Bess Beetle and Brown Hooded Cockroach care

VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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I have three Bess Beetles and maybe 15 Brown Hooded Cockroaches in a five gallon with 2 in. of Eco Earth with some Forest Floor bedding. I also have a few pieces of rotting wood that both insects spend most of their time in. I mist once a day. That is about it for how I care for them. Is there any thing I'm missing or is there anything I need to change? Is it okay to house both insects together? I'm also thinking about adding a few millipedes to the mix. I caught the BHC and BB in the same area. Should I offer the BHC some carrots or something like that like most cockroaches eat? I have read that BHC eats mostly the wood like the BB. I had recently housed just one BHC in a little container with some snails and would throw in a carrot and the carrot would be mostly gone by the end of the day but, I never witnessed the BHC eating the carrot. I do know by the way, that housing one roach by itself will give it depression that's why I went out and tried to catch some more. That's how I ended up with around 15 BHCs. I have heard that BHCs are hard to care for but so far I have had zero problems or deaths. Would adding millipedes and/or isopods be a good idea? I will get them from the same spot that I got everything else.
 

Hisserdude

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Cryptocercus are notoriously hard to breed, and seem to like good ventilation, can't be kept at temps much above 70F, and need a substrate that consists entirely of rotten wood, or cellulose powder. They also won't eat anything but rotten wood or cellulose.

So far, the only people I know of who have had success keeping and breeding this species successfully long term used cellulose powder and only cellulose powder as the substrate. So I'm not sure how yours will fare without it. Fermented sawdust may also work well...

They'll definitely perish if not put on a substrate of rotten wood, no eco earth, but even with a substrate of just rotten wood they may still die. Good luck keeping them, let us know if you have success breeding them or not!
 

VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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Cryptocercus are notoriously hard to breed, and seem to like good ventilation, can't be kept at temps much above 70F, and need a substrate that consists entirely of rotten wood, or cellulose powder. They also won't eat anything but rotten wood or cellulose.

So far, the only people I know of who have had success keeping and breeding this species successfully long term used cellulose powder and only cellulose powder as the substrate. So I'm not sure how yours will fare without it. Fermented sawdust may also work well...

They'll definitely perish if not put on a substrate of rotten wood, no eco earth, but even with a substrate of just rotten wood they may still die. Good luck keeping them, let us know if you have success breeding them or not!
I didn't necessarily want to breed them but it would be awesome if they did. There are a lot of nymphs right now but I caught a lot of nymphs and it was the other day that I caught them so I know they hadn't bred yet. Are they live bearers or egg layers? They all live in this little crevice in one of the rotting wood pieces.
 

Hisserdude

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I didn't necessarily want to breed them but it would be awesome if they did. There are a lot of nymphs right now but I caught a lot of nymphs and it was the other day that I caught them so I know they hadn't bred yet. Are they live bearers or egg layers? They all live in this little crevice in one of the rotting wood pieces.
They lay oothecae, and apparently care for the ooths and keep them clean until they hatch, at which point the nymphs stay with the adults until maturity. They make galleries in rotten wood, sort of similar to their close relatives, termites, so they definitely should have a lot of wood available to them.
 

VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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So far I have zero dead roaches as far as I can tell. They all live in a small crevice in one of the rotting wood pieces so it's hard to tell what they are doing. I found a millipede in the crevice along with the roaches. I guess it got in with the wood, seems to not be causing any harm.
 

Hisserdude

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So far I have zero dead roaches as far as I can tell. They all live in a small crevice in one of the rotting wood pieces so it's hard to tell what they are doing. I found a millipede in the crevice along with the roaches. I guess it got in with the wood, seems to not be causing any harm.
Nice, glad to hear that! :) Do you have any pictures of the roaches?
 

VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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By the way I probably should mention that they are the Punctalatus variety of cryptocercus. Also the only death I have noticed was one of my passalids. By the way, does anyone know how to sex cryptocercus Punctalatus and tell if they are about to lay an oothecae.
 

Hisserdude

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Wow, surprised there's been no deaths yet, sure they aren't Parcoblatta lol? :p

Seeing as Cryptocercus are very closely related to Blattids, (Periplaneta, Eurycotis, Blatta, etc.), I think you should be able to sex them in the same manner, check out this male/female comparison here, (the bottom one, for Periplaneta, Eurycotis and other similar species).
 

VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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Wow, surprised there's been no deaths yet, sure they aren't Parcoblatta lol? :p

Seeing as Cryptocercus are very closely related to Blattids, (Periplaneta, Eurycotis, Blatta, etc.), I think you should be able to sex them in the same manner, check out this male/female comparison here, (the bottom one, for Periplaneta, Eurycotis and other similar species).
I caught them in the woods behind my house in western Kentucky. And the only cockroaches I know of here are german, american, and brownhooded cockroaches.
 

VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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Just did a quick little head count and I found 9 adults and 2 nymphs. I know this isn't all though that's just what I could see. The nymphs are not from breeding as I caught several nymphs and added them to the enclosure.
 

Hisserdude

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I caught them in the woods behind my house in western Kentucky. And the only cockroaches I know of here are german, american, and brownhooded cockroaches.
Well Parcoblatta do actually live in Kentucky, you have P.pennsylvanica, P.uhleriana, and P.virginica. Additionally you have Ischnoptera deropeltiformis. At least a couple of those should range into west KY.

