Best feeder/breeder roaches for AFT's?

[SA Leopards]

Hey guys!

I've searched the threads and whilst I found some info, I noticed that most where "outdated". With the boom in Geckos there are a lot more perspectives so I figured I might start a new thread.

In your opinion what are the best roaches to feed to geckos and also to breed? I'm tired of paying almost a Rand a cricket in Bloem (Bought a tub today of +/- 40 and paid R40 for it) and seeing that my collection is only going to grow in the future I need to start being self sufficient. And crickets pong and make a racket...

My mealworm colony is already settled, but I want the roaches as a variant for leos as well as a staple for my picky species.

Also info on how to breed the roaches along with time for colonies to get settled would be appreciated!

Regards

Arno

 

[HepCatMoe]

all my fatties are fed mainly on dubia.

dubia are easy to breed. the adults are generally too big for the fatties, but i just feed them the nymphs.

how big of a colony you want to start with depends on how many geckos you want to feed. i personally would not start with less than 50 adult females (obviously you will need some males too). then it will take at least a month/2months to start getting the right sized nymphs to feed.

to breed them is super easy. put them in glass aquariums or plastic tubs with slippery sides. if you use plastic make sure you watch them for a while to make sure they cannot climb the sides. use some kind of heat source to heat the enclosure, its not too big of a deal, but if you heat the enclosure the roaches will breed a lot faster.

then just feed them oatmeal, scraps of uncooked fruit and veggies, and some kind of protein like dry dog food or fish food. they will get their water from the fruit and veggies, so dont skimp. make sure you take out anything starting to mold. but after a week or two of keeping the roaches you should get the idea of how to much them and you shouldnt need to worry about mold.

do not use a substrate. use egg crate for hides. dont mess with the roaches too often as that can cause them to lose their oothicas. thats it. really its pretty dang easy.

 

[HepCatMoe]

*how much to feed them

 

[T-ReXx]

I find my fat tails are rather partial to lateralis. They take dubia as well, but the lats are about cricket sized as adults, breed faster than dubia, and produce well enough to feed a decent sized collection. I have over 50 insectivores that will take roaches and although I have 4 roach colonies(two of each species) I'm pretty sure the lateralis produce well enough that I could use them alone if I wanted to and still feed everyone well(even the tokays, which are eating machines). Lateralis are harder to handle than dubia, they are faster moving, and they are slightly better climbers, but they can't handle glass at all. I use both species because I like the size of the lateralis and the variety they bring to the diet.

 

[Carinata]

Mine love dubia roaches!

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Mine will eat dubias & lateralis, but i mostly feed lateralis because the dubias like to bury themselves in the substrate.

 

[SA Leopards]

Thanx guys! I was leaning towards Dubias, but I think I'm going to go with Lateralis! Just a quick question, do lateralis hide a lot? Reason I ask is because I want to feed my Turner's Thick Toed geckos roaches as well and their setup has lots of nooks and crannies.

 

[T-ReXx]

One thing I like about lats is that they don't dig like dubia. They run around and are way more active. They will hide while the lights are on(roaches avoid light) but they usually come out as soon as it's dark and crawl around. You can also use a dish to feed them, as they don't climb most smooth surfaces.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

I prefer dubias.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

My lateralis do hide, but once my fatty sees one running around she will usually go looking in the nooks & crannies to find them. If your lizards are up for a challenge, go for it!

 

[Imperial Geckos]

I have had success with B. Dubia