# Turkish roaches vs dubia roaches



## Oski1 (Jan 2, 2010)

Hi there after getting a box of Turkish roaches at Seas,

And feeding them to my inverts which they seem to like, it made me realize I should get a self sustaining colony the amount I spend on live food on-line and at shops its a no brainer really ,

I have had Dubia roaches before, but not sure what to go for,
I know Dubia cant climb etc,
But from past experience Dubia just go and hide where the Turkish ones seem more active and get noticed by its prey easier .

From people experience with these two sp would you say Dubia are more of a hand feed roach or are they still as effective to feed their inverts free range,

To be honest I would prefer Dubia over the turkish, but would like a few opinions thanks


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## Dawson (Jun 8, 2008)

The advantage of Turkistan roaches is that they breed a lot quicker than dubia, and like you say are a lot more active. 

I would (and did) choose dubia over Turkistan as I don't think there is any nutritional difference in the roaches.

Dubia are slow moving and cannot climb so I get none escaping, if I do drop one it is easy to catch. This would not be so easy with Turkistan as they are a lot quicker and they can climb. 

Dubia are bigger so I get a good variety of size for feeding different sized animals.

Yes dubia do tend to hide but I find that this promotes the animals natural hunting instinct. 

They are slower to breed than Turkistan but this isn't a problem if you have a large enough colony.


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## Mitch636 (Mar 26, 2013)

I prefer turks, they're slimmer and seem easier to handle (can't effing pick up dubias with tongs!!!) but they're very fast so can run away and under any decor if not caught straight away which means digging around or just taking the chance the spider will find it.

I no longer keep them though, after my sister knocked over the tub I had in the airing cupboard and scattered them all over the floor...we found one every few days for about 2/3 weeks...nightmare. I'd like to start keeping them again though at some point as it would be easier than buying from pet shops as already mentioned.


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## fazzer (Jul 19, 2009)

*Turkistan roaches*

Hi I have a colony of turkistans , over the years they've saved me a fortune . I do have a small dubia colony to feed the larger T's , as previously mentioned , the disadvantage with them is they do tend to hide away very quickly , where as the Turks climb about and are always on the go ,and are brilliant for arboreals. Plus the babies when first hatched are suitable for even the smallest sling or 1st instar mantids . Another advantage is they don't nibble moulting t's or mantids, unlike some cricket species. Pm me I'm sure I can sort you out with a starter colony at a reasonable price . All the best Chris


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## Spideypidey (Jan 23, 2014)

I too have a small colony of Dubia for feeding my Tarantulas. Yes they are slow and kinda shuffle about until they are put in the Tarantula enclosure and then they run like mad mainly to the edge and bury themselves in the substrate. But they have to come out sooner or later to look for food.

The way to avoid them running off and as an alternative to hand feeding is to place them inside the enclosure on their back. Then they can't run off and there is enough activity to attract the predator.

I suppose the major difference is that Turkistan red roaches breed and grow faster and being about the same size as crickets are a viable easier to handle alternative. The other difference is that Turkistan roaches lay eggs.

Oh and don't use tongs: Finger and thumb is a lot easier.


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