JeffreH

Haven't posted in awhile; and I snapped a few shots of my E. javanica so figured I'd go ahead and share! Started with just a couple of pairs early this summer and now have about 40 of the little guys! = ) One of my first nymphs: The happy parents: Happy little family Gettin' their drank on Ehh, what the heck. I was going through my album and figured I might as well throw some others in the mix too! I mean really, who doesn't like seeing roach pics? A. tesselata... still eagerly awaiting babies. I started with 6 nymphs and all have molted into adulthood as of about 1-2 months ago. E. posticus <--Love to drink VS. B. dubia http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/JEFFREH/DSC08637.jpg

<3 You. I'm really excited about trying out my Orangeheads (Eublaberus posticus), the nymphs are maroon, fat and meaty, appear relatively active, and I've heard some very promising things from those who have used them as feeders. They seem pretty productive too, I've heard they can reproduce nearly as fast as B. dubia and mine are reproducing pretty well already so I can believe it. They do have a mild defense odor though, I don't find it bad at all. P. nivea, the little banana roaches make good feeders from my understanding - I know you've seen Zephyr's ad before and he has some descriptions of a few species that would likely make good feeders. In all actuality I'd wager that a good majority of the species that are attainable would make halfway decent feeders, its more a matter of how readily available they and at what expense, in addition to their reproductive rate. While a peppered roach nymph might make a decent meal for some herp or T, the time it takes for them to reach maturity and their general reproductive rate makes them a poor choice for most compared to those species you listed. Hisser nymphs are often used, although adults generally are not due to their size and the barbs on their legs. Several other species in the Blaberus genus are also readily available and often used in addition to discoids as well (B. fusca, B. craniifer, parabolica, etc).

If you don't want to deal with spending a lot of cash on a thermostat you can buy a rheostat (dimmer). You can find little lamp dimmers for about $10 at home depot, lowes, etc where you plug the heat source into the dimmer and the dimmer into the wall. If it gets too hot simply dim it down a bit. Costwise heat tape is the cheapest by far, it ends up being about $4-5 per square foot wired and it uses a rediculessly low amount of wattage compared to a lot of other heat sources. I've also never clocked mine ever peak greater than 120 degrees F on the surface, so they don't get so hot that they are an easy fire hazard.

Lats are fantastic for young, growing dragons that are going to be consuming massive of amount of insect matter - mine would inhale upwards to 100 appropriate sized crickets daily during growth spurts. Their speed is also going to encourage movement which young dragons crave in hunting and need to develop properly. BUT: I rather dilike lats for adult/sub-adult dragons when they begin to decrease their insect intake and get some size on them. The lats are just too small (even th adults) and move quite quickly. They aren'y bad to have around to mix it up and feed on occasion, but my adults really favor the dubia. If you had a substanstantial colony at the ready - dubia and orange heads are going to set you up for any life term of the dragons life, both through the juvenile and adult stages of life. My recommendation for cost efficiency: Get a good colony of lats going and get starter cultures of dubia and/or orange heads. The lats will be your feeder colony until the other species begin to take off and can handle being fed out of excessively. At which point you can begin to sell excess lats or do as you please with them and keep just a small colony around for another herp or to add some variety to the diet. I'm working on getting my orange head colony up to size, but Kyle claims his dragons much prefers them over dubia. I know they have a great meat to shell ratio and they certainly get nice and big and meaty nymphs. Dubia and orange heads are both great to have for any age dragon so thats up to you = ) Any of these species will work your your GF's leo, but cost effectively feeding bearded dragons (particularly multiple) is going to take you down the lat route for youngins while simultaneously rearing a start culture of a larger species.

I think this is very possible - they are relatively forgiving species and frankly they are a good looking roach to keep IMO. It's also a big plus that they are sexually dimorphic when they reach maturity and the nymphs are quite cute to the average person compared to other species. I see more B. dubia at shows than just about anything else... they really are a decent feeder and with word of mouth by herp and invert keepers alike going around about them I think their popularity just skyrocketed over the past few years. Relatively productive, accesible, non-climbing, non-flying, and easy to feed with a decent meat to shell ratio = good feeder roach = ) Not to mention they aren't going to infest your home - not that its overly likely some other species will, but I'm sure the thought of a productive roach that can reaily breed at room temperature like the lobsters and lats draws some popularity away from them still. I mean, even if you wanted to get another feeder species: you have to LOOK sometimes. B. dubia are everywhere on classifieds, forums, shows, etc. With the exception of a few enthusiasts, there really arent a lot of pure Eublaberus and even Blaberus species readily available to anyone at a reasonable cost to start a feeder colony up. I've been the reptile biz for over a decade, and I can honestly say that even I was ignorant enough to believe that there weren't so many good feeder species of roach. It wasn't until I saw one of Zephyr's ads on fauna that I realized the diversity and beauty of some these guys - now I'm hooked! = ) I'm sure with time more and more people will come around to some of the other species - I purcahsed my orange head colony from Casey and he said I was the first to have inquired about them after the ad had sat for nearly a month, yet he sold thousands of dubia and lats in that time. Most people are just blatantly unaware that so many species exist and can be made good feeders.

