Roaches

[Jaylyn]

Does anyone here breed roaches as feeders - and what species would you reccomend?

Jaylyn

[Trace]

I don't breed them but Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches are nutritious feeder insects. I have an overabundance of them at the zoo right now and I do feed them to some of the lizards there.

Easy to keep. They are live bearing bugs and breed like crazy. You'll have 100's before you know it! They are composters, so I feed 'em any leftover veggies that I have.

Warning: here in Ottawa you need a permit to keep them... so check your bylaws.

Cheers!

Trace

[Jaylyn]

Thanks Trace!

Can they climb glass or fly??? I'm brave - but I think the rouge colony of crickets under the deep freeze is more than enough right now!

Jaylyn

[Trace]

Hiya!

They can climb glass (sort of) but they are wingless! To keep them in their tank, I put a thin layer of vaseline (about 1" wide) on the inside walls at the top of the enclosure. They DO NOT like to walk through that! Works like a charm for keepin' 'em inside!

I'd like to take a male and female hisser home and breed them for the chams here, but I'm not sure if my "finicky" eaters will like them.

Hhmmmmm... maybe I should just "borrow" a few of the baby hissers from the zoo to see if the chams will eat them before I get another colony of bugs started here!

Cheers!

Trace