Roaches in the UK

[Tom Forman]

crickets will only smell when something in their enclosure starts to rot or you have a build up of dead crickets (crickets do die alot).
When I first got them I did have a problem with them escaping but that was soon solved with packing tape along the top and a lid.
One real problem I had with breeding crickets was getting the day/nighttime temperature just right.

PS: the silent crickets are only silent during the day but they are really not too noisy. I think the black ones are far noisier. I keep them in a styrofoam box that some of my spiders got shipped in which keeps the noise down too lol.

I think i might give roaches a try though, I don't like how I need to remove the cricket eggs for them to hatch elsewhere every time.

Will I need to remove the eggs from the roch colony too or are they easier in that regard? What about temps for roaches, could i keep em at a lower temp? I think I might just go and research roaches a bit more...

Places that sell them are

www.dartfrog.co.uk
www.insectstore.com

and I think www.virginiacheeseman.co.uk sells them too.

Ebay is always good for a deal too.

[James Box]

i may have to try the legendary Georgius dubia roaches. i hear they're great feeders, though you have to put up with alot of nonsense and random, self-righteous aggression, too



thanks for all the tips...i think i may try these out ASAP.

[Peter Roach]

There has been lots of questions and replies so far, so I think if i just describe how I keep my roaches then maybe you can make your mind up on which species is best for you if at all.

I keep all of my roaches in plastic storage boxes that are blacked out with tape. Approx size is 20in X 15in X 14in (LxWxH)

Heating is by a small 11in X11in heatmat plugged straight into the mains ...... NO thermostat. Temperature inside box is over 100F

Food. Dry food is a mix of bran, porridge oats, dry cat or dog food, cheap fishflakes or pond pellets. Moisture is provided by apples,oranges and carrots. Dry food/fruit are placed into seperate shallow plant saucers.

There is no substrate in the boxes, only egg cartons and toilet tubes.

Roaches

Dubia roach (Blaptica dubia) are fairly slow growing, slow moving compared to some roaches and can take upto 12 months to get a colony going but this will depend on how many you start with. This species cannot climb glass. They are also safe to leave in with the spider if it is going into a shed unlike crickets which may attack the spider while it is helpless molting.
I started with approx 25 mixed sizes of juveniles last summer and only now have they finally started breed enough to use as feeders but I am going to wait a few more months yet before I start propery to 'harvest' them.
So as you can see it can take up to a year before you can use them but I think they worth cultivating because they have no smell, are silent, easy to breed (although are slow to get started) very easy to sex .

http://www.nyworms.com/dubia_roaches.htm

Lobster roach (Nauphoeta cinerea) are a very fast breeding and fast moving roach that can climb glass. I started with approx 60-70 mixed sizes juveniles last summer and now have lots ....and lots and lots.
I only feed these to spiders that are in enclosures that have small ventilation holes (like pokies and avics) or will jump on them immediately (geniculata, parahybana etc). I would NOT give them to any spider that is kept in a penpal as they can/will get through the ventilation gaps in the lid.
As they are very fast growing and breeding species I think it is worth getting these even if it is a temporary standby while the dubia are slowly breeding.

http://www.nyworms.com/lobsroachcare.htm

Discoid roach (Blaberus discoidales) are a large species that can take a while to start breeding. I think that this species are of a limited use because of their large adult size so unless you have very large species of spider like T blondi, L parahybana etc I would stick to dubia's.
A few of my discoid nymphs.......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/peterUK/spiders/july052.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/peterUK/spiders/july049.jpg

http://www.nyworms.com/discoidcare.htm

Check out the 3rd post down for comparison sizes of different roaches

http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=686&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=40

There are a lots of roach Q & A on here....... http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=43

[Clinton Hogben]

Hey Kate,
What is wrong with the smell exactly? Sorry, it's just that I don't yet have a tarantula to feed, thus have no experience with crickets! In the pet shop near my school, they sell 'silent' crickets; are they really silent, or just during the daytime (as they seem pretty silent)?
Also, I'm buying a plastic tank for my crickets (if I get a tarantula after attempting to convince my mum lol) and the guy at the store said they don't tend to jump that high, and if I put the container of crickets in the tank, then let them out inside, they shouldn't be able to escape! When does youur ones usually escape?
Rich.

