Alternative livefoods

There are an increasing number of people using Roaches as an alternative to Cricks, Locusts etc. There are many benifits to breeding your own food, including the fact that it costs less than buying live food from shops, you know what your food has been fed and therefore what you are feeding your animal and the fact that you have a constant supply without having to rely on a shop supply.

When I first started looking at breeding my own feeder insects, I was unable to find and suppliers in Ireland so had to look in the UK. It came down to a choice between Blaptica Dubia Roaches and Lobster Roaches. I finally opted for the Dubia Roaches for the following reasons.

• Blaptica Dubia cannot climb smooth surfaces unlike Lobsters, so are less likely to escape.

• Blaptica Dubia will not breed unless the temperature is a constant 26+degrees, so if some do escape, they will not breed at room temperature and therefore cannot infest

• Blaptica Dubia are larger so make a better food insect for larger lizards

• Blaptica Dubia are slowing moving making them easier for the animals to catch

The only down side that I found is that Blaptica Dubia are not as fast breeders so it takes longer to get a self sustaining colonly going.
Here is an adult male.


This is an adult female.

Based on my 2 years of keeping Blaptica Roaches, below is what I reckon is the what anyone interested in keeping them needs to know.

Guyana Orange Spotted Roach
Blaptica Dubia (B.Dubia)
Roach Care Sheet

General Information
Distribution: Central & South America including French Guyana
Adult Size: Adults range from 3cm – 4cm.
Nymphs: Babies (Nymphs) are around 4mm.
Sexing: Adult B.Dubia are very easy to sex. Males will have fully developed wings, and females only have wing stubs. Nymphs can be sexed but not as easily as adults.
Active Period: Nocturnal, most roaches will scamper away when they see light. I recommend a dark container kept in a dark environment.
Life Span: Typically adult B.Dubia will live from 12-24 months after reaching adulthood, but males will die earlier than females.
Speed: B.Dubia are a pretty slow roach. B.Dubia are easy to handle and not to difficult for your pets to catch.

Housing
Cage: I prefer to keep my nymphs and adults separate to keep similar sized nymphs together, but this is not necessary as nymphs and adults can be kept together. I keep my breeders in a single 30L plastic tub with a vented lid. The nymphs are kept
in 6.5L plastic tubs.
Substrate: I prefer to use no substrate with my B.Dubia for easy cleaning. Some people like to use shredded aspen, bran, newspaper, or peat moss substrates, but it can be difficult to get all the nymphs out as the burrow.
Hiding: Roaches need places to hide, room to breed, and space to moult. Most people use egg flats (cardboard egg creates), which work well and can be changed as needed. Some keepers build little roach motels with corkboard that last longer, but cost more.
Heat: B.Dubia should be kept between 26°C-33°C. At lower temperatures growth will be slower. The adults will not breed at temperatures below 26°C. Temperatures in excess of 33°C will also prevent breeding. Temperatures in excess of 35°C will result in roach fatalities.
Humidity: Mild humidity is fine with this species. A light misting every 4-5 days and regular fruits/veggies provides B.Dubia with all their moisture needs. Avoid high humidity as this can promote the growth of mould, which would be very detrimental to your colony.
Cleaning: All non-climbers are very easy to clean. My method is to take the eggs flats out and knock all the roaches off into an empty container. Then I separate out the adults back into the breeding tub with new egg flats and put the nymphs in their own tub. I do this so I don’t have to disturb the breeding adult’s everyday when I need to get feeder nymphs. Usually I then dump all the frass (droppings) into a bowl and pick out the remaining baby nymphs with a spoon or by hand. This whole process takes me about 15 minutes. Usually you can go 1-6 month between cleanings depending on the size of your colony.

Food & Water
Food: Fruits & veggies should be given 2-3 times per week. A staple dry food should also be offered 2-3 times per week. Typically I alternate my food every day between dry and wet. I also only give small portions so all is eaten to prevent mould. You will quickly learn how much your roaches will eat. For veges I recommend carrots, apples and oranges, although they would eat many other veges and fruit. For their dry food, I use a mix of dry cat food and cornflakes. I tend to put them in a blender to give a powder rather than feed it as large pieces, but this is not essential.
Water: Because B.Dubia cannot climb, they will drown in an open water dish. Using sponges is also a bad ideal because they are breeding grounds for bacteria. I think the best method is to provide sufficient veges combined with the occasional misting. My colony gets all its moisture needs using this method.

