Category: Roaches

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Oriental Roach Care Sheet

Oriental Roach

Roach Care Sheet

Roach Care  Sheet:  

Oriental Roach


Blatta orientalis

 

 

Common and Scientific
Name
Oriental Roach

Blatta orientalis
Breeding Information and
Defining Characteristics

They
will breed readily when the environment is right.
They will lay egg cases which will hatch in a couple of
weeks with temps around 80 degrees.

They
are a dark colored, almost maroon, fast moving
roach.

 
Feeding Preferences They feed on dead decaying organic matter.
Housing Requirements
 A well ventilated container with lid and
Vaseline to prevent escape, eg cartons, food, water and heat
Difficulty Rearing
 Medium.  We have raised these on very
moist substrate and lost every roach.  We also have
raised them where the temps dipped and they died.  If
everything is right they will thrive.  They look a
great deal like Blatta Lateralis except that the adults are
larger and darker in color. They are not as easy to raise as
Blatta Lateralis.
Climbing Habit
 They can climb glass and plastic.  They
like to climb over branches and egg cartons.
Substrate
 No substrate is needed
Temperature and Humidity
 They prefer dark, damp and cool areas. The
optimum temperature is between 68 and 84F
Restrictions
 Florida Legal.

 

Pictures:
Video Oriental roach video

 

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Surinam Roaches Care Sheet

Surinam Roaches

Roach Care Sheet

Roach Care Sheet:  Surinam Roaches  (Pycnoscelus surinamensis)

 

Common and Scientific
Name		 Surinam Roach (Pycnoscelus

surinamensis)
Breeding Information and
Defining Characteristics

They need it warm and humid to breed.  Think Florida.


They grow to about 1 inch in length as an adult.

Colonies are mostly, if not all,
female.  Surinam Roaches reproduce through parthenogenesis
which means that females reproduce by making exact
copies of themselves.

 
Housing Requirements
 Any secure container is suitable for Surinam
Roaches.  Surinam can jump. A petroleum jelly barrier
can be used to prevent them from getting out of the
container. We use Bug Boundary Grease to stop escapes.
Difficulty Rearing
 Easy
Climbing Habit
 They can climb plastic and glass and they can
jump.
Substrate
 Any substrate is suitable, preferably cypress
mulch because it is easy to clean up, but coconut coir
bedding, or any type of mulch type bedding is fine.
Food Preference Freshly planted foliage such as flowers, tree
leaves, weeds and potted plants.  They like fresh and
dried grasses, straw and Oak leaves.  They will not do
well without this type of food and you may experience
die-off without a source of plant material as food.
Pick some leaves and bag them for an off season food source
or you can buy Surinam food from us.  You can also get
bagged leaves on from these links.
Temperature and Humidity
 They need heat to breed. Their respiration
gives enough humidity, there is no need to add water but you
should have a small bowl of Cricket Crystals in their
enclosure to ensure moisture.
Restrictions
 Florida Legal

 

Pictures: Surinam Roaches
Video

 

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Live Roach Care Sheet: Orange Head Roaches

orange head roaches

 

Roach Care Sheet

Roach Care Sheet: 

Orange Head Roach(Eulaberus posticus)

 

Common and Scientific Name Orange Head Roach (Eulaberus posticus)
Breeding Information and Defining Characteristics

If all requirements are met, then Orange Head Roaches will breed readily once they develop wings.  The time with which they will reach maturity will depend upon warmth and food supply.

They emit an odor when disturbed that sort of smells like garlic bread.  Adults develop and orange head which their name reflects.
Housing Requirements Any container is suitable for use, size
depends on how many roaches you intend to keep.
Difficulty Rearing Easy. 
Watch for wing biting.  Orange Head Roaches are known
for wing biting and they will eat their cleaning crews so
watch out.  Keep constant protein supply and water
crystals with them at all times.
Climbing Habit Non-Climbing
Substrate Orange Head Roaches love a substrate of
coconut coir or peat moss and leaves.  They love to
burrow and hide.  The problem is that the moist
substrate will make the smell worse.  They already have
a smell when disturbed.  Keep them without a substrate
and provide hiding spaces using egg cartons and empty paper
towel and toilet paper roll inserts.
Temperature and Humidity They can eat any type of food. Examples
include fruits, vegetables, grains and they will even eat
each other and other insects that they can get at.
Restrictions Not Legal in Florida or Hawaii.

 

Pictures:
Picture on the left is and adult Orange Head Roach
The picture on the right is of a nymph.
Video

 

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Live Roach Care Sheets: Ivory Head Roaches

Roach Species: Ivory Head Roach
Scientific Name and Common Names Eublaberus sp. ‘Ivory’

Ivory Head Roach
Sizes Gets bigger than Dubia roaches

Life Cycle

Reproductive Capacity		 Gives birth to live young and readily reproduces as long as they have food and Temps

Of about 80 to 90 degrees.
Difficulty Rating

 

 Easy to Mid-range.  Although rearing Ivory Head Roaches is easy,

it can be made difficult by their need to have substrate.   Raised the same way

that Orange Head Roaches are raised with substrate of moist coir and leaves.
Climbing Habit

 

 The nymphs and adults cannot climb.