Hi Rich
You will get used to the sound of crickets during the night it just comes with the territory when you keep tarantulas I don't think you can really get a silent cricket just some are a bit quieter than others, I find the black crickets noisier than the brown ones.
Regarding the smell, as mentioned by Tom as long as you remove the dead ones this helps another factor is what you feed the crickets. I have tried bits of vegetable like cabbage but then they really start to smell remember what goes in one end comes out the other end
I now tend to stick to dried fish food for the crickets with a bit of salad now and again for moisture

Clint

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi I feel a bit like the odd one out here as I feed my spiders on green crickets. Yes the black ones do smell, its worse when they're dead and the remains.......Uugh. but the green ones are ok and my spiders love them. As for locusts, most of my spiders won't touch them except for my H. lividium female who loves them. As for roaches, I got some Palid raches some time ago and liked them so much I started keeping them as pets! some went to the tarantulas who loved them and the rest got out of the petpal and were eaten by the local 8 legged fraternity (I seem to be getting a lot of them these days!) I would have said try Lee at the sSpider shop for roaches, but he hasn't any in at the moment. good luck anyway!

[Richard Shah]

Hi Rich
You will get used to the sound of crickets during the night it just comes with the territory when you keep tarantulas I don't think you can really get a silent cricket just some are a bit quieter than others, I find the black crickets noisier than the brown ones.
Regarding the smell, as mentioned by Tom as long as you remove the dead ones this helps another factor is what you feed the crickets. I have tried bits of vegetable like cabbage but then they really start to smell remember what goes in one end comes out the other end
I now tend to stick to dried fish food for the crickets with a bit of salad now and again for moisture

Clint

Thanks Clint. +rep, I think I'm going to buy locusts instead, but I'll try both.

[mary walters]

Try a pm to Gareth (user name Duzzie) on arachnophiles, he breeds and sells them, they are top class I have some and they are breeding like crazy, they are B dubia, hope this helps.

[jason holland]

just had a quick search on ebay, as ive seen some live foods on there before and found this.

BLATTA LATERALIS

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20-BLATTA-LATERALIS-COCKROACHES-LIVE-FOOD-COCKROACH_W0QQitemZ260204926840QQihZ016QQcategoryZ122950QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Oli Dodds]

I have been using the turkistan roachs (B.Lateralis) with great success for months now...
Fast to breed, non climbers, no noise, no smell, sexually dimorphic and have never had any escape (not even climbing up the aquarium silicone).
The adult males have wings, although they cannot fly- just the occasional flicker lol.
The newly born nymphs are a PERFECT size to feed to very young slings and the adults arnt too big, or too small for anything it seems.
All in all (in my opinion) the perfect feeder roach, not a bad thing to say about them!
And even if they DID escape, they die in a few days without being kept at tropical temperatures.
Hope this helps,
Oli

PS- You can purchase the turkistans and the B.Dubia at www.exotic-pets.co.uk

[James Box]

thanks Oli. how long approximately did you have to wait to get a sustainable foodsource when you got yours? i assume you got the starter culture of 30 or so Turkestan roaches?
i was thinking of getting two, and having 60 odd...might halve the time before i can start using them...

[Oli Dodds]

thanks Oli. how long approximately did you have to wait to get a sustainable foodsource when you got yours? i assume you got the starter culture of 30 or so Turkestan roaches?
i was thinking of getting two, and having 60 odd...might halve the time before i can start using them...

Well James, you know me, and you know im an impatient sod
I initially bought the starter culture of 30, waited a month then started feeding!
However, my stock quickly dwindled as you would imagine, so I bought another 30 and gave them a couple months- until i started seeing the eggs hatching.
However, I still only use the new-borns for the slings and the juves for the grown ons/young adults, I havnt used any adults as of yet.
Oli

[James Box]

cheers bruv! well i'll get two orders...only 7 squid, so not too shabby.