Cricket or Roach Colony...

I wanted to start my own cricket or roach colony
basically so that I dont have to keep buying food for my T's,

where would I start??

Roaches all the way. Crickets are harder to raise and keep, also don't live anywhere near as long as roaches do. Plus roaches are much healthier, more meat on them.

so what do I buy to start, how do I keep them...
dark or light, is there anywhere that will give me full idiot proof instructions lol

You have to decide which speciecs of roach you want to keep. Research!

I would go the local store and pick up a 30 qt tub or larger. It should be deep so you can place some egg flats vertically. I would either invest in some water crystals( I do not use them) or find a feed store and pick up a chicken water dish. It'll have a plastic mesh so the baby chicks do not drown. Works the same way for roaches. While at the feed store pick up some chicken feed or a bag of dog food.

Place 5-7 egg flats vertically, the water dish on one end and a bowl of feed for the roachs. If it is warm just let them be for1-2 months, checking on the every 3-4 days, and your colony will be well on it's way to thriving.

The main thing is- what roaches you have available across the pond, and temperature. I am not familiar with that in your area but if it is too cold they roaches will not breed. Keep humidity up. One last tip. ORANGES, once every other week will get them to breed like crazy.

Yes, you first have to decide which species you wanna keep. Personally I have dubia, and are pretty common. They don't climb like some species, so you don't have to worry about them getting out. To keep them, is pretty easy, I use the Rubbermaid storage totes. I take egg cartons, I don't have flats and I just toss them in, don't keep them vertical or n e thing, just piled up how ever they land when I toss them in there after breaking them up into pieces. I also don't use water crystals either, just spray every 3-4 days seems to be enough. I keep them at 80ºF and you MUST have good ventilation because with keeping them dark(the lid does this for you on the tote) and being moist, with food that can rot easily, and being very warm, mold can easily grow, and grow FAST.

For food, I've never heard of using chicken feed before, but if your going to use chicken feed. I suggest you make sure you get UNmedicated chicken food, who knows what the medication in the feed will do to the roaches and your T's. I use dog and cat food, also heard people use fish food, like the koi fish pellets. Also fresh veggies are very good for them, also fruit is good as well, I've tried banana and they don't seem to care for it too much, but others say they devour it. The best fruits to give are citrus fruits. Orange and grapefruit is mostly used, and I give the whole thing, just break it up into pieces, peel and all, they will eat the rind out of it and leave the actual peel. I've also been told they will eat mushrooms, but never tried it. Just make sure what fresh foods your giving them are clean or they can get bacterial infections. I found this out when I had roaches that when dead, parts of them would turn hot pink.


When you get your roaches, it's best to get a mix of adults and various sizes of nymphs to help get your colony going. It takes while some times to get them going depending on how many you start with, temps, species ect. I personally never feed off the females because I don't want them giving birth in with the T, and they are the baby makers. So only adult males are fed off, and nymphs. You only need a few males to service several females. I've heard any where from 1 male for every 5 females, to 1 male for every 20 females. I do like to keep extra males around though, just in case something happens. I don't wanna end up having my males die and have to wait for another to mature.


Check out http://www.blattodea.net and http://www.roachforum.com for anything roach related, they are all about roaches, although not very active at times, so it may be a day or so before you get a reply. But they can answer pretty much everything, I'd suggest roachforum.com first because it's bigger and more active. But you can get much better deals on those websites for roaches then you can on any T forum.

Fantastic, that was exactly what I needed, just some info on where I should start,
I didnt want to get everything I needed to find that it was impossible to achieve,
so thankyou so much for doing that for me,
it is greatly appreciated

I would always be happier feeding my T's on home bred food, because I know what has gone into it,

better for me...better for my T's

Roaches are by far less of a head ache. Almost self sufficient. Many species with different characteristics to choose from too. No one ever goes back to crix after roaches.

Yeah.....i got some dubias from sinflspeed

and never bought crickets again

Can you feed a 1/2" sling from the nymphs?

Yep, you just have to get the tiny nymphs, I always squish the heads on the dubia because if not they will dig under the sub, and the slings can't get them out, I also lay them on their backs as well, so they can't go anywhere.

I just got roaches from TheRoachGuy.com
Recommended by Dan to me. I recommend him slightly. Only false is..I ordered 75..Got less than 40 -.-

I'd e-mail him asking where the rest of my roaches were.

Another question: How big are Dubia nypmhs? I'm thinking of getting a colony, but Not sure, since I hear the nymphs are small and will likely escape

Day olds are kinda small, but they can't climb so they wont be able to get out unless you have egg crates stacked to the top. I just use a storage tote with egg boxes torn up and TP and paper towel rolls, I've cut a hole in the lid and put screen over that so they can get air and is easy for me to spray water in.