Cockroach Species Kept at Blackthorn Stud

I started keeping cockroaches purely to provide pyschological and dietery enrichment for the mice. The mice enjoy hunting the cockroach nymphs and they are extremely nutritious. I started with a small colony of Blaptica dubia and I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed keeping these passive, gentle insects. I then bought a small group of Gromphadorhina portentosa (Madagascan hissing roach) nymphs because adults are extremely large insects, growing up to 3-4 inches long, and I thought they'd be pretty fun to keep and handle. I now keep only Peppered Cockroaches, which you can read about below.

Archimandrita tesselata
Common Names: Peppered Cockroach, Giant Leaf Cockroach
Adult length: approx 70mm
Ovoviviparous (females keep the eggcases inside their bodies until hatching)
Cannot climb glass
Has wings but is not an adept flyer

These are my favourite species of roach. They are very large cockroaches that make good pets, as they are incredibly calm and friendly. They will walk on to your hand no problem and are quite happy to be handled. They are also very attractive, adults having bright tan wings speckled with black or dark brown markings, and a large black or dark brown spot behind the head. Nymphs come in all kinds of speckled, spotty patterns. Adults live for a long time and nymphs take nine months or more to mature. I'd recommend this species along with the hissers as a beginner's pet. The adults can easily be identified by their unique wing markings. All of my Archimandrita tesselata adults have names :)

Sergeant Slipper the Giant African Land Snail

Millipede Species Kept at Blackthorn Stud