# *PIC* Blatta (Shelfordella) lateralis / Shelfordella tartara



## Martin H. (Feb 5, 2004)

me too!


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## Navaros (Feb 5, 2004)

Cool pics Martin. Roaches are cool.


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## genious_gr (Aug 25, 2004)

bump



Hi martin,
What's that you are keeping them on?
Not much humidity right? And how hot do you keep them?


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## Nikos (Aug 26, 2004)

I think what Martin is using is good old musli.
I used to keep my colony without substrate but when i changed it to a thin layer of peat i had more reproduction rates.

I would suggest NOT to use musli if you cannot keep them VERY well ventilated since mold will occure.

Not much humidity is needed (20-30%) and the hoter you keep them, the faster they reproduce.

I've noticed that if you keep the oothekas hot and little bit more humid than the rest of the colony they emerge faster and with more success ratio.

They don't climb glass or smooth plastic, they don't smell and they make great feeders but the only drawback for not keeping them is the fact that they ARE roaches...
ahhh if only they were beetles....


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## danread (Aug 26, 2004)

I've just managed to get a small starter colony of these. What have you found the breeding rate to be like? I had heard they are really prolific, are they comparable to lobster roaches in terms of breeding rate? I like the look of them as feeders, the fact the don't climb is great, and they are almost the exact same size as crickets, great for my lizards.


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## Nikos (Aug 26, 2004)

sorry but I have no idea about lobster roaches since I don't own any. 
However I can describe how fast tartaras breed in 2 words: like hell!


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## danread (Aug 26, 2004)

vardoulas said:
			
		

> sorry but I have no idea about lobster roaches since I don't own any.
> However I can describe how fast tartaras breed in 2 words: like hell!



Excellent!    I'm suprised i hadn't heard of these being used as feeders more ofter, a roach that doesn't climb, and breeds fast, they seem to be ideal. I'm completely fedup of crickets, they die far too easily, and i'm sick of the sound of crickets that escape into my house, plus the fact they are too expensive.

How long does it take for the oothecas to hatch out with these roaches? And roughly how long does it take for these roaches to reach adult size after hatching?

Cheers,


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## genious_gr (Aug 26, 2004)

I'll second the "like hell" comment. Vardoulas gave me his collony that started with a few sub-adult roaches a couple of months ago. Now there are gazillions of little roaches in there. I'll post pics tomorrow and start keeping records about their growth rate.


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## Nikos (Aug 27, 2004)

oothekas hatch in about 2-3 weeks and I think that they reach adulthood in 3-4 months (depending on heat and food, i guess).


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## genious_gr (Aug 27, 2004)

As promised. The first pic is the one of the boxes, the one with the most ones, and the second is a detail. They are N' joying some grape.


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## genious_gr (Aug 28, 2004)

Martin H. said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> own experiences or where doe these 2-3 weeks come from?
> 
> ...


 Since he won't be online untill monday, and I can't wait for that, how long do you think they take to hatch?


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## danread (Sep 3, 2004)

Anyone? I'm really keen to know how long they take to hatch. My colony has laid about six or seven so far in the two weeks i've had them. A couple of them seem to have collapsed though. Do they need any special treatment? I thought them may be a bit dry, so i've put them on a dish of damp peat to see if that helps.

Cheers,


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## genious_gr (Sep 3, 2004)

I don't know cause I haven't had them long enough but vardoulas did mention that a little more humidity helps them hatch with better results.


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