Which roaches? So many choices!

[jovamabob]

Which roaches are the easiest to keep, breed and most importantly, most nutritious? None of these are illegal where i am and i currently have the option of choosing:

Dubia Roaches ( Blaptica dubia )
Turkistan Roaches ( Shelfordella lateralis , Blatta lateralis )
Pallida Roaches ( Phoetalia pallida )
Lobster Roaches ( Nauphoeta cinerea )
Discoid Cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis)
Golden Madeira Roach (Rhyparobia sp. Gold)
Surinam Cockroach (Pycnoscelus surinamensis)
Roths Giant Burrowing Cockroach ( Byrsotria rothi )
Bolivian Roach ( Blaberus boliviensis )
Headlight Roach ( Lucihormetica subcinta )
Green Banana Cockroach (Panchlora nivea)
Peppered cockroach ( Giant Peruvian roach , Giant leaf cockroach, Archimandrita tesselata)

The crickets, while i'll provide them for good variety are far too jumpy and noisy for my liking!

 

[Goodtruant]

Dubia Roaches.... check the For Sale section on this board.

 

[Jayson745]

a lot of those species can climb straight up glass, and some of them even fly. Some species also release scents when startled, and some are more cannibalistic than others.

dubia are what most people use these days. They dont have any of those problems. And the adults are easy to sex which comes in handy.

 

[DragCity]

I keep the following 3 species in preferred order:

1. Orange Head Roaches
2. Discoid Roaches
3. Dubia Roaches

All three are very nutritious, non-climbers, non-flyers and easy to care for. Contrary to popular belief, I have not encounted any defensive odor from my orange heads or discoids at all (dubias are not considered roaches who display a defensive order). Both my orange head bin and discoid bin are just as odorless as my dubia bin and I disturb them daily by feeding, cleaning once per week and just observing them in my OCD/addictive ways, lol.

The orange heads are beautiful and I must admit I do not plan on feeding from them anytime soon due to letting the colony establish itself and populate. But even when it is ready to be fed from I will do so reluctantly. As long as you keep their bin above 60% humidity, above 80 degrees F. and feed a high-protein chow they will not wing-nip. They are large, very meaty and highly nutritious. If you are doing a good job caring for them you won't need to worry about cannibalism, wing-nipping, or over-aggression. They are a bit shy but I'm cool with that.

The discoids are EXCELLENT EATERS. Anything I throw in the bin THEY PUNISH IT immediately! These guys will devour whole apples, greens and carrots at a single feeding (in addition to their constant supply of dry chow). Most don't note it but these guys will wing-nip when fully mature (mostly the older aged roaches) if you don't keep them in high humidity and feed at least a minimum 19% protein based chow. The nipping has no effects on their reproduction or nutrition, it's completely aesthetic. They grow large, they have a hardish shell but they are very meaty and hardy.

As for the dubias, what can I say that hasn't already been said? Most love them but out of the 3 species I keep they are my least favorite. Boring, smaller than the other 2 types and I don't find them to be good eaters. They are more of a "nibbler" so-to-speak. They are nutritious though. Most like the fact that they are dimorphic (m/f visual differentiatiion) and that they're slow-moving. However, the drawback to that is they often play oppossum when fed. So if your beardie isn't a beast and enjoys stimulation to feed he may be slow to go after them. Being smaller than orange heads and discoids mean more quantity needs to be fed to an adult beardie. They are less meaty, yet they do have a very soft exoskeleton. I don't find them to be as hardy as my discoids and they're definitely more beetle than roach in appearance than the orange heads and discoids as well. Which works if you have to lie to your parents, mom, girl, wife, etc. in order to keep them, LOL

 

[Toasty]

I'm a lat fan myself. Non-climbing, no odor, cheaper than dubias to start a colony, fast and prolific breeders (you'll have a huge colony going in no time, softer than dubias. I have several different species of "feeder roaches", and lats are by far my favorite.

 

[jovamabob]

Are the lateralis very fast? - Would i need to keep them in the fridge for a few moments so i could pick them out?
I've been offered a colony of 100 adults for around £10 or 300 small and medium ones for £5 - how long do they take to mature? My boys pretty big now (code for greedy little bugger!) and would be wanting adults to feed off

 

[Toasty]

Are the lateralis very fast? - Would i need to keep them in the fridge for a few moments so i could pick them out?
I've been offered a colony of 100 adults for around £10 or 300 small and medium ones for £5 - how long do they take to mature? My boys pretty big now (code for greedy little bugger!) and would be wanting adults to feed off

They're pretty fast, but I just keep plenty of egg-crates in the bin which makes them easy to shake into a bag, so speed isn't really a concern. If you can, I'd go with the adults AND the small medium ones. They adults should start reproducing immediately, and yes, they mature much more quickly than dubia, so the small and medium ones should reach reproducing age fairly quickly too.

 

[ReptileAddiction]

I dont know if these are legal where you are but I have kept madagascar hissing cockroaches as pets and have bought some to feed off. They are not very soft though so you can only feed nymphs. They are a wonderful feeder and easy to take care of.