Chris Driggers

Nice collection Graham. Question, do the glowspots glow spots actually glow?

Always nice to see new people around here. Nice collection by the way.

Since I feed off any extras that I have no matter the species, I like to start with at least 100 no matter the species. Of course like Graham said, with some of the rarer species prices/availability just don't allow that to happen everytime. But whenever possible, I like to start with at least 100, preferably more. Chris

The GBB will always be on my top 10 favorites list of tarantulas. I traded my adult female a few months back, but I still have a sling. I'm not sure I could be without one for very long. Nice looking specimens Orin.

That is beautiful. Any idea where I could acquire one/some? I don't have any spare cash at the moment, but when I do I wouldn't mind having one or two of those.

I had a large colony of E. prosticus for 3 years without a single cleaning, just remove the dead ones as soon as you see them, don't let food stay in there long enough to mold over, and you should be fine in my experience. The high humidity lovers might be a little different however.

I use dog food for them, in a dish, I use water crystals for a water source, also in a dish. I also keep some water crystals mixed in with the substrate in their enclosure. For fruits and veggies, I just wash and slice them up small enough that I know they can consume it all in a day or 2 and put it in there, the roaches take care of the rest.

Same here, only I used dog food. I never did any research before, like I said I just assumed the nymphs would have trouble. But this will definately save some time, and a little cash too, as I have a dog and have dog food on hand already anyway.

Hey Graham, likewise. It's been unusually hot here, too hot for herping(for me anyway), but I need to go and pick up a few things. Including some of those wood roaches if I can grab enough of them for a decent starter colony. Chris

I always assumed that the nymphs would have a hard time with it if it wasn't ground down to a fine powder.

Just wanted to throw a big thank you your way. I used to visit bugsincyberspace quite a bit, loved it. But you guys have done a GREAT job getting this set up, and I just wanted to thank you.. Thanks again, Chris

Thanks for putting this site together, I have used it quite a bit, and hope to use it for many years to come. I finally found a hobby that I think I can stick with, I never get tired of learning new things if they interest me. This hobby has my interest moreso than any other hobby I have ever been a part of. It was interesting reading how you got into the roach hobby. Thanks for all of your hard work in getting this site and the roach hobby to the point it is at right now, it is appreciated by myself and many others. Thanks Orin, Chris

Congrats on a successful trip Graham. It's always nice to find your target species. I'm still hoping to see a live copperhead snake in the wild. I've seen plenty of dead ones. I would like to see a tarantula in the wild one day as well. Chris

I know there are many different reasons to keep roaches, for me it started as a way to reduce my feeding bill for my other insectivorious pets. It turned into pure fascination in a matter of months. I enjoy them, I check on them every time I have a chance and it never ceases to amaze me how easy they are to care for, and I love to watch the numbers increase. I'd be interested in seeing what other peoples reasons for keeping these awesome animals are. Chris

No grinding? Just throw it in straight out of the bag?

Well I'm not strict on the "no climbers" rule for pet species. Now all my roaches are feeders for my tarantulas, scorpions, frogs and bearded dragon. I got rid of the Orange Heads because of the rumors that they have been known to munch on a molting invertebrate, and they b urrow so fast some of the spiders don't catch them before they burrow, and I have a lot of arboreals, and they didnt go over really well as feeders for arboreals. I really like the dubia as a feeder, and the speed breeding of the lateralis plus the size of the newly hatched nymphs so I can have appropriately sized feeders for all of my animals. Chris

No, I don't have the Eublaberus anymore, I tend to stay away from the climbers a little more now, had some problems with lobsters ecscaping a couple years ago, and now I stick primarily to the non-climbers. I have kept, orangeheads, six spots, normal giant and black morph hissers, lobsters, deathheads, discoids, B. fusca, lateralis, dubia, and B. gigantea. I guess that's more like 10 species, 3 morphs of one of them. Still have lateralis and dubia. Looking for some dominoes and glowspots now, and who knows what else. Chris

What does everyone use? This is a mix that I have found to produce more offspring, and the roaches seem to grow a little faster but then again, I only pay really close attention to them in the warmer months, the rest of the time, I just feed and water them, spot clean and cover them back up. I suppose it's not really a recipe, because I don't have the quantities on some ingredients. Roach Food Cheap dollar store cat food 3-4 coffee grinders full Dry oatmeal 3-4 coffee grinders full 3-4 oak leaves I grind everything in a coffee grinder, I usually mix the oak leaves in with the cat food so it grinds a little finer. I also add any cereal that goes stale in the kitchen too, and some dog food every now and again, but it's oily and it cakes up in the grinder and I don't use it very often. Anyone else got a recipe they like? or something else alltogether? I'm interested.

That's one beautiful roach. Do the adults look the same? Are they climbers? Any special diet requirements? Where can I acquire a starter culture?

If you use a substrate, you might try adding some water crystals to the substrate, they will chew on them from time to time, but you can always add more later.. holds the humidity great. I use it in all of my humidity loving inverts enclosures with no problems. Less opening enclosures for misting.

I grew up in Central Alabama and have lived here most of my 27 years. I, as well as most other kids here, was taught from a young age that anything that's not a dog or a cat is bad. Well something didn't seem right about that, and I was always catching something and bringing it home, whether it be snakes, lizards, beetles, roaches, crawfish, spiders, scorpions. It wasn't until about 4 years ago that I found out that there were other peple who liked roaches and that I wasn't weird after all(well by the standards that I was thinking anyway). I got my first starter colony from Wade Harrel as a freebie when I ordered a 2 T-shirts and some tarantula spiderlings. Those 2 dozen E. prosticus grew into an addiction when I saw how quickly they produced once I had a couple hundred adults. I got them originally to use the offspring as feeders for my scorpions, tarantulas and lizards. I did feed some off, but I had to have more. At one time I was keeping 12 species of roaches. I am now down to 2 species, both are feeder colonies. I am looking to add some collector roaches to the collection now. Chris

Anyone else feed veggies with any regularity? I am currently down to 2 species, B. lateralis and B. dubia, and I have found that they seem to breed a bit better on a higher protien dry food, and citrus fruits once a week or so. However I tried giving them some yellow squash and cucumber(my mom has extras from her garden), and I saw an even bigger increase in the numbers of both species. I never saw much of a population explosion when I was using carrots. Anyone else tried squash and/or cucumber? Did you notice a big difference? Anything else that seems to affect the population explosion in the same way? Chris

A thin coating of olive oil around the top edge works well too, but must be re-applied every few months, more often in the warmer months. Less messy than vaseline, and a little less work, but same concept.