Crickets Vs. Roaches

[marya1962]

Looked into Dubias and got some for Rosie. Also, superworms. Management doesn't know about the roaches. Does feeding without tongs make Ts more aggressive? Rosie attacks anything put into her tank these days.

 

[The Wormwood]

Late to the party, but I freakin' hate crickets. They're messy, they cannibalize, they get out and chirp at me from under the fridge... I also had a bad experience buying crickets from a small local pet store.
Am still using crickets (although I tried flightless fruit flies for the itty bitty slings; seemed to go down okay, but were tough to grab since they were SO tiny), but I have some hisser subadults & nymphs that I'm hoping to start a small colony with.

 

[Josh]

I hate crickets too! They stink!

 

[StoptheInsanity]

Like i said, i breed feeder frogs. They normally max out at 4" from snout to vent. I normally feed them off around 3". My Ts are all adults anyways and could easily tackle prey this size. Unlike mice, they don't put up a fight.

My hedgehogs are wild. Here they normally scuttle around trash bins and backyards. Asian deserts are harsh so they literally eat live animals here. I even saw 2 hedgehogs eating a kitten one time.

How do you breed "feeder frogs?"...I live in Florida and they won't ship me roaches...I live on an island in the country in S.W.Fl, and, would you believe, I haven't been able to find one roach around here...And they would be safe as I have no neighbors that spray...I'm really interested in another food source besides crickets and mealies

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I have a couple of small fish pens made of hard plastic with a couple of inches of dechlorinated water. I usually age the water by putting some dried grasses inside and leaving it for 48 rs til the water becomes a bit brownish. Sometimes i add a pregnant ladies urine (usually from my neighbors) to the water coz this speeds some the females' ovulation process. I usually leave 3 adult males with 6 adult females, leave a bowl of superworms inside, cover the whole pen with a mesh and just let them be for about 3 weeks. Once they start croaking and egg masses are floating all over i just remove the adults, put an aerator on the eggs and start doing the whole process on the other fish pen.

Well i do understand that a lot of non-native plants and animals are illegal in Florida due to the climate haha

 

[MatthewM1]

Roaches all the way. I have colonies of of dubias, lats and hissers. I don't miss crickets at all. If I do buy them for variety, I feed them off the same day.

 

[Ed Zeppelin]

I like the crix. I get six (but no egg roll) about every week or so and they're gone within a couple of days. No muss, no fuss. Esmeralda, my 5.5" LP, will eat more than my two A. avics combined. The two pet stores in my area (Petco & Pet Smart) don't carry roaches. The avics don't really go after the superworms but the LP will eat those and anything within her reach. As for me and my Ts, crix are the way to go. Just my two cents.



Sent from my Commodore 64 running Windoze 95

 

[mrsoul1974]

After all my research and experience with crickets I general, I can't stand them. They jump, they escape, they're loud... Lol. I really want to do roaches for the simple fact that I can pluck one up with some tweezers and not worry about it jumping at me... But everyone in my home is still nervous about my little Ellie in general so roaches are a no go.

Until a cricket escapes and is singing in their room all night.

Yeah, crickets are a pain! I use redrunners. I think they are the best choice because they are a mor fulfilling meal for your T, plus they produce a much better feeding response than crickets or dubias. Also, they can't hurt your T like a cricket can, so if one gets lost inside your T's enclosure, there is no worry that it can hurt your T during molting (although I suggest removing it if your T is in premolt and you see the roach emerge from hiding.) Just be super-careful not to let any escape... They will infest your home, or so I have been warned. From what I understand, there are certain states that won't let you have them shipped to. So there is definitely a real concern about keeping them. As long as you are careful you should be fine. They breed quickly and will cannibalize if you don't keep up with their feeding, so if your colony starts to get too big, just lay off the feeding for awhile and nature will take care of itself. Also, they cannot climb smooth surfaces, which is good to know.

When I did keep crickets, I would keep about a dozen or so in a critter keeper, catch them by hand and then use tongs to grab them and drop them into my T's enclosure.

 

[Hemolymph]

I mostly use super worms/roaches. If I use crickets I freeze the stinky things. They last longer that way.

 

[Jess S]

Crickets stay alive without food and water for a surprising length of time. I found one I'd left in a lidded catch cup (with air holes or it would've been a goner) that I'd not used in the feeding routine. It had been in there for maybe a week and a half. Oops! It's gone back in with the colony, and will probably die overnight just to spite me for being so neglectful

 

[Arachnoclown]

I mostly use super worms/roaches. If I use crickets I freeze the stinky things. They last longer that way.

Freezing actually works great. You can store them lots longer and still feed your spiders without the stink and die off. I've found that my mature spiders will still scavenge too...not just my slings.

 

[Metalman2004]

Usually cut up superworms for the slings. Occasionally I’ll give them to adults, but if they don’t take it right away I don’t give them a second chance because I hate losing the superworms in the substrate.

Currently I buy a few dozen crickets once a week and feed them all off in a day or two. Sometimes I’ll pull the back legs off and give them to the slings too.

My B lat colony didn’t so great this year so I just cleaned it out and added 1000 small roaches to it. I’m sure by summer they’ll be grown and breeding. That can’t come soon enough because I have not liked going back to crickets.

 

[Colorado Ts]

For choosing what foods that I feed to my charges...it depends on how many I have to feed. If I only have a few, say 5 or less, I'll feed crickets or mealworms or even super worms.

But if I have a lot of mouths to feed, the most efficient food will be roaches and I prefer the red runners.