How to care for Giant Cockroaches - Blaberus giganteus

Welcome to the Giant Cockroach area. This section contains all the information you need to successfully keep the Giant Cockroach (Blaberus giganteus)

Housing Pet Cockroaches

This Cockroach is a ground dwelling insects and spends its life rummaging through leaf litter in the tropical forests in search of food. You will need to keep them (you can keep several together) in a a tank of some description, a good house would be a fish tank of 15 inches long x 12 inches high x 10 inches wide, you can of course use whatever size is available in your local pet shop as there are no requirements for the tank to be larger than this, use their standard size in this range. A tank of this size could easily accommodate up to 15 large nymphs or adults

In captivity you need to provide a similar environment to their home in order to keep them happy, the easiest way to accomplish this is to use either wood shavings (not sawdust), vermiculite, wood chips or jungle substrate. If using wood shavings you should not get them from your local timber yard as the wood may have been treated with chemicals and could kill you insect, buy some from your local pet store or from this site. Vermiculite is usually available from garden centres or again available from this sites shopping area. 

In addition to the chosen substrate, the insect requires some hiding places and good ones can be easily provided by adding some 6 inch long x 3 inch wide pieces of cork bark to the tank base, curved peices are preferred as they allow the roaches to hide underneath.

The tanks substrate will remain fairly clean for a long time but should be totally cleaned out every 2 to 3 months or so, if you have young cockroaches present them keep your eye out for them!

Temperature & Humidity for GIant Cockroaches

As the caribbean is a tropical island the temperature rarely drops below 18°C at night and 25°C during the day so you will need to reproduce this in your tank. The simplest method is to use one of the under tank heating mats with a thermostat fitted. The heating mat should be placed under 1/2 to 3/4 of the tank so that there is a cooler area available if the insects wants it. The temperature in the tank needs is in the range of 20°C to 25°C at soil level so place the thermostat control about an inch above the substrate.

Humidity requirements are fairly simple, the Giant Cockroach like quite a humid envoronment so aim for something like 70% humidity. A simple heavy spray with a hand sprayer over the substrate and tank walls once a day with clean, fresh water will be quite adequate.

Lighting Giant Cockroaches

Most cockroaches shun the light and you need not provide any supplemental lighting unless you wish to do so for cosmetic reasons.

Feeding Giant Cockroaches

Cockroaches are omnivorous which means they can eat virtually any type of food you want to give them. The best way to keep your pet healthy is to provide a wide and varied diet to include some of the following items

Cereals include (serve dry!)

• Cornflakes - usually contain extra vitamins and minerals
• Muesli - contains oat flakes as well as fruits
• Bran flakes

Fruits include

• Apples
• Peaches
• Banana

Vegetables include

• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber

Supplemental treats

• Dry type dog food - Ringos are good
• The odd chocolate button!

As you can see, they really will eat almost anything! Try to vary the diet from week to week and change the ingredients. For best results you should put the food in a shallow dish (around 1 inch) and put it in a corner. They have a limited requirement for water as most of it will come from the food but you can add another smaller dish containing a wad of wet cotton wool, this will prevent them from drowning but will provide water if needed.

Breeding Cockroaches

Giant Cockroaches will usually only begin to breed if kept in a colony of 3 to 5 or more as this stimulates them to breed. This type of cockroach doesn't lay eggs, it produced an egg case which is kept within the body cavity until the eggs begin to hatch. It will then give 'birth' to the egg case or ootheca, tiny 1/4 inch cockroaches will emerge from the ootheca. The male of this species can be distinguished from the female as the male has a two hairs between the pair of antena like cerci found at the end of the last body segment. Both male and female have cerci but only the male has the two hairs in the middle of them.

Provided you have kept ample food available there is no need to remove the 20 to 30 young produced as they will eat the same food as their parents. If food is scarce then they may be eaten!

The Giant Cockroach will moult several times over the following 6 months before becoming adult. Each time it moults its body will become white and will darken over the following day. During this time they should not be disturbed as their bodies are soft and vulnerable to damage.