# lateralis roaches



## ColleenT (Dec 18, 2017)

Does anyone here breed these as a feeder food for your reptiles? I had a colony years ago when i was breeding crested gex. But I had to tell my hubby they were lateralis beetles, never said roaches. that would not have gone down well. I have had a bunch of crickets that grew and now i have chirping all day and night. i am waiting on my one tree frog to eat them all, but he has slowed down since winter came. I have decided to go back to the Lateralis bc they are QUIET. And easy to keep. I have to wait until after the holidays to order from the supplier. But i have a bin ready.


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## Tom (Dec 18, 2017)

They occur outside here. Somewhat of an introduced pest. Years ago I collected a bunch from around the ranch to start a colony and they are still going strong. I feed them to my fish by the dozens. I have a tank of South American cichlids in my living room and my fish devour the roaches. I've used them to raise all sorts of insectivores from tarantulas and lizards, to box turtles. I think they are a great feeder, and they reproduce so fast, that there are always pinheads to feed to hatchling lizards or little frogs.

I used to have 18 species of roaches in 40 bins. Now I'm down to 4 species in four bins. Lateralis, dubia, hissers, and Archimandrita tessellata.


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## ColleenT (Dec 18, 2017)

Wow, that is cool that you could start your own colony from captured roaches. I am finding not many people have any this time of year. So i might have to start with a smaller amount, and just be patient.


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## ColleenT (Jan 30, 2018)

i ordered about 100 online and they shipped safely to me. My Garg geckos don't seem to love them, but with Gargs i know it can be tricky to get them to eat insects. My Tree frog will be thrilled, tho. i just hope i can use them up fairly quickly or i'll have thousands.


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## Tom (Feb 2, 2018)

ColleenT said:


> i ordered about 100 online and they shipped safely to me. My Garg geckos don't seem to love them, but with Gargs i know it can be tricky to get them to eat insects. My Tree frog will be thrilled, tho. i just hope i can use them up fairly quickly or i'll have thousands.



It seems like it takes forever for the colony to really get going, but then things really take off when the third generation hatches.


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