Beetle lover turned roach fan!

B

BeetleShelf

First Instar
Hi everyone! My name is Spencer. I'm living in Utah and studying Entomology at university right now. 

I am raising 3 Madagascar Hissers right now, but I am really interested in moving into Domino, Question Mark, and Glowspot roaches as well. I am rearing them as pets, but potentially as feeders a few years down the road. I love roaches because of their ease and almost instant return! Beetles (I raise Goliathus goliatus and Dynastes tityus right now) are only gratifying in the long term, but my Hissers can be handled even now, and grow so fast! 

Any recommendations on which species I should move into next?

I prefer species that don't have wings for aesthetics and so my wife doesn't worry her brains out thinking that the roaches will fly at her haha.

Nice to meet you all! 

- Spencer

 
Last edited by a moderator:
BeetleShelf said:
Hi everyone! My name is Spencer. I'm living in Utah and studying Entomology at university right now. 

I am raising 3 Madagascar Hissers right now, but I am really interested in moving into Domino, Question Mark, and Glowspot roaches as well. I am rearing them as pets, but potentially as feeders a few years down the road. I love roaches because of their ease and almost instant return! Beetles (I raise Goliathus goliatus and Dynastes tityus right now) are only gratifying in the long term, but my Hissers can be handled even now, and grow so fast! 

Any recommendations on which species I should move into next?

I prefer species that don't have wings for aesthetics and so my wife doesn't worry her brains out thinking that the roaches will fly at her haha.

Nice to meet you all! 

- Spencer
Click to expand...
Grubs can be fun to hold, too! It has become my job to bathe the Goliathus grubs at the local insectarium where I volunteer, and they are so much fun to hold. If only their poop was not so much stinkier than that of wood-feeding grubs! 

For roaches, I would suggest Archimandrita based on what I have read about them. They sound like a version of my B. giganteus that can figure out how to sit peacefully. 

 
BeetleShelf said:
Hi everyone! My name is Spencer. I'm living in Utah and studying Entomology at university right now. 

I am raising 3 Madagascar Hissers right now, but I am really interested in moving into Domino, Question Mark, and Glowspot roaches as well. I am rearing them as pets, but potentially as feeders a few years down the road. I love roaches because of their ease and almost instant return! Beetles (I raise Goliathus goliatus and Dynastes tityus right now) are only gratifying in the long term, but my Hissers can be handled even now, and grow so fast! 

Any recommendations on which species I should move into next?

I prefer species that don't have wings for aesthetics and so my wife doesn't worry her brains out thinking that the roaches will fly at her haha.

Nice to meet you all! 

- Spencer
Click to expand...
Welcome! 

Almost all adult roaches are equipped with wings (including the ones you mentioned), but not all can really use them. I recommend Peppered roaches as @The Mantis Menagerie suggested; they're large, considerably docile, and adult males can only flutter downwards slightly, no true flying ability. Polyphaga spp. are also really great; P.saussurei is the most docile roach I've ever encountered and also get's quite large!

 
Welcome to the forums, hope you enjoy it here! :)  Polyphaga saussurei would be my pick, there's also some neat species like Paranauphoeta formosana or Decoralampra fulgencioi, both of which are only intermediate in terms of husbandry difficulty, and can't fly. The Decoralampra are actually beetle mimics... ;) I believe @Bmaines96 has all of these available. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hisserdude said:
Welcome to the forums, hope you enjoy it here! :)  Polyphaga saussurei would be my pick, there's also some neat species like Paranauphoeta formosana or Decoralampra fulgencioi, both of which are only intermediate in terms of husbandry difficulty, and can't fly. The Decoralampra are actually beetle mimics... ;) I believe @Bmaines96 has all of these available. 
Click to expand...


All About Arthropods said:
Welcome! 

Almost all adult roaches are equipped with wings (including the ones you mentioned), but not all can really use them. I recommend Peppered roaches as @The Mantis Menagerie suggested; they're large, considerably docile, and adult males can only flutter downwards slightly, no true flying ability. Polyphaga spp. are also really great; P.saussurei is the most docile roach I've ever encountered and also get's quite large!
Click to expand...