Substrate		 Coconut Coir Bedding or Peat Moss.  They like to burrow.
Interesting Information

 

 Ivory Roaches are currently a rare breed in the roach world.

Ivory Roaches seem to enjoy some crowding and they love food scraps.

The Ivory Roach is often used a composting roach.

Sexing		 Males and female adults have wings and are an ivory color

females are rounder, shorter and thicker. The nymphs are brown and

have a dark sheen with 3 brightly colored spots on either side of their bodies.
Origin and Restrictions
Foods Fruit and vegetable scraps.  Will eat moist cat food.
Water Always keep water
crystals present in a cup.   You can get that here
under the brand name, Cricket
Crystals.

 

Housing,
Humidity and
Temperature		 Aquarium or plastic
container with air holes and a lid.
Pictures

Composting Roach, Eublaberus Sp. Ivory

 [adinserter name=”Block 6″]

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Live Roach Care Sheet: Red Runner Roaches

Blatta Lateralis, also known as Turkistan Roaches, Red Runners and a few other names, is a very easy roach to house and breed if you have proper temperatures.

Would you like to see 30,000 Red Runner Roaches in one Rubbermaid container? Check out our video.



Blatta Lateralis


Turkistan Red Runner Roach

Scientific Name

Blatta Lateralis

 Sizes

Up to one inch as
an adult.  Nymphs are about 1/8″.


Life Cycle

 Nymphs mature at 3
to 5 months. Adults live 6 to12 months

Reproductive Capacity
 Egg cases laid
every 2 weeks.  The 20 to 30 eggs hatch in 1 to 4
months.

Housing

Smooth sided
container with cover and egg crates stacked vertically.

Climbing Habit   

Adults do not
climb but nymphs climb well so Bug Boundary Grease
is needed.

Substrate		 None needed

Temperature

Above 70F. 
85 better for faster breeding.

Sexing		 Males blonde with
wings.  Females red and wingless.
Origin Middle

East

Foods

Dry Roach Chow,
Cat Food, fresh vegetables and fruit. Love bananas and
oranges.

Water

Water gel
recommended.  You can get that here under the brand
name, Cricket

Crystals.

Humidity		 Prefers a higher
than average humidity


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Live Roach Care Sheet: Discoid Roaches

Discoid Roaches, also known as False Deaths Head Roaches because of their similarity to the Death’s Head Roach are very hardy and easy to care for.

 

 

Roach Species:  False Deaths
Head Roach

 

 

Scientific Name and Common Names

 

Blaberus discoidalis

False Deaths Head Roach or Discoid Roaches
 

 Sizes

 

 Up
to 3″
 

Life Cycle

 

 Reach adulthood in 3-5 months and
then will live another 10-14 months

Reproductive Capacity
 Fast
Breeding
 

Difficulty Rating

 

 Easy.
 

Climbing Habit

 

 Non Climbing.

Substrate		 Coconut
Coir substrate and leaf litter.  Also provide hiding
places like small logs or tree bark.
 

Interesting Information

 

Sexing		 Males
and females look similar with the female being rounder.
Origin Southern
Africa
 

Foods

 

 Fresh
fruit and vegetables.  They love carrots, wet dog/cat
food and moist cereal.  Limit wet grain based food to
what they will eat at any one time so that you do not
attract pests like flies and mites.
 

Water

 

 Always keep water
crystals present in a cup.   You can get that here
under the brand name, Cricket
Crystals.
Housing,
Humidity and
Temperature		 Aquarium or plastic
container with air holes and a lid.  High humidity with
good ventilation.  85 to 95 degrees
Pictures

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Turkestan Roaches Egg Cases. Breeding Live Feeder Red Runner Roaches

The Turkestan Roach, also known as the Red Runner, Rusty Red and Blatta Bug, is a mid-sized, shiny, warm weather roach that is native to Asia.  (Here is an interesting article from Wikipedia)

The Turkestan Roach is fast moving, which helps stimulate reptiles who are attracted to moving prey.  Red Runner Roaches cannot climb which makes them ideal if you to not want to use Bug Boundary in liquid or Grease form (Sorry for the shameless plug).

Turkestan Roaches are a beautiful roach that is fun to watch.  Red runners do not give live birth.  They lay egg cases which hatch out under the right conditions of heat and humidity.  They prefer a warm home so be sure to keep them by your furnace or above your refrigerator in winter, or in a heated enclosure where you can keep the temperature above 80 degrees.  They will breed like crazy at around 85 degrees.

They are easy to feed with carrots, lettuce, vegetables, fruits and whole grains.  Be sure to remove any food before it molds.

This is an easy to breed roach if you are looking for feeders that only grow to about a 1.5 inches.

I was able to get our Red Runner Roaches on video depositing egg cases a couple of years ago.  Check it out and please let me know your thoughts on these great roaches.

Are there pitfalls, watch outs or tricks that you know of?  Let’s hear them.
Thank you!

Ken Chiarella