Are hissing cockroaches a good food for Leopard geckos?

Question

Are they a good substitute for crickets?

Answer 1

NO!

Cockroaches are not good for any type of lizard.

You should be feeding it mealworms, crickets, calci-worms, and wax worms.

Answer 2

no! there is no nutritional value! dont use them, especially if you caught them on your own.

Answer 3

No, they are not the best choice.

Never feed wild caught insects.  They can carry disease, parasites, and be tainted with pesticides which can result in illness and even death for your domestic pet.

Gut loaded store bought crickets should be the primary feeder insect, supplimented with Phoenix, Butter, and Silk worms (small soft grub like worms).  Insects should be no longer than the space between the Leo's eyes.

Mix equal parts dry iguana food, oatmeal, and chick starter mash (you can also add dried baby foods, such as rice, barley, wheat, etc.).  Use this as the main staple meal for your crickets.  Suppliment daily with a fresh fruit or vegetable to provide a variety of nurtrients for your gecko.  (Avoid Spinach and broccoli, these bind calcium, white potato, cabbage, and Avadado is poisonous to most animals.)  Keep the unused portion of dry staple mix in the refrigerator or freezer, until needed.

Insects should be dusted with reptile vitamins and calcium with D3 (keep these refrigerated to extend the life of the vitamins) every other day for young animals and every 3 days for older animals.

Enjoy your Leo and I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 4

If they are small enough.  Yes there are domestically raised species of cockroaches that are commonly used for lizards.  They can be very nutritious and a good addition to the diet!

Check out this feeding page for lots of suggestions:

http://www.drgecko.com/dietselection.htm

Answer 5

Roaches are an excellent food item. Not only are they nutritious, they are also easy to keep and breed.

Hissing roaches are just one of many roaches. In my opinion, there are better species to choose from for feeders.

It depends on what you are looking for...

Can you tolerate a "wall-climber" (i.e. roaches that can climb smooth surfaces)? Do you want a fast breeder? Each roach has its ups and downs when it comes to keeping, breeding, and feeding.

Here are sites with information about different roach species you should look into to find what species you would like; you can also order roaches from them:

http://blaberus.com/

http://www.nyworms.com/roaches.htm

The sites above have care sheets and the like you should look into.

Captive bred and kept tropical roach species make excellent insect food sources for reptiles. They are my favorite insect as far as feeders go as they are easy to keep and breed as well as are nutritious. They far surpass crickets, mealworms, and waxworms as feeders.

The nymphs (young, immature insects) of the roaches should be used as the feeders for small reptiles; the adults are far too large for a small reptile.

Here is a quick chart that compares some nutritional information of several roaches and other insects:

http://www.wormman.com/cat_roaches.cfm

To some of the other answerers... You are getting wild caught German and American roaches confused with captive bred and kept tropical species.

Answer 6

I see you are getting some incorrect answers to your question.

Many lizard breeders raise hissing cockroaches for food- they are very nutritious (but ugly).

Very small hissers would be good for your geckos, but adults are much too large to swallow.

Your geckos will be healthiest if you feed them a variety of insects, instead of just one thing.

Answer 7

if we are both thinking of an actual hissing cockroach, then no they are too big and too expensive.