Blatta lateralis?

[wspatterson]

So, have people had good luck feeding their leos blatta lateralis roaches? I've been considering trying to start a colony.
I admit, roaches kind of creep me out. I need to get over that. They don't bite, right?

 

[Merriweather]

I have blaptica dubias, I've grown oddly fond of the little boogers.

They:
*Dont smell
*Dont make noise aside from occasional random quiet shuffling
*Eat a base of ground up cat/dog food + produce leftovers
*Also will eat leftover CGD
*Cant fly or climb smooth surfaces
*One female can produce 30-40 babies x month
*Dont bite you or your geckos
*Dont fight with each other/eat each other like crickets and supers seem to do[or Ive never heard of this happening anyways]

They do however want a lot of heat and more humidity than the average household has at standby. They also like it dark, and they don't like to be disturbed much, they shy. ;o

 

[gothra]

If roaches creep you out, I'd say start with dubia as they are the least creepy type of roach. I have an established dubia colony and just started a lateralis colony. Umm, the lateralis look to be more "tasty" to the geckos from my human judgement, as they move around a lot more and are softer shelled than the dubias. They're about the size of crickets too. Another thing I like about them is that I can take out the egg cases to incubate in another container, so it is easy to sort out different sizes nymphs.

However, they are VERY fast. Have you tried catching crickets with a pair of tweezers? Well, catching lateralis have about the same level difficulty. Lateralis can also climb better than dubias, you'll need really really sleek container to keep them in.

In conclusion, I like them. But if you're scared of roaches, then definately try the dubias first.

 

[T-ReXx]

All roach species are harmless, they don't bite, sting or carry any toxic defenses. Lats are a bit creepier looking I guess(they look more like pest roach species than dubia do) but for leopard geckos I consider them superior simply because their adult size is still within the feeding range of most juvenile to adult leos. Dubia grow larger and unless you have a larger species to feed the adults to(or a friend who has a bearded dragon, Beardie's make great "roach pits" haha) you may end up with too many large roaches if you have a small collection. Lateralis breed EXTREMELY fast, much faster than dubia, and they are better escape artists. Using a very slick plastic bin or a glass container is the best way to contain them. They are quite fast moving, I find that for tong feeding putting them in the fridge for about 15-20 min slows them down enough to make them easy to handle. I usually just put them in ceramic dishes in the cages. Either species is an excellent feeder and both are easily kept and bred. I made the switch to roaches a couple years ago and will never go back to crickets. I prefer dubia for some of my larger gecko species or the slower moving ones and lateralis for anything that likes cricket sized prey.

 

[Designer Geckos]

Hi Ted,

I too love using dubias though not all my geckos will eat them. I usually hold the dubia upside down and grab a rear leg with forceps and feed them to the leos like that upside down so they don't get loose in the tubs. How do you feed yours?

 

[T-ReXx]

Hi Ted,

I too love using dubias though not all my geckos will eat them. I usually hold the dubia upside down and grab a rear leg with forceps and feed them to the leos like that upside down so they don't get loose in the tubs. How do you feed yours?

Depends on the species I'm feeding to. For the leos and fattails I either use a smooth sided dish for the smaller roaches or if I have time I'll tong feed. I don't really worry about the roaches getting lose in the tubs for the most part since the geckos always find then eventually.