- Joined
- Nov 21, 2011
- Messages
- 322
Ok guys so I need some help here. I started with a group of 20 adults and one baby and I was losing about one adult every two days? One or two females had babies and they all did fine. I got a little spoked by the death rate so I killed the entire colony and started over completely new. I ordered 120 adults and 100 mediums. 23 arrived dead from the shipping and I had one die yesterday and now I found nine more dead/ close to death today? I feel like I'm starting to repeat my last cycle? The first colony was fed high protein chick starter along with some other high protein pelleted foods. I was afraid then gout was my issue. Now this new group has only received baby carrots, and an organic orange along with gel water of course. Here is my setup:
I have my room at 90 degrees currently, they had baby carrots and jell water right from the start, I gave them an organic orange Tuesday night, they are all the carrots and I removed what was left of the orange. They haven't been offered anything other then the carrots orange and jell water, the bins were all cleaned twice first with simple green then second with straight water to wash them out, then they were wiped dry with a just opened roll of paper towels, my room was cleaned three times first bleached, then with a lighter cleaner and last with simple green. This includes the ceiling, light bulbs, walls, floor, shower, toilet, door, door frame everything. The lights are always off unless I'm in there so it's pitch black all the time. No one goes in or out other then me and I wash my hands before I even touch the bins let alone anything to do with the roaches. My egg cartons are all baked to over 200 degrees one at a time and stored in brand new trash bags tied shut until they are moved into the bins and obviously I wash my hands completely prior to touching the crates I have no idea what the issue would be then... If you have any ideas please let me know because I'm lost if it isn't from shipping. They are kept in 30 gallon bins that were bought brand new just for the roaches. each bin lid has two 4.25 inch holes cut in them with sanitized mesh screen over the holes. The lids and screen were then washed again after assembly. They are also all in the top bin so nothing is covering it. I also should add the room is surrounded in boric acid to prevent any foreign bugs from entering the room then each bin stack has a second barrier of boric acid around the bottom bin. The bottom bins never leave the floor either to prevent any acid falling into any other bins. The room is also at 25% humidity outside the bins. And I would assume slightly higher inside the bins. You see any issues? I am open to anything guys because I need these to work for me and my reptiles. I have them in a bathroom by the way as it has its own heater and it's cheaper to hear that little room vs a full size room. I feel like I have gone way above what anyone else would even consider doing because I want these guys to work so bad. I also should add the boric acid isn't on the bins it's on the floor at the base of the walls and across the doorway. Then the second barrier is roughly two inches away from the base of the bins. Nothing from the floor ever goes above the kids of the bins so it's not like boric acid is falling into the bins. The bottoms bins always stay on the floor just incase there is any acid dust on them so that way none falls in a different bin and the bins stacked on top of the bottom bins never touch the floor. Also all these current roaches are in a top bin so nothing is above them!
I have my room at 90 degrees currently, they had baby carrots and jell water right from the start, I gave them an organic orange Tuesday night, they are all the carrots and I removed what was left of the orange. They haven't been offered anything other then the carrots orange and jell water, the bins were all cleaned twice first with simple green then second with straight water to wash them out, then they were wiped dry with a just opened roll of paper towels, my room was cleaned three times first bleached, then with a lighter cleaner and last with simple green. This includes the ceiling, light bulbs, walls, floor, shower, toilet, door, door frame everything. The lights are always off unless I'm in there so it's pitch black all the time. No one goes in or out other then me and I wash my hands before I even touch the bins let alone anything to do with the roaches. My egg cartons are all baked to over 200 degrees one at a time and stored in brand new trash bags tied shut until they are moved into the bins and obviously I wash my hands completely prior to touching the crates I have no idea what the issue would be then... If you have any ideas please let me know because I'm lost if it isn't from shipping. They are kept in 30 gallon bins that were bought brand new just for the roaches. each bin lid has two 4.25 inch holes cut in them with sanitized mesh screen over the holes. The lids and screen were then washed again after assembly. They are also all in the top bin so nothing is covering it. I also should add the room is surrounded in boric acid to prevent any foreign bugs from entering the room then each bin stack has a second barrier of boric acid around the bottom bin. The bottom bins never leave the floor either to prevent any acid falling into any other bins. The room is also at 25% humidity outside the bins. And I would assume slightly higher inside the bins. You see any issues? I am open to anything guys because I need these to work for me and my reptiles. I have them in a bathroom by the way as it has its own heater and it's cheaper to hear that little room vs a full size room. I feel like I have gone way above what anyone else would even consider doing because I want these guys to work so bad. I also should add the boric acid isn't on the bins it's on the floor at the base of the walls and across the doorway. Then the second barrier is roughly two inches away from the base of the bins. Nothing from the floor ever goes above the kids of the bins so it's not like boric acid is falling into the bins. The bottoms bins always stay on the floor just incase there is any acid dust on them so that way none falls in a different bin and the bins stacked on top of the bottom bins never touch the floor. Also all these current roaches are in a top bin so nothing is above them!
