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Roaches??

D

Drew1220

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Is it true that roaches are a better nutrient source for beardies more so then crickets??

I was told this and was just wondering what everyone else thinks..of course peoples opinion are gonna be diff. though
 
Roaches sure get bigger and smell less. They are easy to breed and maintain. On the whole, they are probably better than crickets though you do have to get past the "Ewww" factor (Cathy, would you feel better thinking of them as "beetles"? :p). We aren't talking about common cockroaches that are household pests. Most of the feeder roaches that are commonly used in the US are native to the tropics and would not survive/breed in your house.

If you are considering them, consider a non-climbing variety. They are more expensive to start but easier to keep in the cage. I have climbers and non-climbers (just getting started with them) and they are very easy to maintain.

I am always finding escaped crickets but I so not have that problem with roaches, so far anyway.

They real question that you need to ask yourself is do you plan to breed the insects yourself. If not then roaches are prohibitively expensive compared to crickets. If you do plan to breed, roaches are the way to go.
 
I was looking to breed them to cut down on cost of feeding..I heard I would need a minimum of 100 to establish a breeding colony..all I would have to do is buy a 20gallon rubbermaid container, put egg cartons in thgere for them to hide under or in..and as far as food not sure yet and a low temp heat lamp and im good to go..

I thought roached had a hard outer shell, wont this be bad for my babies (well when I get more babies)..The roach I was refered to comes from South America and starts with a "B" Blaphecus I think..I dunno was just curious on whether or not they are BETTER FOR THE BEARDIES..If it means saving a few bucks in my pocket over my babies health then id rather spend the money to keep them healthy
 
Some roaches have harder shells than others though I believe that the nymphs (immature roaches) tend to be softer in most species and that is what you would feed to baby beardies anyway.

You can find some good information at www.bugchick.com (Olivia Li) and at www.blaberus.com (James Tuttle). I have bought from both of them and they both seem to know their stuff well.
 
if you go to one of the larger reptile stores in your area, some of them will probably carry lobster roaches in large quantities. Lobster roaches are what i have, and they are extremely easy to breed and maintain, the only problem is that they climb. Just put vasaline around the top of their container. The lobster roaches that i buy are very inexpensive and are the same cost as crickets. I currently have a colony getting off the ground. Its pretty cool how the whole bottom of the cage is crawling with tiny nymphs. I would go with the roaches because they have a higher meat to shell ratio, and more protein. And of course, the dragons love them.
 
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