That's a big roach!

[Olimpia]

Is this a B. fusca? The Dusky cave or the Giant cave?

The care for both species is allegedly the same. They like wood in the wild but I have a population of fusca thriving in a plastic storage box without substrate and on egg crate. They eat everything you would give to a discoid or dubia (fruits, veggies, dry gutloads, etc.) and breed fairly rapidly and frequently. They do need room to spread out their wings when they molt but that's not difficult to provide in a large container.

These are definitely a favorite around here with my gang. The big males and my Meller's all enjoy the adult fusca males from time to time.

Also, sexing them is easy. The males tend to be a slightly paler color than females and if you look at their abdomen the last horizontal segment in their abdomen is much smaller than it would be on a female. To compare, a female's last segment would be a good 1/2" or so, where as a male's is no where near that wide.

 

[maxttu]

I "believe" that these are the b. giganteus?

Great info, y'all! I really appreciate it!

 

[ataraxia]

Hey maxttu, i believe you have what i have. They are huge like hissers but not quite as big as giant caves. These are about 3 inches long and i believe they are either hybrids or as olimpia has suggested B.Fusca. Im not a roach guy so, i wouldnt listen to me at all...

Pm sent.

 

[Jon114]

Is this a B. fusca? The Dusky cave or the Giant cave?

The care for both species is allegedly the same. They like wood in the wild but I have a population of fusca thriving in a plastic storage box without substrate and on egg crate. They eat everything you would give to a discoid or dubia (fruits, veggies, dry gutloads, etc.) and breed fairly rapidly and frequently. They do need room to spread out their wings when they molt but that's not difficult to provide in a large container.

These are definitely a favorite around here with my gang. The big males and my Meller's all enjoy the adult fusca males from time to time.

Also, sexing them is easy. The males tend to be a slightly paler color than females and if you look at their abdomen the last horizontal segment in their abdomen is much smaller than it would be on a female. To compare, a female's last segment would be a good 1/2" or so, where as a male's is no where near that wide.

B. fusca is supposively MUCH easier to culture, hence them commonly being used as feeders. If B. giganteous bred as well then they wouldn't be nearly as rare or as expensive.

If you need more info, hit Kyle up from www.roachcrossing.com. Pretty much one of the go-to roach guys at this current date and time!

As for sexing, what Olimpia stated is correct and should be true for most Blaberus species. Here's a picture of what Olimpia means, but these roaches are B. dubia.

 

[pssh]

Those are some sort of B. fusca hybrid. The patterns on it's back suggest that it isn't pure (though I suppose it could be pure and just have a mutation.) I keep them like I keep my dubia/discoids. They do just fine when kept in a tub with egg crates and fed regularly. They breed about the same as dubia, some people even think they breed faster than their dubia. I think it's just because they have more babies when they breed, so even if they take a little longer to go through gestation, there are still way more babies on average than a dubia female.