Both the dubia and lateralis are fairly easy. The dubia is a bit faster to breed and they bare live young if I'm not mistaken. The only problem that Blaptica dubia (orange spotted roach) present is that they are born too big to feed to slings, lateralis (Turkistan) do not bare live young and are slower to repopulate but they do emerge really small, perfect for slings.
dubia roaches are not very good climbers and stay on the surface and will usually burrow, they always emerge sooner or later. lateralis cannot climb either but they won't burrow.

I know that the Roachman, who supplies most pet stores does not breed lateralis as he believes them to be pests so you might struggle finding Turks in pet shops. There are many other breeders tho so if you are looking, you will find them.

Keep in mind that there are a number of other feeder roaches like the hisser roach (G. portentosa), the Pallid roach (P. pallida) which are excellent climbers and the Cave roach (Blaberus sp) which might suit you better. I have no experience with them so I can't really say.

I am also for roaches. But I am now breeding other live food as well like wax worms for the wax worm moth, and super worms for the pupae. Reason I feel Tarantulas in the wild will has a variety of food, maybe not as abundant but a variety non the less.

That is why I want to extend my food I feed my Tarantulas.
Lets think what is available to the Tarantulas in the wild:
-Roaches
-Crickets of all species.
-Locusts
-Moths
-Some lucky worm once in a blue moon
-Pupae if they are lucky

So that is why I would like to increase my live food I breed for my Tarantulas as I feel they need more than just say "Barone for a 25 hour day"

Hi Therapist
Here is a link to a lab analysis on the major feeders available today on the SARoachman's website.
www.saroachman.co.za/Home/laboratory-analysis
You can see that the protein content in roaches is much higher that other feeders.

I also prefer roaches to crickets. Roaches is much less hassle to breed than crickets and are faster breeders too not to mention more nutritious. You can also sell off your surplus stock if they get too plentiful. I feed mine to my spiders and leopard geckos and I also supply people that have bearded dragons, marmosets, monitor lizards and some aquarium fish like oscars will take them regularly, not to mention the guys that have tenrecs.

As for housing the roaches, it's a breeze.
Get yourself a big plastic rolerbox, cut a big square hole in the lid say 30cm x 30cm and use some mosquito mesh and glue it with hot glue over the hole. It is very important for your colony to stay dry and ventilated otherwise mold will grow in your colony and it will end your colony very quickly. Get some egg cartons, you can usually buy empty cartons at your local co-op for R2 - R4 cut them to size required and stack them vertically. The reason for stacking them like this is to allow the droppings to fall to the bottom of the box and not building up in the cartons. You can now put some roaches in. As for feeding you can give them the following, I use Friskies or Whiskas dried cat food pellets as a base diet. Then you can also add extra food items like any vegetable matter to vary their diet. Just don't leave the 'wet' food in for too long as you may have a mold problem. Do not use any dairy and meat products. As for water I give them water gel or crystals. They can walk over it and eat it for water. Don't use water in a bowl because they can drown and the bodies start to rot and grow mold. If you can't get the gel or crystals you can use carrot not only is it a good food source but the moisture content in carrot is enough for them and carrot is the least likely to grow mold than any other vegetable.
If you are scared that they might climb out you can use Vaseline (clear petroleum jelly) to smear a 5 cm band around the top inside edge of the container to keep them in. I also have a Pallid roach and Madagascan hisser colony and both these are good climbers and the vaseline stops them from escaping.
You can also consider warming them during winter by sticking a heatpad on the side to up the temp. Their breeding rate can slow down very much during winter. Otherwise normal room temp in summer is more than enough and before long you will have a strong colony.

I hope this will help you decide what to do. All my insect eating pet's are healthy and happy. Just remember the healthier your feeders are, the healthier your pets are. A well balanced diet for your roaches will ensure that your spiders get all the nutrition they require. Rather give them one or two different feeding items that is healthy than a big variety of prey items that lack a good diverse diet.

As for which species is best to keep as feeders I also prefer the dubia roaches (orange spotted) they are easier for me to handle and is not as fast as the lateralis (Turkistan roaches). I keep the lateralis for the tiny pinheads they produce which is perfect for your slings.

Regards
Cronje

Ok I breed both crickets and roaches and let me tell you roaches win by far. I breed 7 different types of roach meal worms, black crickets and I am starting with super worms soon, reason is, I love to give my animals a variety but I am already thinking of scratching the crickets they stink, are noisy, and are a hassle to breed with.
My favorite roaches are indeed turkistans and dubia's. with them I have small roaches for my small animals as well as big roaches for my bigger animals.
But the roach that breeds the best in my opinion is cape red heads you just cant kill of the colony but they climb and is the Houdini of all roach species.

awesome thanks everyone, you've all really helped me alot

i'm busy reading on the net here that keeping Alphitobius diaperinus (lesser meal worms) in a live-birth roach colony keeps the colony's tank clean and serves as a great food variant for T's. has anyone here tried this?