The Mantis Menagerie said:
Grubs can be fun to hold, too! It has become my job to bathe the Goliathus grubs at the local insectarium where I volunteer, and they are so much fun to hold. If only their poop was not so much stinkier than that of wood-feeding grubs! 

For roaches, I would suggest Archimandrita based on what I have read about them. They sound like a version of my B. giganteus that can figure out how to sit peacefully. 
Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks everyone! I was recently looking into a few other species, and I wanted to know where I could find them. I'm particularly interested in Henschoutedenia flexivitta.

I saw that Roach Crossing sells them, but I've also heard that Kyle isn't really active anymore. Is this true?

 
BeetleShelf said:
Awesome, thanks everyone! I was recently looking into a few other species, and I wanted to know where I could find them. I'm particularly interested in Henschoutedenia flexivitta.

I saw that Roach Crossing sells them, but I've also heard that Kyle isn't really active anymore. Is this true?
Click to expand...
@Bmaines96 should have some flexivitta, but if not, you can also scroll the ad section on here. They're not extremely rare, so they pop up in lists from time to time 

Yeah, Kyle's either online or he isn't......unfortunately he's been just about completely offline for months now.

 
BeetleShelf said:
Awesome, thanks everyone! I was recently looking into a few other species, and I wanted to know where I could find them. I'm particularly interested in Henschoutedenia flexivitta.

I saw that Roach Crossing sells them, but I've also heard that Kyle isn't really active anymore. Is this true?
Click to expand...
@Bmaines96 probably has some, Roachcrossing has been dead for a while, and I'm not sure if Kyle will ever fully return... 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
All About Arthropods said:
@Bmaines96 should have some flexivitta, but if not, you can also scroll the ad section on here. They're not extremely rare, so they pop up in lists from time to time 

Yeah, Kyle's either online or he isn't......unfortunately he's been just about completely offline for months now.
Click to expand...


Hisserdude said:
@Bmaines96 probably has some, Roachcrossing has been dead for a while, and I'm not sure if Kyle will ever fully return... 
Click to expand...
Okay, I'll check around. I have some G. Caffrorum and P. Sassurei coming this week! Thanks for the suggestions guys. Bummer about Kyle. It would be awesome if he came around again.

 
Hisserdude said:
Nice selection, fair warning though, adult male G.caffrorum are just about the most hyper roaches you'll come across in the hobby, and are fantastic fliers too... 
Click to expand...
Oh! Haha, I guess I got an interesting situation then! I heard P. Sassurei are incredibly docile, so it will be a nice contrast to the G. Caffrorum! 

 
Welcome! I'd suggest G. oblongonota, G. "princisia big" and Macropanesthia. 

I think I have flexivitta still listed on my last list. I originally got into roaches because you could find them for sale a long time ago (it could take you a decade to find ten different species) but nobody bred beetles and you certainly couldn't find them at a pet shop.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Welcome to roaches. Always nice to see other Utahns in the hobby.

Henschoutedenia flexivitta aren't exactly the best handling species, but they are certainly interesting. As others have said, Archimandrita tesselata and Polyphaga saussurei are excellent candidates for that. Also Ergaula species (capucina, pilosa).

 
Allpet Roaches said:
Welcome! I'd suggest G. oblongonota, G. "princisia big" and Macropanesthia. 

I think I have flexivitta still listed on my last list. I originally got into roaches because you could find them for sale a long time ago (it could take you a decade to find ten different species) but nobody bred beetles and you certainly couldn't find them at a pet shop.
Click to expand...
Macropanesthia look amazing. They're definitely on my list when I have more cash! Quite the investment :)

Roaches are incredibly fascinating to me. Their intelligence intrigues me, and I could watch my colonies for hours. It's so relaxing! Beetles just don't offer the same depth in that way. I agree with you, even now it's easier to find amazing roaches that most other insects.

 
VolkswagenBug said:
Welcome to roaches. Always nice to see other Utahns in the hobby.

Henschoutedenia flexivitta aren't exactly the best handling species, but they are certainly interesting. As others have said, Archimandrita tesselata and Polyphaga saussurei are excellent candidates for that. Also Ergaula species (capucina, pilosa).
Click to expand...
Thanks! 

Sometimes I don't mind having faster and more spastic species. They are a blast to watch and a challenge to hold, so it's fun when you finally get one to be docile. 

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top