# Florida surinam roaches, breeding and care.



## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Sep 9, 2010)

I recently discovered that the little burrowing roaches I commonly find in foliage are actually breedable, and not only that, but males are not required and don't exist. I already have a dubia colony, but those are mostly for my reptiles and after consant feedings to my chickens I can't afford wasting anymore. So since the discovery of this new roach, I want to setup a seperate colony specifically for my girls. I find mainly juvies, but tonight I lifted the right rock and found 3 adults. Now how do you care for these guys? The climbing factor I'm not too fond off after being with the dubias for a while. I plan to keep them in a 15 gallon rubbermaid bin, simple lid, cut top with screen glued. Sounds good? I also hear these are plant feeders, does that mean they won't take roach chow? I have lots of spinach, lettuce, carrots, potato, etc. I'm guessing they will thrive off those? Basically I wan't a little care guide for surinams. Thanks in advance!


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## ZephAmp (Sep 9, 2010)

This is probably one of the easiest species to care for. Basically any substrate will work; I personally use coconut coir (the big chunky stuff) with a bit of cypress mulch; I've found this the easiest to keep clean. Use 1-2" of this; keep the roaches warm but not hot (82 is a great temp.) They will eat anything. If you think that they will eat it, they will. Place food on the surface of the substrate; they will mob it and drag it under. Only give more food the day AFTER you see all of it gone; some of it may be lingering in the substrate. 
Any container will do; these gals have a reputation for jumping cultures, so you have to make sure it's a secure container. I use a petroleum jelly barrier around my colony in a 16 quart sterilite bin with no aeration; they do well and I haven't had one get out since switching to this enclosure. I also don't add any additional water anymore; their respiration makes enough humidity. Nymph to adult should take about 2-5 months, temp dependent, and the females can give birth an astonishing once per month (also temp dependent!)


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Sep 9, 2010)

Great to know Zeph, any pics of your colony? I have mine in a jelly jar with some potting soil at the moment, I'll have to scout around in the morning to see if I can find some more adults or juvies before I can get a real enclosure set up.


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## ZephAmp (Sep 9, 2010)

They're one of my favorite roaches for sure; somewhere I have a pic where I spelled out my name by strategically placing food items and waiting for them to swarm them.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Sep 9, 2010)

Wow, awesome. How many did you start out with? What are you feeding them too?


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## ZephAmp (Sep 9, 2010)

1Lord Of Ants1 said:


> Wow, awesome. How many did you start out with? What are you feeding them too?


I started with maybe 20 two or three years ago. 
Although they're not really a culture I feed from heavily (they're too cute lol) I occasionally feed them to my clawed frogs, mantids, and anything else I have. The newborn nymphs are great for teeny tiny predators.


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## Bugs In Cyberspace (Sep 10, 2010)

This is one of the species I won't ship because they are so easy they'll establish just about anywhere (houseplants). I keep a swarming colony of them in an escape-proof bucket. My water dragon loves them and eats them so proficiently that I never have to worry about escapees.

They breed faster than just about anything else, but they only reach about an inch in length. They are fast and they can climb any surface (though a fresh layer of petroleum jelly slows them down pretty well).


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## Matt K (Sep 10, 2010)

They will eat just about anything, including paper, glue, and anything else remotely organic.  So easy to care for its rediculous- they will live in almost any substrate, but prefer to be under something on the substrate- very commonly found where chicken food, rat food, rabbit food, and other animal chow is stored.


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