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Newb Question on Roaches

Sauradon

Sauradon

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I have been thinking about starting a roach colony for my leopard geckos for about a year now. I am a little worried about using lobster roaches due to their ability to climb. I was wondering how long most of the non-climbing species take to create a well estabilished colony. Thanks, Chris.
 
That depends on a few factors......

How old the roaches are when you get them. It takes Discoids about 4 months to sexually mature. So if you buy younger nymphs as opposed to adults you are going to have that much more of a wait.

How many you buy to start your colony.... of course the more roaches you have breeding the sooner your colony will be well established.

Habitat and diet.... Keeping them in ideal conditions with a good diet is key to having a thriving colony. In ideal conditions each breeding female will give you 20 to 30 babies a month.

Then you have to take into consideration how many Leos you have to feed and how many insects a month they will eat.

I know this did not exactly answer your question, but hopefully it gives you a better idea on what you need and how to go about getting a successful colony started.
 
I too have been thinking about starting my own colony and I was wondering if anyone who had one or that has had one could explain everything that is needed to maintain one. So far, i have a plastic storage bin to put them in, I have water gel cubes, i have dog food, fish food, plus excess scraps from the kitchen, and plenty of toilet paper and paper towel roles along with egg cartons. What else do i need? Also, is there a dramtic difference in keeping them outside vs keeping them inside? I live in southern California and right now it does get pretty cold in the morning and at night, but in the day it gets to be about 70-80 degrees. Will this affect the speed at which the colony grows? I have room enough in my closet to grow them inside, but i would rather not do this due to the escape factor (accidents happen). I will be feeding 10 different herps about 93 roaches per week (372 per month) so what is a good number to start with and how long will it take to establish a stable colony to keep my herps happy? Thanks for all your help.
 
I have never owned roaches and am by no means an expert. As far as I can tell you are set up pretty well. Roaches prefer high temps, you would be better off installing a flexxwatt, undertank heater, or other heat emitting product on one end of your plastic tub. I believe temperatures of 90+ degrees are preffered. Other then that, remeber to grind the dog food into powder and you should be good to go. If you are planning on aquiring a climbing species you will also need to place a 2 inch wide layer of vaseline near the tubs top to prevent escapees. I'm not sure how they would do outside but you would need to be careful to not expose them to cold temperatures or rain. Chris.
 
I was thinking of lobster roaches because of their ease of care and breeding pace. Are you sure you can put an under-tank heater on plastic? That really doesnt seem like a good idea, but if its needed, its needed.
 
On some of my racks I have zoo med under tank heaters. And the plastic is much thinner then the big rubbermaid tubs. I havent had any problems.
 
Oh yeah, plastic with a heat pad on it has never caused a problem for me, but I am talkinga bout a small uth. I've been trying to figure out all of this roach stuff recently too. Good luck guys. I am starting Hisser, Lobster, and False Death Head colonies.
 
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