The Trinidad Giant Cockroach is impressive with its large size and beauty. This cockroach makes a wonderful addition to any collection. They are fairly common within the pet trade making them relatively easy to obtain.

Trinidad Giant Cockroaches, also known as �Trinidad Cave Cockroaches,� �Giant Cave Cockroaches,� and �Cuban Giant Cockroaches,� are peaceful yet a bit hyperactive. As captive insects, they are interesting studies, and are easy to keep. They also make great food for reptiles, tarantulas, and larger centipedes, in addition to being widely used in research. The Trinidad Cockroaches native environment is largely tropical and arboreal, though they are also seen in caves as well. In captivity a two and a half to twenty-nine gallon tank should be used. The size will depend on the number of cockroaches you wish to keep. Inside the tank two to three inches of pine chips should be laid on the bottom as a substrate. The Trinidad Giant Cockroach likes to climb, so a branch or other climbing accessory should be added. Humidity should be kept low and the temperature should be maintained between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. They should also have a water dish, and they should be misted once a week. You can feed these cockroaches virtually anything from oat cereal to meat loaf.

The Trinidad Giant cockroach is largest species in its genus and one of the largest cockroaches in the world. As adults, they will grow to a length of two and a half to four inches long. The only way to visually differentiate between the sexes is to look on their abdomen where the cerci are located. Between the cerci of the males, pair of short antennae called styli is present. Females lack styli. The styli are not always easy to find. Luckily they also behave differently, females never participate in courtship rituals. If you see this behavior you can be confident you have a male. Males of this species can fly in short bursts.

In the wild, they can be found in the tropical areas of Northern South America, Panama, and the West Indies.

There is currently no special care information in our databases for this animal. To submit care information that is specific to this animal please click here.

If you intend to breed Giant Trinidad Cockroaches you should place a community (approximately 15) of them in a 15 to 29 gallon, all glass tank. The set up is similar to that of regularly housed cockroaches, including a climbing branch and substrate.

The female Giant Trinidad Cockroach retains her eggs a compartmentalized case, or ootheca, which is found outside of her body. The female will generally have 20 babies (nymphs), measuring about a quarter of an inch in length. The Nymphs will initially feed on the remains of the ootheca. Afterwards food and water should be provided in containers with rough surfaces so that the babies can easily cling to them. They are not able to cling to smooth surfaces such as glass. The nymphs take six months to mature. They are also very photosensitive.