I have several questions but I'm not sure how to word them. I received about 6 female and 1 male turkistan roaches in an order of lobsters. My only male died a month ago, yet I see a few females still laying oothecaes. Are they fertile? I've had these roaches since mid summer. I don't think any nymphs have hatched yet. Do they require special care? I've tried seperating them from the lobsters but I can't catch them. I've heard that the lobsters may eat the ooths but I found several that were shrivaled up, are they dead? Should I gather them up and put them in their own container or are the females tending to them still. I don't know if they do that or not. Any ideas?

Not sure about Lateralis, but my Orientalis female laid a few ooths, and they were fertile. I kept them the same as I kept the adult, and had one hatch out in a month or two.

I would be very concerned that the lateralis will eat the newborn lobster roach nymphs. Blatta lateralis is like a roach version of the pirahnna. Separate them right away.

Also, as is the case with many roach species, the female only has to mate once and can produce fertile eggs for a very long time. I have some roaches that had the males die off a year ago and they are still producing ootheca that hatch out.

WOW, really? Hmm I was feeling sorry for the girls , now a bit nervous. I only have 6 turks in a tub of several thousand lobsters. They can't eat too much can they? I was trying to get these ooths(can I say that?) to hatch but maybe I will throw them away, err flush them instead. I can't catch those little buggers. I am in the process of puting together a bigger bin for the lobsters so maybe I can get them then. They don't seem aggressive, do they bite?

6 turks in a bin of several thousand lobsters won't even make a dent. I would not worry about it, though they can be a handy feeder roach- I think they are the best for slings (I use them for slings and then graduate the slings to med or large lobster roaches when they get big enough).

No, they don't bite...fingers. They really only get other roaches when they molt and are very soft, but can eat a hardened roach when desperate for food. I have had (Blatta lateralis aka Turks) live in other colonies on accident, but if you put a roach in a dense colony of lats they may or may not survive.

I have a 4 month old bearded dragon, what's a sling? My beardie eats the lobsters and when my b. dubias get established it's bye bye losters! I like the dubias, they smell nicer and don't make me feel creepy when I stick my hand in their "territory". Thanks for the info.
darla

sling = spiderling/ baby tarantula

baby beardies are pretty darn cute! In your case, I really would not worry about the lats in your lobsters.

Oh how sweet! The spiderlings can eat a whole roach? wow! I found a spider in my feeder bin eating a small lobster, or what was left of it anyway. It was one of those black jumping spiders, really hairy bugger. I want to see how big he gets. I see him eating the water cyrstals too sometimes. I bet he is in hog heaven with all that prospective food running around!

I found my first b. latt. nymphs. They were so tiny and cute. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two breeds but there is a big difference. I don't know how many I have now. I just changed from 30gal to 60gal to give more room. After I clean the 30gal I'll put the b.latts in their own place, if I can catch them!