Additionally, based on what I can find on what I can find on the range of Cryptocercus, any Cryptocercus you have would be C.darwini, not C.punctulatus. :)
 

Hisserdude

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https://www.insectidentification.or...ation=Brown-Hooded-Cockroach&sCurrentPic=pic1
This is where I got my information. I have looked at all the links you posted and I still believe it is cryptocercus punctalatus. I may be wrong though. I will try to post a picture of mine, the one in the link I posted looks just like what I have.
The one in the link you posted has been misidentified, it looks like a Parcoblatta virginica nymph to me. And the pics below it are of a Eurycotis floridana nymph...
 
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Hisserdude

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I know my colony has adults that look just like the first picture. Also none of them has wings.
Well that first picture is a Parcoblatta nymph for sure, there aren't any actual Cryptocercus pictures on that website. It also lists the range of C.punctulatus as covering Alabama, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia, which is completely false, several Cryptocercus species have since been described and they each have small ranges, no one Cryptocercus species live in all of those states.

C.clevelandi lives in northern CA, OR and WA I believe.
C.darwini ranges from south-central KY to ne. AL to sw.-most NC.
C.garciai lives in northern GA.
C.punctulatus ranges from w.PA-se.IN to VA & WV.
C.wrighti lives along the TN-NC border except the southwesternmost part.

How do you know they are mature, have you seen any oothecae being laid? I'd love to see some pictures of the roaches!
 
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VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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Well that first picture is a Parcoblatta nymph for sure, there aren't any actual Cryptocercus pictures on that website. It also lists the range of C.punctulatus as covering Alabama, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia, which is completely false, several Cryptocercus species have since been described and they each have small ranges, no one Cryptocercus species live in all of those states.

C.clevelandi lives in northern CA, OR and WA I believe.
C.darwini ranges from south-central KY to ne. AL to sw.-most NC.
C.garciai lives in northern GA.
C.punctulatus ranges from w.PA-se.IN to VA & WV.
C.wrighti lives along the TN-NC border except the southwesternmost part.

How do you know they are mature, have you seen any oothecae being laid? I'd love to see some pictures of the roaches!
If I can figure out how to get a picture on here I will. Everytime I try to upload a picture from my phone to here it always says it can't because of low memory. I will try to post a picture of them as soon as I can. I am not 100% sure they are adults. They all seem to reach a certain size and color I have not seen any that were bigger. So I do not know for a fact but it seems that they are mature. I think I read somewhere else that c. punctulatus live in Kentucky but I can't remember where, it seems now though that I am probably wrong. I would like to know what species I have. I hope that it is cryptocercus because that would be cool. I live in western Kentucky if that helps.
 

Hisserdude

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If I can figure out how to get a picture on here I will. Everytime I try to upload a picture from my phone to here it always says it can't because of low memory. I will try to post a picture of them as soon as I can. I am not 100% sure they are adults. They all seem to reach a certain size and color I have not seen any that were bigger. So I do not know for a fact but it seems that they are mature. I think I read somewhere else that c. punctulatus live in Kentucky but I can't remember where, it seems now though that I am probably wrong. I would like to know what species I have. I hope that it is cryptocercus because that would be cool. I live in western Kentucky if that helps.
Try downsizing the images, or uploading them to a site like flickr or imgur, then copy the image url and paste it here.

They may be adults Cryptocercus then, or just subadult Parcoblatta waiting until spring to mature, (as some northen Parcoblatta strains do). If they are Cryptocercus they are likely C.darwini though, not C.punctulatus, (not that there are any big differences between them visibly unless you look at the genitalia).
 

VaejovisCarolineanusSDS

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Try downsizing the images, or uploading them to a site like flickr or imgur, then copy the image url and paste it here.

They may be adults Cryptocercus then, or just subadult Parcoblatta waiting until spring to mature, (as some northen Parcoblatta strains do). If they are Cryptocercus they are likely C.darwini though, not C.punctulatus, (not that there are any big differences between them visibly unless you look at the genitalia).
So I just did a bit more research on parcoblatta and it seems that I have parcoblatta. I'm still not sure what species though, I will have to wait until they mature. Are parcoblatta easy to keep? Also, are they a pest species? I wouldn't normally ask but I don't live alone. Why haven't I seen any mature adults anywhere? Are they commonly kept as pets?

The roaches in this picture from google images look the most like what I have.
 

Hisserdude

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So I just did a bit more research on parcoblatta and it seems that I have parcoblatta. I'm still not sure what species though, I will have to wait until they mature. Are parcoblatta easy to keep? Also, are they a pest species? I wouldn't normally ask but I don't live alone. Why haven't I seen any mature adults anywhere? Are they commonly kept as pets?

The roaches in this picture from google images look the most like what I have.
Well if you live somewhere with really cold winters, you are unlikely to see adults until spring and summer, as they overwinter as nymphs. Some northern Parcoblatta populations even need a diapause to develop properly, so you may want to stick them in your garage for the winter.

They are pretty easy to keep, I have several species in my collection, and no they aren't pests. Just keep them moist, with plenty of hides, (dead leaves, bark, eggcartons, etc.). Despite their common name, "Wood Roaches", they don't actually eat much rotten wood, and it is completely unnecessary in their diet. Feed them dog food, fruits and veggies, and they'll do great! And like I said, for some northern Parcoblatta populations, a diapause is needed for proper growth, so if they all reach the subadult stage and refuse to grow any more, that's a sign they need a cool period.

Adult females of most Parcoblatta species have short or vestigial wings BTW, so it's possible you've seen adults before and just never noticed. Adult males have longs wings and are attracted to lights.
 
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