Introduction and question!

[rafasani]

First Post! Short introduction: I love animals since I was a kid, some years back I got into the 'exotic' animals. I currently own 3 tarantulas (B. smithi, B. boehmei & L. klugi), 2 'true spiders' (Loxosceles sp & Lyssomanes sp), and 1 corn snake (normal). But I've always had an interest in geckos, but here where I live (Brazil) is very hard to get exotic animals, I never had the opportunity to get a gecko. So I just knew a guy who has some leos and he said he'll have some hatchlings by january and I'm really excited about getting me one (or two :main_rolleyes: ).

The question:
I've bred crickets but I just hated it, they stink and are a pain to reproduce. Currently I'm breeding lobster roaches, much better. I've seen that most of the people here breed mealworms or crickets. Why is that? They preffer crickets over roaches or is it a 'roachfobia' thing? I just don't want to go back to breeding these d*** crickets. heheheh

ps. GREAT FORUM!! :main_thumbsup::main_thumbsup::main_thumbsup::main_thumbsup:

 

[LeapinLizards]

Roaches are the new "in" feeder right now. Like yourself, a lot of people really hate crickets, and having a diet of only one feeder is not in the geckos best interest.

Yes, a lot of people are "afraid" of roaches, but most get over it. I think it has more to do with the fact that everyone was content with the easy mealworms and crickets, even though they stink. There was a terrible mealworm shortage here in the US recently, so a lot of people started exploring other feeders, roaches being one of them, and by word of mouth, people are learning how awesome they are!

I have had my little ones on roaches and giant mealies for the last couple weeks and can already notice all around healthier geckos. Not only do they love them, they go nuts! At least for the dubia I have.

 

[fOOlsgOld]

I went with dubias. Check out www.bestroach.com and www.theroachguy.com for more information. I got mine from the former and am planing on getting another order from theroachguy some time next year just to get some 'new blood' in my colony.
EDIT: Bestroach sells other kinds of roaches and has information on them and theroachguy sells dubia only.

LoL copy/paste for the win.... I'm being lazy tonight:main_laugh::main_laugh:

 

[Bennayboi]

Roaches are probably the best all-around feeder for leopard geckos. Only silkworms are more nutritious, but theyre expensive and high maintenance.

 

[rafasani]

Quick replies

That's very nice to hear (read?). I had already thought about having some other food sorce to offer a more diverse diet, I don't mind keeping mealworms at all.

Now that I only use the roaches to feed my spiders I feed them fruits and dog food (puppy food actually, it has more protein). Although it's a high quality one (royal canin from my fiancee's yorkshire terrier hehehe) I guess tropical fish food would be more suitable if I would use them as reptile food later?