# roach nymphs



## Bry (Feb 18, 2004)

Has anyone ever tried feeding roach nymphs to their darts? I am currently looking into culturing some _Blaptica dubia_ or Orange Spotted Roach and feeding off the nymphs to the larger darts. From my understanding, _B. dubia_ nymphs are about the size of _D. hydei_, or one could use slightly larger specimens for feeding terribilis. This is a non-climbing/non-flying species, and is said to have a softer exoskeleton than other roach species, even as adults. I've also read that this is a rather slow, docile species, and they do tend to flip over and play dead when keepers put their hands in the roach cultures. Like all the other commonly-offered species, this is a tropical species, and I expect they might do well in the warmth and humidity of a dart viv. So I am a bit concerned about causing a roach infestation in the dart viv, which would NOT be a good thing. Although I would think the darts would be able to snatch them all up long before they ever get to breeding size.

So what do you guys think about all this? Is this something you've tried or would be willing to try?


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

I was thinking about doing the same, only with Blatta lateralis instead of Blaptica dubia. B. lateralis stays smaller as an adult, a bit over half the size of B. dubia. This means there's a larger window during which you will be able to feed out the nymphs. B. lateralis can't climb but can fly, but not very well. If you've fly-proofed your enclosures it should be no problem.


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## karag (May 12, 2005)

I was thinking same thing but not sure, don't see anyone posting. 

Already have orange head(Eublaberus prosticus), lobster roach(Nauphoeta cinera) and six spotted roach(Eublaberus distanti) for my tarantulas. Some said orange head are better feeder, it gives their reptile better color. i guess its the way they absorb nutrients and from observation they have a nice color.

The hard part is feeding it to frogs, most roaches likes to hide/burrow. I believe it takes month before they reach maturity. lobster roach is smaller than orange spot, maybe softer too.

add: What they mean by non climbers is they can't climb on smooth surfaces/glass. If you have a background more chance they could.

check out this sites

http://www.blaberus.com
http://www.justbugs.com


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Well, I ordered 20 Blatta lateralis from blaberus.com today, so I'll try raising them. If it works out, I'll add them to my FAQ.


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## mindcrash (Mar 3, 2004)

I had a big colony of lobsters going and thought about feeding some nymphs off to my darts, but I just think they would have been too hard to control in the viv. If the darts didn't get them right away the roaches (who are fast) would be gone by either climbing out of the viv or hiding in it somewhere.


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## FrankWilliams (Apr 10, 2004)

I used to feed Lobster roach nymphs to my mantellas, and the Tinc and Leuc when I had them. I never had a problem with them establishing themselves in the vivs. Unfortunately it was kind of hard to separate the babies from the older roaches. Eventually I got tired of dealing with them and threw them outside in January once I had no more larger animals to feed them to. Now I'm getting more from James Tuttle though.


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2005)

My terribilis take on lobster roach nymphs and almost 1/2 grown ones. They all line up and pounce once they hit the ground. After a couple they are full and feeding time is over. If one or two roaches escape the mouths they most certainly get picked off later. I have not had any established roach colony inside the enclosures. The smallest lobster nymphs I have fed out to my tincs as they are about the same size as hydei for a short time.


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

I bet the terriblis tear lobster roaches up. I have fed some to my tincs. The raoches went in and quickly were eaten. You can (If your timing is good) take the egg cases unhatched and hatch them in a container for later. Then feed them out.
Dave


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Well, I got my Blatta lateralis yesterday. I bought 20, so it will be awhile before the colony is at sufficient numbers to start feeding them out. I got a couple adults out of the 20, and they seem to be about the size of the lobster roaches I used to have. Except these can't climb glass, and they have an orange color that I suspect will be immediately noticable by the frogs.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Thought I'd post an update here. Have my Blatta lateralis set up in an 18G Rubbermaid tote. What I've found is that they do not have 'live birth' like hissers, lobsters, and Blaberus roaches where the female lays the eggs in a case and draws it back into her body. Instead B. lateralis lay egg cases and leave them behind on the floor of the tote. While the colony is too small right now to be feeding from, I'm thinking that a possible feeding method might be to pick up the egg cases, put them in a petri dish and let them hatch out right in the viv. Since B. lateralis can't climb smooth surfaces, the babies would not be able to climb out.


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

Turkistan roaches may not be able to climb smooth vertical surfaces, the 1st instar nymphs are big enough to reach up and grab the edge of a normal sized petri dish and climb on out, so don't expect them to stay confined in the dish. Also, the nymphs are about twice the size of a hydei, so I wouldn't go feeding them to your thumbnails.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Thanks, that's nice to know. I have some slightly deeper (but still shallow enough for frogs to climb out of) ceramic dishes from Petco that I might be able to use instead. Looking at the size of the egg cases, it wouldn't seem like the newly hatched nymphs would be twice as big as a hydei, though. We'll just have to see.


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## karag (May 12, 2005)

I caught some roaches roaming around our aparment that was a month ago and doin' some reading, found they have similar description to blata lateralis, except has darker color. They produce eggcases too, but released them, they give mild odor. I was afraid to feed them to my pets.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Any updates?


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