That's a big roach!

maxttu

maxttu

New Member
Ummm, yeah. Got a couple of these bad boys today. Not sure if they're male, female or what, but they were just too cool to pass up. Cave roach?

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There's no slight of hand, tricks with mirrors or anything like that. They're just huge!
 
What are you going to do with that big joker ??? watch out if you put him in with your Cham he might pick him up and fly away with him :D:eek:
 
That thing is a monster. The name has something to do with that skull like thing on it's back. I remember seeing those. Didn't know they're that big lol. I say feed him off! or try and get a colony going once you identify the sex/species.
 
Apparently these are called the giant cave roach. I wouldn't mind breeding them if I knew what was male and female. I'm guessing that I have two males...
 
These guys are amazingly impressive. Most people keep them as displays/pets. They're hard to breed and relatively expensive (For roaches) so using them as feeders would be a waste IMO. Us Floridians are sooo unlucky, I wish we could get these things legally over here!
 
GabeCastro said:
That thing is a monster. The name has something to do with that skull like thing on it's back. I remember seeing those. Didn't know they're that big lol. I say feed him off! or try and get a colony going once you identify the sex/species.
Click to expand...

You mean B. craniifer? True death heads are pretty stunning, you don't want to feed those off. :p This is a different species, either B. fusca or B. giganteous.
 
Beautiful animal. Quite handy...

I guess sexing is like with other roaches. Males should have either longer wings or/and more spikes at their lower abdomen than the females.
 
So the care for these guys seem to be all over the place. How do those of you that have them keep 'em?
 
maxttu said:
So the care for these guys seem to be all over the place. How do those of you that have them keep 'em?
Click to expand...

As far as I know?

They need a proper hardwood substrate. Sub-adults need tall and wide (6x6") objects to shed into adulthood properly. Consistant heat and humidity, however, these like a bit on the cool side. (Mid to high 70s, low 80s) Minimal overcrowding. Males will kill or severely injure one another, so you either have to slightly overcrowd, or keep only 1-2 per enclosure. I believe nymphs require rotting wood to survive.

They tend to suffer from unexplained die-offs due to sheds. Adults have a long gestastion period and only give birth a couple times a year. Of course the pay off is rather worth it. I saw and held a massive 4.5" female at a reptile show up north, and boy that was quite an experience!

There are many look alikes in the Blaberus genus, and also many hybrids, so whether you have B. giganteous or not is still not out of the question. Due to my lack of experience with these because of Florida laws, I'm not great at IDing them. However, there's also many large alternatives to B. giganteous, the trade off is easier husbandry but a slightly smaller size.
 
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