Breeding
Age: B.Dubia usually takes 3-5 month to mature into adults. Most roaches will go through seven moults. When you see a white roach it is not “albino”, but a freshly moulted one that will regain its colour usually within 24 hours. Sometime you will find there dried exoskeleton, which most people think, is a dead dried up roach, but it’s just the leftovers from the moult.
Breeding: Not much to tell here. Just keep them warm, fed, dark, and they are going to breed. I recommend keeping the breeding colony with a ratio of 3 females per male. This cuts down the number of mouths to feed, particularly for a large colony. Excess males can be used as feeders. Females will start to get larger and sometimes you can even see their segments stretching out. Females will partly expel an egg sack(ootheca) from their rear end to allow it to dry. The Ootheca is then retracted back into a special cavity within her body. From here the babies hatch and the female gives birth. The gestation period is approximately 30 days.

Other Notes
Production: Although non-climbers aren’t as prolific as some roach species, they can provide a stable food source for any insect eaters. I recommend starting with 50-100 and building from there, depending on what you are feeding. I started out producing hundreds and now I’d be producing thousands each month. Meat-to-shell: Roaches have much higher meat to shell ratio than other feeders. This means it takes less of them to fill up your pets, and they’re getting more out of bugs.
Wings: Only male B.Dubia are winged, but the do not fly. Occasionally a male will jump and try to fly, although it tends to be more of a flutter than flying This is very rare, but sometime they can jump 30-60cms. A simple vented lid on their container will
prevent them from getting out. The female B.Dubia has no wings
Climbing: This species cannot climb smooth surfaces, which makes them very easy to contain. It is much easier to go in and grab a roach compared to crickets, which jump out of everything and end up everywhere.
Smell & Noise: B.Dubia have little to no smell and make no noise. Roaches have a reputation of being dirty insects. B.Dubia are not a pest species. They inhabit forest areas in Central and South America and do not infest houses. Any escapees would not survive in the Irish climate and would soon die off. B.Dubia are so much cleaner than crickets, without the smell and the noise.
Uneaten Feeders: Uneaten crickets left in vivariums are known to nibble on reptiles and can cause substantial injuries. Uneaten roaches will not do this, making them safe to leave in a vivarium without the fear of the injuring your animals

Advantages of B.Dubia over crickets locusts and mealworms!!!
1. B.Dubia make virtually no smell or noise.
2. B.Dubia are a non-pest species and will not infest your house.
3. B.Dubia are safe to leave in the vivarium with animals.
4. B.Dubia are very easy to care for and clean.
5. B.Dubia are easy to breed and are easy to sex.
6. B.Dubia don’t climb or fly.
7. Uneaten B.Dubia will not bite or injure your animals.
8. B.Dubia have a higher meat to shell ratio.
9. You know the source of your feeders. You can ensure that you keep them in the highest
quality by following the above. You are not getting the crickets that have “survived” and are poorly fed and are malnutrioned.
10. MOST IMPORTANT – They are a good natural feeder for your pet, and they will go crazy for them.

What's the smallest lizard species that could safely eat them? I've got adult female leopard geckos

our AFT'S + Leopard Gecko's eat dubia roach nymphs easily.

Sounds like maybe I should get them then

Hmmmm, would they be suitable food for a terrapin?

got myself a few these recently.
16 on ebay in fact. only over a month ago or so and i got hundreds of little 1's at min. (plenty to feed the expected aft hatchlings).
i paid like £6.50 including delivery for 7females and 9 males. was also given a few juvs from a m8, hoping to start taking from this colony at end of summer and hopefully self-sufficient in 6months.

p.s glad to hear the we aft taking these, was wondering if mine would, i have been tempted to throw in a few to see but thought i'd leave it till i can safely take without doing much damage.
hope he's doing well for ya 2,

Eamonn