Roach colony

[SensualTheRogue]

Hey guys, its been a while since i posted, im about to start a roach farm (they should come next week) i was just wondering whether anyone has any experience or could offer some good tips, i know the basics. Also important to note im from Australia so i cant get dubia roaches.

[splashy07]

Hi there, been breeding dubias for years. So easy! They don't smell bad or eat eachother and seldom die so its a win all around. They have to be kept warm in order to breed, and 85+ works fine for me. I feed them beardie pellets, dry dog food, carrots and orange slices. They are kept in my bottom tub of one of my snake racks (so my non-roach loving visitors do not have to look at them....) For their materials I use egg crates (local deli happy to supply) and assorted packing cardboard pieces I gather at work. Always have more than my lizards can eat, so I give to friends who would not think of breeding roaches in their house...Good luck!!

[splashy07]

This method works for any roach species available for the pet trade, forgot to add.
Have used for other species as well, and no issues.

[blakebatch]

Dubias are the easiest to breed. Discoids and Turks (Red Runners) need a little more specific temps, less light, and a correct humidity. You can easily find it online. When I moved to FL I had to give up my dubias and the discoids took longer to finally produce nymphs.

Also, Splashy07 I wouldn't feed dog food to the roaches. If they eat a high protein diet like that they produce more uric acid, which hasn't been studied all that much but could lead to gout and other issues in your reptiles. Just trying to help.

[splashy07]

Thanks, roach breeder himself who started me out suggested the dry dog food...will just give them the beardie pellets now! The Turks can be problematic as they are prone to escape (of course I was not told that by seller) and had some running around my kitchen for a while....made a water trap with an ice cream stick ramp, water dish and a flukers pellet in the water....caught 'em all!!! Was told they probably would not have survived a winter indoor temps anyway. The four types I have worked with all seemed to need high temps to reproduce.

[freeloader]

Try the "Herp Shop" in Melbourne. They have speckled roaches. They freight aus wide. Brian Barnett, the owner, has been in the herp game over 50 years. He will give advice that is based on experience. Herpshop.com.au

[spandangle]

I use to breed my own speckled cockroaches (aka woodies) when I use to have bearded dragons. Very easy to breed and if you have the basics right, you will end up with a nice sized colony before too long with many roaches at different sizes. I used a large plastic tub that had a large hole cut into the lid with fly screen stuck over the hole. The worst thing about woodies is that they are great at escaping. I use to control this by applying a thick layer of vaseline around the top of the tub. The vaseline layer worked well in keeping them inside the tub. Place small cupboard boxes or old egg cartons inside for them to hide under.

I kept my woodies in an old garden shed. Never worried about heating or humidity. I just let them be and gave them carrots/patato peels and apple every few days or so. They did slow down in the cooler months in that they stopped breeding for a while, but my bearded dragons stopped feeding around this time anyway.

[Richard.C]

Yeah woodies are very very easy to breed,i havnt had any for years but in one of my lacie cages are a small colony still soldiering on,been a good 5 or 6 years since ive tried breeding them,let alone bought any,as i got out of small monitors and bearded dragons,still have my old old gillens pr but i just get them crickets these days

Spandangles tips above is pretty much spot on with what i did,u definatly want fluon or vas around top of container to help with keeping them in,as they run ip the sides just as easilu as running along the ground

[freeloader]

I used to have the very hard dog biscuits in my big speckled roach box and feed greens, veggies and fruit every couple of days. Had a heat cord taped to the bottom of the tub set to 35 degrees. You will be surprised how fast the colony grows. I had mine in the house and as long as you kept the tub relatively clean there was no smell.