Roaches for emp.

Hey everyone, I have been feeding my emperor scorpion baby, and half sized crickets. I fear that as he gets bigger and I need to use larger crickets IE full grown, the noise and scent of the crickets might become less than desirable. I am wondering if anyone out there uses roaches as feeders for their emps? What kind of roaches do you use to feed them. I found a site online where I can buy about 150-200 Lobster roaches for 10$ and am thinking about making the purchase, the lobster roaches grow up to about an inch, and are therefore close to one half the size of my 4i emperor. Is keeping roaches as feeders a desirable alternative to crickets, roaches have always kind of grossed me out, so it would be entertaining to feed them to a scorpion, however, I don't think that keeping 150 would be a good idea due to the fact that their is bound to be some breeding going on in that enormous number. What are your thoughts on this?

Roaches and mealworms are both excellent feeders.

Also isopods, look into those as well

Scorpiongirl, I am afraid that id I buy that many roaches that they may breed and get out of control, how fast do your feeder roaches multiply? and additionally which breed of roaches do you use? I looked up isopods, which type would you recommend for a 4/5 instar emp?

You could use lateralis for small scorps and orange heads and dubia for big scorps. The typical roaches sold at some pets stores are most likely going to be fine as well. I haven't had a problem with over breeding with roaches or crickets. Do you have only one scorpion?

As for Isopods, Your scoprion should be able to take down even at least young adults, so don't worry too much about what they can and can't handle. As long as their prey isn't larger than they are, they shouldn't have too much problem with it. When it comes to roaches, which are typically much better armored than other feeders, any type that is smaller than they are and not insanely fast will do.

Lobster roaches climb glass and plastic, fly, and can infest. Adults mature in 3 to 4 months and females can give birth to 30-40 nymphs once a month. Dubia and lateralis roaches are popular alternative feeders to lobster roaches, as they don't climb or fly. Dubias are larger and will burrow into substrate. Lateralis are smaller, faster and don't burrow.

About how long do the dubia roaches grow to be at full length? And how many would you recommend I buy at a time? I now have three 4.instar Emperors. Should I attempt to grow a colony? And do you have any trouble with the roaches flying?

You don't have to worry about them flying if you don't get the lobster roaches. Just make sure you have them in a containment that is closed tight and not easily ascended and you'll be fine. If you do start breeding them and they become too numerous for comfort, give or sell them to petstores or other reptile/invert owners.

I don't know the maximum size of dubias. I haven't kept them long enough to find out. THey just get eaten. ^_^

Okay, I think I want to buy some dubia Roaches, but I really don't really have that much room, what sized container would you recommend? also, does anyone have a good Dubia roach vendor? how many should I keep at a time if I am not trying to start a colony?

I would keep personally keep20-30 of them in a 20 gallon tank or 12 to 15 in a 5 gallon little tank. Please keep in mind I do not have that long of an experience with roaches, so I really truly don't know all the do's and don'ts. It's simply been working for me since I've started.

As far as vendors go, if you mean people who provide them, I get mind from the Pet Store, but Ken the Bug Guy sells Madagascar and Hissing roaches at varying ages. http://www.kenthebugguy.com/pet-roaches-for-sale.html

And Kelly Swift sells Orange Head roaches, but I warn you that orange heads are a debated species as far as being good for scorpion feeders. http://swiftinverts.com/ and he may be sold out.


Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in for you! <3 Others on here will have much more indepth advice.

Thanks so much for all your help scorpiongirl!

Before buying a lot of roaches, I recommend that you get the smallest number you can and see if your Emps will take them as food. Some scorpions readily eat roaches and some won't touch them.

There's a lot of good information on-line for setting up a roach colony, just do a google search on "roach colony". You can also search this forum for information as this subject comes up often and has been discussed before.

I don't recommend Hissers as feeders for scorpions. They have a lousy flesh to shell ratio. They do make good pets, however.

Roaches are fantastic feeders. I go with dubias from discountdubias.com