Blatta Lateralis

[Brad Ramsey]

Your going to have to start calling me "Roach Boy"
My Lateralis arrived today. I've seen them before but never paid
much attention. What pretty little roaches!
And what a great size. I ordered 1000 adults which I hope will
be enough to feed off a few males and start a breeding colony.
I got them from The Bug Pros. Whoever posted that address awhile back.....Thank You!
I was nervous about them from things I have read in the forums (really fast, males can jump, infest your home etc.)
I took the box in the garage and put it in a big rubbermaid tub before tentatively opening it.
I have had insects delivered several times just loose in the box so....
To my relief they were well packed in deli cups and a piece of cake to transfer to their drawers.
I need to e-mail these guys and express how pleased I am.
Here is their address again, I highly recommend!
http://www.thebugpros.com/home.htm
You do have to order them by the thousand and the price goes down the more you get.
With shipping I paid $26 and some change for my 1000.

-Brad

 

[thechurro]

I ordered 2000 (1/2-5/8") from them about 2 weeks ago and I second your comments regarding the seller. The roaches themselves are a bit of a pain though. Despite the fact that they are "non-climbing," they do a good job of climbing the sides of the tote I keep them in. (not quite vertical, but close enough) I have also found that Vaseline doesn't slow them down much as I have found them above the "barrier" just about every morning, whereas the lobsters haven't crossed it once. Just a couple things to keep in mind. Otherwise, they seem to be softer than the lobsters, have a very high moisture content and the chameleon loves them.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

thechurro,

Is the inside of your enclosure smooth or textured plastic?
They have not been able to climb the walls of mine so far (only had them
since noon today) the interior is very slick. But, I wonder if I should be concerned as they are in sterelite drawers and the top is far from escape-proof.

-Brad

 

[thechurro]

The sterilite drawers are a little slicker than what I am using, but the fact that they can climb vaseline made me think twice about how secure they are. You may be safe with those drawers, but it might be worth a little extra caution.

 

[ms_ramie22]

When I first got mine, I had purchased a new plastic tub for them, and just dumped them in, and sat back to watch them.... oops, one knows how to climb, well, just push him back down.... holy crap, lots of them can climb!! I was pushing them down as fast as they were climbing up while yelling at my husband to bring the vaseline!! Which was empty!! So he grabbed the tub and ran outside with it. Being real cold out, they almost froze to death while I ran downstairs and hustled up a different tub. Well, long story, short... Yes they can scale a tub that is not perfectly smooth. The new one I had bought for them, I had checked the surface at the time of purchase and thought it was smooth. I now have them in the old bin (must be smoother) and they are contained.

 

[Gizmo]

Would a glass tank suffice?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Yes or these sterilite drawers.
They cannot climb the walls. I'm pretty convinced they're secure now.
I didn't have trouble feeding them today either, just tapped a couple into a plastic cup over the drawer and dumped them into my modified 2 litre soda
bottle feeder. They couldn't get out of that either....not that they had a lot of time to try...Kitty went for them instantly!

-Brad

 

[Heika]

Yes or these sterilite drawers.
They cannot climb the walls. I'm pretty convinced they're secure now.
I didn't have trouble feeding them today either, just tapped a couple into a plastic cup over the drawer and dumped them into my modified 2 litre soda
bottle feeder. They couldn't get out of that either....not that they had a lot of time to try...Kitty went for them instantly!

-Brad

I keep dubias in drawers, but I wouldn't keep the lateralis in them. Those suckers can climb pretty well. I even changed out my feeder cups because the sides of the plastic containers I was using weren't slick enough.. and I used that industrial bug grease on the inside of the cups, and they still climbed out. I keep the lateralis in a big tub with glued together egg crates, and make sure that nothing touches the side of the container to give them a boost.

They are a fantastic feeder, aren't they? Everyone here likes them.

Heika

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Just reporting that the sterilite drawers have proved successful!
I have not had a single roach climb or escape from them.
Believe me I had a healthy amount of anxiety and nervousness about it,
especially after people reported theirs climbing and defying vaseline
and bugstop.
The first night I got up several times to run downstairs and check!
Today will be 3 days that I've had these guys and I am feeling pretty confident about their security.

-Brad

 

[Heika]

Just curious, Brad.. how do you know they aren't escaping? With a thousand, you wouldn't notice if a few were missing.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Heika,

Why do you insist on making me nervous?!!?

Seriously though, I've tagged each one and do a count about three times a day.

Really seriously: I guess I don't know for, absolute swear on my life, certain but I have yet to see one on the wall of a drawer, and I am checking them quite often.
They try but they really can't climb it.

-Brad

 

[FaunaBgirl]

Just curious, Brad.. how do you know they aren't escaping? With a thousand, you wouldn't notice if a few were missing.

Get out the security cameras... inquiring minds want to know. lol

Also.. just a side note... I loved the pretty dark shiny red of the turkistan roaches I had and didn t want to give them up. I would like to try having a few dubias. They can't climb glass right?

AND, I did find a dead turkistan escapee today, in a not yet used flower pot. AND a sizable cacoon behind Fractal's cage the other day. What am I like? lol

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Here's a question:
When these guys...or rather girls...start laying eggs, can I leave the ootheca in with the rest of the colony or should I move and hatch them in a different enclosure.
I've noticed these roaches are mecilessly canabalistic with any of their own who have trouble shedding.
Will they eat the egg sacks/babies?
I haven't been able to find any info concerning this.

-Brad

 

[Heika]

Here's a question:
When these guys...or rather girls...start laying eggs, can I leave the ootheca in with the rest of the colony or should I move and hatch them in a different enclosure.
I've noticed these roaches are mecilessly canabalistic with any of their own who have trouble shedding.
Will they eat the egg sacks/babies?
I haven't been able to find any info concerning this.

-Brad

I have been leaving mine in the same enclosure, Brad. Might be easier to segregate by size if they are removed, though.

How much protein are you giving the roaches? I haven't noticed that problem with mine, but I haven't really stared at them a whole lot either.

Heika

 

[Brad Ramsey]

They get my usual mix of vegetable and cereal but cooked egg is all I give them for protein.
I need to seperate some to feed off so I could feed my potential breeders some
dogfood.
I have to say these guys have an odor. I think it may be due to what they have been fed so far (before they came to me),
or do they have a defense odor?
I was under the impression they did not.
My other roaches don't smell at all.

-Brad