Question about roaches.

[Critter Mom]

I must admit this question is more for my bearded dragons, but to those who do use roaches:

How do you keep the roaches from escaping and reproducing like...well...cockroaches in your home? I live in an apartment and don't want to become evicted because my animal's meal escaped, causing a visit from the exterminator and an expensive fumigation.

Do I need to really worry about this?

 

[freves]

Re: Anyone here ever use Roaches as feeders ?

The commonly available species used for feeders are tropical in origin and should not establish themselves in your apartment, unless perhaps you keep it really warm. Still though, they are nothing like the German roach in terms of infestation. I line the the inside top two inches of my roach enclosures with vaseline, this keeps them from being able to climb to the top.
Chip

 

[fishkeeper]

Depends on what species of roach you have also. If you have lobster roaches or Blatta lateralis then escapees will live for a long time and even possibly reproduce. I've had lobster roaches escape and breed and even 3 years after getting rid of my colony I found one hiding in my Blaptica dubia colony, seen a few under trashcans, and even found a newborn nymph maybe 1 year after I got rid of the colony! I bet we still have a few somewhere in our home. They are excellent escapees so I have no idea just how large the, er, founding population was to begin with.

I also accidentally tipped over a container of baby lateralis nymphs meant for red eye treefrogs. 100's of them ran off in all different directions(its like watching money run away)...I swept up as many as possible but I have no idea how many escaped. I began finding adults a year later but since then nothing. Our house is kept tidied up though their probably were sources of moisture such as around the bathroom, laundry room sink, etc.

However, if you keep Blaberus, Blaptica dubia, or hissers(the last has escaped and grown quite big in our house) you will be fine. Blaberus and B. dubia have the additional advantage of being nonclimbers so escapees are rare in the first place.

 

[Coastal Groovin]

I heard a story from a guy that said lobster roaches took over his apartment so badly he moved. I thought it was just a funny story but now it seems it could have been true. They do breed like crazy and feed on veggie scraps from the table. They are cheap to culture. Everthing eats them Bearded dragons,tiger salamanders, Blue Tongue skinks, and crested geckos. Jus keep a screen and that 2 inches of vaseline around the top so they don't escape. And always place that tank on a flat surface and you will be ok. Speaking of Bearded Dragons did you know feeding them Lightning bugs in the summer will poison them and they will die from eating them!!!!! Fireflies (Lightning Bugs), Firefly (Lightning Bug) Pictures, Firefly (Lightning Bug) Facts - National Geographic Do not feed these to bearded dragons. They could also prove poisonous to some caudata species.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I played around with lobster roaches a few months back but my home is kept too cool for them. My first culture died out rather quickly. For the second I added a reptile heater for them. This worked well. To prevent escape I used a modified version of the Vaseline method mentioned by Chip. I am a klutz and would likely smear away the barrier so I made a three inch wide plexi-glass shelf all the way around the inside of the container and coated the underside of this with Vaseline. No stray roaches to date.

During feeding time, I give them a short blast in the fridge and then use tongs to hand feed them to my critters.

 

[MikeM]

i use plastic tubs(large plastic shoe boxes or organizer tubs) and cut a hole in the top of it with a soldering iron then use a fine mesh and solder/melt the mesh into the plastic. this allows some aeration(not necessary) and does not allow for any escapees.

 

[fishkeeper]

Sludgemunkey: your house must be pretty cold! Winter didn't seem to phase mine at all and I found one in the garage during winter. Near dead, but still alive. I kept my culture bin ontop of the lights to my 46 gallon tank which heated up enough to warm the roaches.

 

[michaelaf]

my sister got some roaches before for her pet and there were escapees. they reproduced and for the past year we have been trying to get rid of them. they have been trying to takeover our house.

 

[ZephAmp]

I have been raising over 50 species of roaches for four years and have never had roaches (even pest species) reproduce in my house.
The worst that's ever happened was a few hissers getting out; they can stick around for a while but will eventually die.
You can easily take care of a roach problem by dramatically dropping your household humidity; they will dessicate and die very quickly.