UGH!!! Crix vs Roach Delimma

[RAP66]

I've been at this bridge before and still cannot wrap my head around the evil roach. I currently have only 1 cham (trying to plan for a second) and his main staple is Crix. I have other reptiles (Cresties & Leachie) but they wont touch insects they are on 100% repashy foods.
With crickets for me it's a love hate thing; they are super available but with only one eating them it doesnt make sense for me to get large orders like I used to. They also can stink up my reptile room bad bad bad. I had one of my snakes regurge the mouse I fed it and the crix overpowered that smell!

I'd like to try roaches but I dont want an escapee, even the ones that "wont infest" can still infest. I just dont want to risk it... So that is my delimma.

I want to try something new/easier/cheaper but can get past the yuck possibilities of roaches. And would rather deal with the nastiness of crickets.

Help me

Which ones are the LEAST likey to infest?
Non-climbing, NOT Stinky, easy to maintain (vs Crix)

-Rich

 

[Kate]

You sound like how I felt when I joined the forum. I got the heebejeebies just thinking about all these creepy crawlers. I introduced silkworms and now I have 75 growing and a box in the fridge full of chow. Will he eat them? No! I have butterworms hibernating in the salad drawer in fridge. Same story. I have Dubais in the garage growing in my egg incubator. He ate the large ones and I'm sure 3 large escaped in viv but can't find them. Anyway I got over it and am proud to say I tried. In uk we use locusts as staple. And he likes them.

 

[ddvw123abc]

Raise them in your garage and put them in a feeding cup that they can't escape from so you're sure they won't get out. Still not sure how they would escape a closed cage?

 

[Kate]

Raise them in your garage and put them in a feeding cup that they can't escape from so you're sure they won't get out. Still not sure how they would escape a closed cage?

Feeding cup tipped. They are def not out of viv.hopefully inside Popeye. Accidents happen. LOL

 

[Trillian]

Dubias are pretty easy feeders, breed easily, eat anything, can't climb plastic. There are loads of DIY feeder containers people have posted pictures of on the forums (Sunny D Death Trap always springs to mind!). They are much healthier for your chameleon than crickets too, more nutritious. You could also look into breeding hornworms, I've just started and it's not too tricky. The worms themselves are good feeders, and if your guy is a decent size, he'll love the moths too. Some forum members breed katydids and grasshoppers and things like that, and there are always stick insects if you can find some, they are illegal to buy and sell, but also reproduce easily and are nice to have around as well as good feeders!

 

[Swayne8998]

I can't believe I'm THIS late to this thread!

Dubias. Dubias. Dubias. They cannot do anything you have listed. They don't make noise, very very easy to breed, don't stink, can't climb, and can't fly. Unless you live in Florida, they cannot infest a house. Dubia roaches are from tropical environments in South America, and can't breed in a house without tropical conditions.

Crickets, on the other hand, jump, smell like death and crap, keep you up at night, climb, etc., etc. You can find loads of people on this forum that will sell a starter colony to you for cheap. I have a blog on breeding and care. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/swayne8998/695-breeding-dubia-cockroaches.html