Zephyr - I too have noticed that my orange head nymphs seem to be substantially meater than the other species I keep. I'm excited to try these out when the colony gets going. The discoid (likely blaberus hybrid) nymphs tend to be relatively shy like dubia when being fed and seem to be less 'meaty' still. Mt rhacs turn their noses up to these too, for when their fed these both either sit there or hide immediately and stay put. Beardies are always a good resource for judging bugs - mine began to ignore just about anything when I started feeding silkworms and hornworms as staples, if they get picky about something, you know it's something they really like (or rather dislike as opposed to) lol I will say - the only species that's worked for me in naturalistic vivaria is the lateralis. Unless you opt to cup feed which I've been doing from time to time, the other species will pretty much just hide quickly and stay put. In addition, a lot of nymphs have the ability to burrow and smash theirselves tightly against surfaces to where they cannot easily be removed (or noticed for that matter) by the herp. The lats pretty much run around constantly and eventually get noticed and eaten.

Agreed. Take your dad out to dinner and just lay it out there..."Dad...I have something to tell you, and you wont be happy about it....I like roaches." = )

This is a tuffy - it really boils down to precisely what I'm feeding. For example, some species of gecko (in the Rhacodactylus genus, specifically) will turn their noses up to any roach that isn't relatively fast moving; movement really triggers their hunting instinct. That being said, the majority prefer lats over anything else. But dubia and discoids are by far my favorite to feed to just about anything else - their easier to catch, easier for me to deal with, and my herps eat them with gusto. So As fas as favorite feeder goes, I'd rank mine in this order: 1 - Blaptica dubia, 2 - Blaberus discoidalis, 3 - Shelfordella (Blatta) lateralis, 4 - Nauphoeta cinerea. I can't appropriately rank my E. posticus because I haven't fed any off, still trying to get the colony going strong, but I'd wager they would be up there with the dubia and discoids. My most productive roach? Pretty darn close between the lats and the lobsters. I favor the live birthers, but once I got the kinks sorted out in my lat husbandry they've been getting a little out of hand...It's hard to compete against a roach that can lay egg cases at such a rapid rate.

Gorgeous - this is one snake that I simply don't have the space for but drool over every time I see = ) If those hets prove out man... I can only imagine! I see you clearly like the bigguns eh? = ) Maybe one day for me... for now it's ball pythons and boas (BCI for now)

Beautiful bloods man, the orange/peach on that male's head is stunning - A lot of the T+'s I see floating around aren't nearly as intense. I bet that boy absolutely GLOWS in person = ) Are you breeding these two down the road? What's great about bloods is even their normal coloration is fantastic, I intend on picking a couple of these up sometime. Their like big sausages...except a lot prettier lol!

This is what I love about this forum - you learn something new almost constantly = ) Thanks for the 0.02 Kyle, I'll certainly keep that in mind when I get into hissers

Very impressive, Zephyr. I'm jealous (and drooling) LOL = ) vfox, I like the red lamps - I use them for my nocturnal species of reptile for viewing purposes. Never realy thought about utilizing them to view roaches... perhaps I will invest in some 'clear' bins and set up a lamp or two. I house mine in opaque bins and typically have to wait very patiently with dim light to see any of my colonies behave normally. I'd say the use of lights is more practical for keeping larger numbers - a single bulb could produce enough heat to cover an area over several bins. I do prefer heat tape due to its cost and wattage advantage, but I only keep a few species. You could alsoset up heat tape on a back panel for back heat to essentially accomplish what lights are doing, they don't have to be right underneath the bins. Althought for a collection size as large as yours it would probably be impractical to buy so much heat tape.

I'm still trying to get mine started as well - I've had some newborns over the past week from one of my females which was pretty exciting = ) I've actually been told that although they 'may' have a slightly higher protein deman than some other species, the key is actually moisture. I've read from several keepers that having a constant source of moisture is the key to production and preventing as much wing biting...lol I keep mine on no substrate - and feed a mix of veggies a few times a week with water crystals available at all times to keep a constant supply of moisture. My dry feed is a ground mix of chick starter and fish food and I throw some whole dog and cat kibble in in case they opt to munch on that. I've noticed their a little shy compared to, say B. dubia. It would probably be best to leave them alone as much as possible and keep them warm and dark for best results. Their one of my species where, despite being in an opaque bin, I can hear scatter quick loudly once the lights come on. Be patient, give them ample food and drink, and they'll do their thing if you leave them be = )

They are indeed very similar looking - as you continue to see individuals your eye gets a little better at differentiating them. The same can be said for several species in the Blaberus genus (amonst others) as well, as they appear nearly identical at first glance. Take a closer look at the pronotum of each species - this is usually a good way to identify the species at first glance. I'm sure Zephyr could probably ID them using other methods being so familiar with them, but to the average person the patterning on this part of the body usually gives away the species. Quote: "E. distanti and E. posticus have very subtle variations in pronotum patterns, whereas E. sp. "Pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" have several other patterns." -Zephyr As he claims, there is always some room for deviation - but E. posticus (Orange head roach) has the bold orange pronotum with some dark markings, and E. distanti generaly has six dark spots generally arranged as the picture shows. This species yields the common name "six spotted roach." I'm not as familiar with E. "pantanal" and E. sp. "Ivory" but it would appear that E. pantanal has dark patterning that covers a large mass of the pronotum and the latter seems to yield a completely different pattern itself. I'm sure Zephyr can elaborate on the finer details.

Great pictures and comparisons - it's nice to see them all side by side = ) Remind me to pic up a couple of these species from you sometime; my E. posticus are rapidly becoming a favorite amongst my colonies and I think I'll need at least one more Eublaberus...LOL Have any shots of the nymphs as well? I recall you telling me that the E. sp. Ivory nymphs had more vivid markings and coloration than those of E. distanti.