Roach Articles by Takeshi Yamada, Brooklyn, NY

SMELLS OF DIFFERENT TROPICAL PET ROACHES IN MY COLONIES

I live in New York, and purchased pet roaches for school art projects from Mel in NY at www.hissingcockroach.com. Roaches arrived safely in excellent condition. I have variety of pet roaches listed below.

Madagascar Hissing roaches (Gromphadorhina Portentosa. 3 inches)
Pepper roaches (Archimandrita tesselata. 3 inches)
Giganteus roaches (Blaberus Giganteus. 3 inches)
Discoid roaches
Orange Head roaches
Orange spotted Dubia (Blaptica dubia):
Lobster roaches

I use a thin layer of ground oak leaves as substrates for each tank. I spray water to Hisser’s tank a few times a week and clean it (sweep the floor) about once a month. I give them mainly ground dry dog food, apple and carrots. Each has different faint smells in its tank. Nevertheless, non of them produces any offensive smells. Their smells are more like old vegetables in the refrigerator or dirt at a local park. They do not smell bad like hamsters at all.