The Right Roach for Me?

[Meer]

Hi, I'm new here. I'm tired of dealing with crickets as feeders so I'm thinking about getting roaches to double as pets and feeders. (I think roaches are cool, my family thinks I'm nuts, but they're used to my weird hobbies) I have just a few animals needing feeder insects. One tree frog and and two tarantulas. I plan to get more tarantulas soon but my collection will remain relatively small for the foreseeable future.

My main concern is what would work best for my frog. He has a large enclosure with lots of plants and bark, plenty of places to hide so he doesn't always find all his crickets. Sometimes I find several still crawling around the day after I've fed him. So my worry is that if I switch to roaches they would be more likely to burrow into his substrate and not be found. Then he wouldn't get to eat them and they'd end up living in his tank.

Is there any species of roach that would be more likely to crawl around than burrow? Would one maybe climb around, not necessarily on glass but on plants/bark so they could be more easily seen by frog who spends most of his time off the ground?

I also need something that doesn't get too huge. My adult tarantula could take on something bigger than an adult cricket, but my frog can only eat medium size juvenile crickets, so I need something that at some point in development is about that size. And my 2" tarantula will need smallish nymphs to eat.

 

[PeriplanetaAmericana]

Hello,

You can feed them with Blatta lateralis (turkestan roaches) or Nauphoeta cinerea (Lobster roaches). Their size is like crickets.

Best regards,

Javier.

 

[Meer]

Thank you. But I was really hoping for more information on their behavior, since my worry is them hiding/burrowing in my frog's enclosure. (And I don't mind if the adults get a bit bigger than crickets)

 

[PeriplanetaAmericana]

Hello,

So, if your problem is burroging roaches, use Blatta lateralis, they don´t burrow.

Best regards,

Javier.

 

[Meer]

Are they the only ones that don't burrow? I could try them I guess but I really think they're ugly. I know they're feeders it doesn't matter what they look like. But if I'm gonna look at something at least every other day I'd rather have something that looked cool, know what I mean? All the other commonly available roaches I've looked at I think are neat looking, but if they burrow they're no good to me.

 

[PeriplanetaAmericana]

Hello,

If you want a no-burrowing and cool roach try Neostylopyga rhombifolia. They´re great .

Best regards,

Javier.

 

[BugmanPrice]

I could try them I guess but I really think they're ugly.

I have a colony of wild caught ones and the males are actually pretty neat looking with their orange coloration and the nymphs are a varied reddish...of course I have never come across an ugly looking insect.

 

[Ralph]

I may suggest moving the frog to a different container for feeding if you can't find a suitable roach. Blatta lateralis don't burrow, but also don't look very good (debatable). Nauphoeta cinerea (lobster roaches) are very good at climbing glass. Panchlora nivea (green banana roaches) can't climb glass and the adults love to sit on vegetation, but are great flyers and I don't know if the nymphs burrow. Panchlora are also very small. If all else fails, Blatta orientalis and other pest roaches sound good for you.

 

[logan09]

I would go with lobster roaches. I have several tarantulas and they have no problem getting them. As for your tree frog I have a feeling it will be fine catching them(dont have any frogs though). I have several lobsters in my snake cage which is 6ft high by 4ft wide. I always see them walking around on the floor of the cage and up on my trees and all over my live plants. They also dont seem to burrow, I dont know how deep yuor sbstrate is though?

Also a few of them will multiply very fast!

 

[PeriplanetaAmericana]

Hello,

Ralph, Panchlora nivea (Green Banana Roaches) can climb glass and plastic cages .

Best regards,

Javier.

 

[Ralph]

:mellow: Oops, must have misread the allpet roaches site. Turns out the nymphs love burrowing too. Disregard the suggestion for Panchlora.

 

[Allpet Roaches]

Hello,Ralph, Panchlora nivea (Green Banana Roaches) can climb glass and plastic cages .

Best regards,

Javier.

True, but not the nymphs. Here's what it says on the Allpet Roaches site about climbing:

"The nymphs are burrowers and do not climb, on the other hand, the adults love to climb. If there is a crack, they will find it. Also, when you open the container, watch out!"

 

[PeriplanetaAmericana]

Hello,

Thanks Orin, I didn´t remember. I have a little colony of them and ninphs love burrowing and they don´t clim.

Best regards,

Javier.

 

[Matt K]

For a frog tank most any roach will work. Fact is if they (roaches) burrow it is only during the day. They will still come out at night and wander all around or even climb branches or bark pieces. Frogs are usually much more active at night anyway, so this works out just as it does in nature- frogs will invariably eat the roaches.

Every single species of roach I have is night-active.