Setting up roach colonies. Want to make sure I have everything I need.

WoofSpider

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
81
I am sick of dealing with crickets and there is nowhere near me that supplies roaches as feeder. So that leaves my only option as starting my own colony to feed from. Here is the order from Cape Cod Roaches that I am about to place:

upload_2017-9-30_17-23-8.png

The purpose of these roaches are to feed my tarantulas. I do live in Florida, so my options are rather limited. Because the majority of my tarantulas are slings, I selected the Surinam roaches as they only grow to 25mm. I also selected the Discoid roaches because I do have a few larger Ts and I will need larger feeders for all of them eventually.

Where I am confused is with housing. Would both colonies be okay in something like this? Will the 15 Discoids be okay in an enclosure that large? I don't want to need to rehouse them as they grow in numbers.

I would rather not use substrate if I don't need to because I think that it would make cleaning much, much more difficult. I understand that it is likely necessary with the Surinams (and I added the isopods to the order to alleviate the maintenance of said substrate), but do I need any in the Discoid enclosure? Can I use Eco Earth coconut fiber as substrate? I intend to provide egg carton in both.

Also do I need to provide any additional heating or other special care for these species to breed?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 

tzpnm

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
22
Those two bins should work really well I think. I would recommend drilling or cutting some holes into the top for ventilation, and putting some screen mesh on if the holes are big. For substrate, I actually think it makes cleaning easier because it allows the cage to hold moisture for springtails, isopods, etc., and they will decompose any dead roaches you miss or accumulated roach frass. I keep a decently breeding colony of ivory heads on soil with springtails and so far I haven't had to clean it at all. For heating, idk how warm or cold your house is, but they will probably be fine at 75-80 degrees I think. I haven't kept surinam roaches before but I read that they can climb, so you might want to smear some vaseline or some type of slippery substance around the inner rim of the cage to stop them from climbing out.
 

WoofSpider

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
81
Those two bins should work really well I think. I would recommend drilling or cutting some holes into the top for ventilation, and putting some screen mesh on if the holes are big. For substrate, I actually think it makes cleaning easier because it allows the cage to hold moisture for springtails, isopods, etc., and they will decompose any dead roaches you miss or accumulated roach frass. I keep a decently breeding colony of ivory heads on soil with springtails and so far I haven't had to clean it at all. For heating, idk how warm or cold your house is, but they will probably be fine at 75-80 degrees I think. I haven't kept surinam roaches before but I read that they can climb, so you might want to smear some vaseline or some type of slippery substance around the inner rim of the cage to stop them from climbing out.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I will definitely add some ventilation holes to the enclosures. And I already have some mesh, so I will put that over the ventilation holes for additional protection against escapes.

So do you think I should use substrate and isopods with the Discoids too? I was already planning on doing do for the Surinam as it seems to be mandatory for them.

Around 75F is the usual temperature inside my apartment. Will they breed at that temp?

I am already getting the silicon grease sold by the vendor I am buying the roaches from. That is meant to prevent them from climbing out.
 

tzpnm

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
22
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I will definitely add some ventilation holes to the enclosures. And I already have some mesh, so I will put that over the ventilation holes for additional protection against escapes.

So do you think I should use substrate and isopods with the Discoids too? I was already planning on doing do for the Surinam as it seems to be mandatory for them.

Around 75F is the usual temperature inside my apartment. Will they breed at that temp?

I am already getting the silicon grease sold by the vendor I am buying the roaches from. That is meant to prevent them from climbing out.
It probably won't hurt to have some isopods or springtails with the discoids in the soil. As for temperature, 75 degrees is probably fine but a heat mat or two wouldn't hurt.
 

Redmont

The collector
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
143
They may breed at 75 but it will be very slow which may be fine for the Ts, I’d put a heat mat on the bottom attached to a dimmer you can get dimmers on Amazon fairly cheep, don’t use soil or springtails for the discord’s there is absalutly no point, they do fine with no soil, it makes cleaning easyer as well because you just dump out the frass. In my opinion don’t get the roach chow you can make your own cheeper, and you can use lids from different contains + it’s not good to keep water gels next to the dry food because it can mold easyer, I’d also say not to get the water crystals and just use fruits and carrots to feed them, I primarily feed my roaches carrots 2 times a week. I only use water crystals if I go on vacation.
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
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Nov 25, 2011
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4,226
Isopods aren't necessary for the surinams. They'll keep the substrate clean until it's all frass, and even then they'll probably still be fine. Cocofiber is fine for either species, though not necessary for the discoids if you give them a bunch of egg crate to climb on. Water crystals aren't really necessary as long as they get fruits and veggies from time to time. Surinams will breed at 75F, but not as sure on the discoids. I'm assuming they will, though it might a bit slow for that species.
 

WoofSpider

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
81
Thanks for all the advice. I've actually decided to just do the one colony. I don't have that many Ts and the discoid nymphs should be small enough to feed to anything that is large enough to take live prey anyway.

I have ordered the containers I linked above and a heat mat with thermostat to go with it.

I appreciate the notes on the water crystals. I will forgo them in favor of fruits and vegetables. I assume things with a lot of water are best? Lettuce, carrots, apples, and oranges are all good?
 

Redmont

The collector
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
143
All those veggies and fruits are fine, I primary feed carrots because of the ease and I have 25 + species to feed hopefully next year I’ll be up to 40 + so something that lasts a long time and doesn’t rot works best
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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Jul 4, 2005
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8,982
You mean you're not doing the Surinam roaches? I wouldn't either. I had 1000s of hissers and put one in their container. About a year later I 1000s and 1000s of Surinams and about 10 hissers. Those Surinam roaches are fast, they climb and too prolific to me. I now have Rhino roaches, hissers, dubias and Arenivaga roaches and I never clean their containers, I've had them for many years.
 

WoofSpider

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
81
You mean you're not doing the Surinam roaches? I wouldn't either. I had 1000s of hissers and put one in their container. About a year later I 1000s and 1000s of Surinams and about 10 hissers. Those Surinam roaches are fast, they climb and too prolific to me. I now have Rhino roaches, hissers, dubias and Arenivaga roaches and I never clean their containers, I've had them for many years.
Yeah, I'm just going to do the Discoids. Having too many roaches was exactly my concern, so I'm glad I decided against the Surinams.
 

Nosiris

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
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62
I've kept small colonies of both dubia and Byrsotria fumigata roaches for years now as feeders and have settled on the following arrangements. This is not to say that any other advice is wrong, just that these work for me:
1) No substrate. Just don't need it. Roaches seem perfectly happy as long as their other needs are met. They just get egg cartons as furniture.
2) I do use bug gel. Quite how much gets used up when the roaches have plenty of wet food is up for debate, but it's generally available.
3) I can regulate their breeding by temperature which is great. If I want to provoke a little breeding I just move the container nearer to the heater.
4) I kept Nauphoeta cinerea for a while as well but their wall-climbing abilities were inconvenient - especially a tub full of youngsters.
5) They'll eat almost anything and your kitchen waste can be 80% of their diet so buying special food is not required.
 
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