green Bananna Roach (Panchlora nivea)


Poison, Jeff, Demon Aphibians ...would be splended to have your imput on each of these species if any! Thanks!

-Corey

[Cap10Squirty]

I would like to add that I am very interested in the Green Banana Roach as well.

[poison]

http://www.roachcrossing.com

Aaron Pauling.com

DoubleDs

These are my main sources for bugs. Along with faunaclassifieds and arachnoboard.

[CJ PELCHER]

Ahh...aaron actually wants my dubias for his show. =P I felt honored =P

[Cap10Squirty]

http://www.roachcrossing.com

Aaron Pauling.com

DoubleDs

These are my main sources for bugs. Along with faunaclassifieds and arachnoboard.

I received an order of P. nivea the other day from Double D's. they arrived fast and all alive. Very impressed!
I have to say that these little bugs have to be my favorite now, now I have to leave them alone for a few months so they'll be worthy feeders

[JeffreH]

Hey Corey,

Daniel covered my go-to's for sources. Additionally, I've ordered from and have been pleased with Greg's Exotic Inverts but it appears the site is down. Peter Clausen sometimes has interesting species at Buy live pet insect tarantula, spider, millipede, centipede, and pet bugs too.

The Orange heads are some of my favorites - they are roughly as prolific as dubia and otherwise require identical care. The major downsides are they are not sexually dimorphic (though still easy to sex) and they do produce a bit of a defensive odor. I don't personally think it smells too bad, sort of like over-ripe fruit or something... not too noxious and only really notice it when disturbing the entire colony.

The spines on the legs are slightly more intense in orange heads than in B. dubia, so keep that in mind when feeding larger prey to your pets. The nymphs are awesome, fat maroon bulldozers. Here's a comparison of similar instars of a long E. posticus vs. B. dubia nymph:


Something else worth noting is the orange heads tend to be more active than dubia, but they are also more inclined to burrow in loose substrate (especially younger nymphs) so it would be advisable to bowl-feed. My bearded dragon prefers orange heads to just about any other roach species.


Eublaberus sp. "Pantanal" requires roughly identical care to Eublaberus posticus... much of the genus performs the same. I tend to prefer orange heads to the six-spotted roach (E. distanti) because the latter's nymphs tend to be a bit more inclined to burrow in my experience. But all-in-all, they are probably about the same. I had thought about picking up some of the Eublaberus sp. "Ivory" from Kyle a while back but never really committed to it.


Discoid Roaches - they will probably be Blaberus hybrids depending on the source from which you obtain them. It is becoming ever-difficult to find pure cultures of Blaberus discoidalis and the differences between species (and especially hybrids) can be extremely minute. Don't quote me on this, but it may even require genitalia inspection over general morphology because they are all so similar in appearance.

Regardless, the pures and the hybrids make great feeders, and the hybrids would debatebly be better because they are typically more fecund. I think B. fusca are commonly mixed into the Blaberus hybrid scene. They tend to be skittish, aren't sexually dimorphic, fairly large in size, and the nymphs seem to be a bit more sclerotized (hard-bodied) than some other roaches. I think they are still great feeders though. This genus seems to reproduce like mad under high population density in my experience and they are often quite skittish, so keep them nice and dark and limit your interaction with them. Otherwise, not too far off from what you'd see in B. dubia care requirements and reproduction.


I've not kept the P. nivea but would like too! Kyle @ roachcrossing could tell you all about em' if you need additional info I'm sure (along with Dexter/Debbie, Peter, or any of the other guys who supply the species).

[Cap10Squirty]

Thanks for the information Jeff! I will definitely be adding Orange heads to my list! Are the adults meatier than the last nymph instar? B. dubia adult males lose a lot of meat after they udergo their final molt. So I try to catch a lot of the largest nymphs and feed those off.

[Beardo]

I had a large colony of Orange Heads for a couple years and used them as feeders for my herps and arachnids.....one thing I found out about them is that they are the only roach species I know of that is actually predatory. One day while feeding some crickets for diversity, a few adults jumped out of their container into the open tub for my Orange Heads......in a matter of a few seconds, the adult OHs swarmed the crickets and devoured them, pack-style. I tossed a few more crickets in and the same thing happened......OHs require a higher protein diet than other roach species and they started producing at a much more rapid pace when I added live insect prey to their diet.

[JeffreH]

The adult males and females are roughly the same size, and they do lose a bit of their bulk upon their final molt into adulthood (but the males maintain more "meat" than B. dubia, in my opinion).


Beardo brings up a good point that I had nearly forgotten about - the orange heads are more cannibalistic than other species so you have to be careful about providing adequate space and resources. A good indicator is wing biting; its a common practice in healthy colonies but is more conspicuous in colonies undergoing competition for resources. If a lot of your colony has chewed up wings, antennae, and legs then you need to upgrade size and/or beef up moisture and food amounts.

Also - I don't believe that they require any more protein than other cockroaches, rather, they are more needy in the moisture department. If you keep a constant supply of water crystals on hand, then wing biting and cannibalism drop drastically. I have seen them take down other insects though... so it may be a combination.