Hi... someone suggested I pop in to offer some help.
I have roaches, and have fed all my reptiles (4 dragons and 9 geckos) since they arrived at my home as babies of 7-8 weeks of age.
Jason (the roach guy) is awesome to deal with... and since this is a school project, I would imagine he might swing you an awesome deal.
Now is the time to start that colony too, by the way.
You can get an 18 gallon sterlite tub with lid, half a dozen egg crates ( I tend to get mine free from the local breakfast resturant) however you can order them online), some metal window screening, a glue gun and glue (or some sort of adhesive that will seal), a ten gallon under tank heater, some chicken starter feed, a large can of tropical fish flake food, and you will be 90% ready to start your own colony. I wouldn't start with less than say 100-200 mixed dubias. This way, you will get breeding adults, as well as the second generation, that will most likely be breeding for you in a couple of months.
Now, take those supplies I mentioned above and do this:
Take lid, cut out the middle, leaving around a 3" edge around the lip of the lid. Take the screening, and adhere it to those edges, making sure there are no openings for any size roach to escape. Set aside the lid, and take the bin itself. Upend it, and taking the under tank heater, peel off the paper, and adhere that to one side of the bin. This will be your heat. Don't worry about it heating a hole in the bin...
And there you are... your bin is now set up. Just place the egg crates on their side, at the heated end, and you can use a shallow plastic container to place the starter/flake food mix. I would also suggest getting some water crystals, Jason can supply those as well..
You will want to use the same veggies as you would feed to a dragon, to start gut loading your roaches.
I also want to suggest, half of an orange weekly.. this encourages breeding.. It really does !
I hope this helps out..
Now,
