My cockroach had babies!!! =] Yep, lol.

[luckies4me]

So finally after about 9 months my orange spotted roach decided to grace my family with some tiny little ones. It is so funny because they look just like mom. It will take awhile to tell which ones are girls and which ones are boys. But I don't plan on letting too many get that big as they are going to be used as feeders for my frogs and lizards. It is a lot healthier to feed roaches than crickets, and crickets just plain stink. They're pretty gross. Cockroaches are very easy to keep and have no smell at all. Plus, they're just cool.

The first picture is not of the mother, but one of my hissing cockroaches with the babies. They eat pretty much anything, which is good for leftovers lol. So they're pretty fat and healthy before they get fed...or they will be any way. The babies have grown considerably since this photo was taken, which was about a week ago. The second picture is of the mom. The babies look just like her. I think they resemble rollie pollies.

Anywho, my hissers are strictly pets and will never be fed. I am very attached to them as a matter of fact. Their names are Hermes and Delilah. The mom and dad orange spotted roaches are pets too, but I will feed off their young.

[luckies4me]

Also, they only have about thirty babies at a time, and give live birth. No eggs.

[Casper]

Aww, those babies are so cute!
Congratulations!

[hammiegirl]

I once upon a time fed crickets to my toads. They smelled and chirped all night so I had to put them in another room. If I ever have toads again they are getting cockroaches for food.

[luckies4me]

I much prefer cockroaches over crickets. They will still get their mealworms and crickets and waxworms on occasion, but not often. Crickets are just so awful to keep. Their smell is horrendous! Cockroaches are much healthier, don't make noise, can't infest your home if they get out etc. I love keeping them, and it's a great starter pet for my young children who help care for them.

[Catherinedana]

Funny, living in Florida, I spend a whooooole lotta time keeping roaches OUT of my house!

[Seravieve]

Cute is not a word I can use to describe cockroaches.. sorry. Interesting though. And seeing that you feed them to your frogs. We fed crickets for a long while.. but they're a pain! We'd buy them from Petco or Petsmart and by the end of the week half of them were dead... Seemed like a big waste. And the Petco that is most convenient was ALWAYS out of crickets. Grr. So now we feed mealworms. And the few random crickets that find their way into our house from the back yard.

I didnt know insects had live births.. thats rather interesting to know about cockroaches.

[ramanth]

I think 'hissers' are so neat! I would prefer to feed roaches over crickets to my crew, but fear if any got loose, my landlord would kill me!

[IRescue452]

Congrats. I'm still trying to find somebody who sell roaches locally (without having to buy 100). Once one of my pregnant hissers got loose in the house. I found mom and her 35 babies in a box in a closet. No invasion yet and its been a few years so I assume I found all the babies or any unfound died of dehydration.

[king2005]

Hmmm.... What kind of cage do you keep them in? I'm quite interested in raising some as feeders as I have a very hard time getting large healthy crickets. + they make such a nasty mess in Lilly's tank. I visit a lot of reptile stores & have never seen cockroaches sold... Where could I get some? & What is a good breed to get.. I like the 30 live babies thing & they look pretty big so they'll be easier to keep caged.

[luckies4me]

The cool thing is, if they get out of your encloser they're not going to cause an infestation. They likely would not survive as they have pretty stern husbandy requirements. When I had some get out a few years ago I didn't even bother looking for them, as I knew it wouldn't be a big deal. I eventually found both (they don't stray far) and then fed them to my mantis after accidently running them over with a heater. =/

Right now they're just in a critter keeper. But as soon as my colony gets bigger I will move them to a rubbermaid container. The orange spotted cockroaches cannot climb glass or plastic so you don't really worry about them escaping. The hissers on the other hand can pretty much climb everything so it's best to line the enclosure with petroleum jelly at the top, that way they don't climb out.

If you want to start with an easy species, either false death heads or orange spotted roaches work well. You can order them online, but it's sort of spendy. I got mine from a friend. He started me off with a few to get my colony started. The hissers came from the Petstore. Just depends on the legalities of your state, and whether or not they are legal.

Oh and the cool thing about the orange spotteds is you can regulate their breeding!

[luckies4me]

Plus it takes forever for them to mature, and they'd die before ever having the chance to reach adulthood. Also, if you do plan on getting the orange spotteds the adult males DO fly! They say they don't but trust me...I had a huge male get out and fly around my kitchen for about 30 minutes before I caught him!

[king2005]

Plus it takes forever for them to mature, and they'd die before ever having the chance to reach adulthood. Also, if you do plan on getting the orange spotteds the adult males DO fly! They say they don't but trust me...I had a huge male get out and fly around my kitchen for about 30 minutes before I caught him!

hahaha cool!

Thanks a ton for the info!
I hope there are no laws here (Ontario Canada) as I really want to get the Orange Spotted ones.. they sound easy enough to house & I LOVE bugs as pets! also I know it'll be a better meal for Lilly.

I'm sure they'll creep the hell out of Trevor, so I'll just have to chase him around the house until he looses his fear of huge roaches LOL ...ok I'd never do that to him as I know I'd pay for it later as he's much larger & stronger then I am & he knows all my tickle spots

I'm gonna go to the reptile place that isn't too far from home to see if they can order me any. Oooooo I hope they have some & that they are under 20.00/each.

Ooooo crazy thought!! If I can get one I'm gonna have to take one down to my land lady & say "Hey Julie I found this in my apt. What is it?" Oh man I can have some real fun with that LOL... I just hope she doesn't hit me with a broom

[king2005]

oh ya!

My sister's friend told her about their sick lizard cause the poor thing was refusing to eat crickets. She asked me what other bugs are safe for them to eat & I told her about the Orange Spotted cockroaches. Gave her all the info you posted above & she thinks they'll really like that solution as they aren't fans of feeding him just meal worms (he likes those). They want variety.

I can't feed Lilly (my Rose Hair) Meal worms as no one will sell me just 1 worm & I don't want 6 as they all turn into beetles by the time shes ready for her next meal

If I had something that would eat the beetles then it wouldn't be so bad. But my fish are too small, Axle wont be able to see it, & Realm is scared of moving things & I have a hard enough time getting him to eat different brands of pellet food. Picky critters! lol

[IRescue452]

I

can't feed Lilly (my Rose Hair) Meal worms as no one will sell me just 1 worm & I don't want 6 as they all turn into beetles by the time shes ready for her next meal

Got a birdfeeder for the other 5 worms?