b.lateralis eating egg cases

[blay]

Why are my b. lateralis eating their egg cases?! they have eaten every single one that was laid!!!
i am planing to use peat moss for a substrate so the females can bury cases.
what do you think?
and how do you guys keep proper humidity so they dont dry out?

 

[ZephAmp]

Why are my b. lateralis eating their egg cases?! they have eaten every single one that was laid!!!
i am planing to use peat moss for a substrate so the females can bury cases.
what do you think?
and how do you guys keep proper humidity so they dont dry out?

They might be hungry or moisture depraved. I had some problems with this too; however, since I switched to a mix of coconut fiber (big chunks) and cypress mulch (any hardwood mulch will do) and added some Alphitobius diaperinus (clean up beetles that eat any debris but do not touch oothecae) I've had a population explosion. Try putting food in a styrofoam cup in the enclosure; it gives the roaches easy access while keeping the food off the substrate and therefore preventing mold.

 

[KnightinGale]

Do you make sure that their diet includes protein, like dry dogfood or something? If they don't get enough protein from their regular diet, they will seek it from other sources. I make sure my guys have free access to protein rich ferret food at all times. Given the choice of that with some fresh fruit or veg, I find that they eat both as they need to without just leaving one or the other.
Knight in Gale

 

[blay]

lack of proteins is out...beacause i give them dog/cat food and sometimes even meat for them to eat...but i will try with some substrat this time...i have about a hundred babys from oothecas i managed to save so lets hope they dont turn out to be as canibalsitic as their parents

 

[Miss Bianca]

never witnessed the adults munching on egg cases, but I've always had better luck by removing
the ooths once a week and keeping them in a seperate enclosure.
I got hundreds of babies in about a month or so this way. I kept them warm and a little moist.

 

[robd]

The adults eating the ooths probably has something to do with a lack of humidity. I mean, that was the case when I had this problem a few months ago. I increased the enclosure's ability to retain the humidity and it seemed to fix the problem and the population was booming again.

They say roaches don't have any smell to them. That may be true in comparison to crickets, but if you cut off their ventilation it will give off a little bit of an odor when you open up the lid. It's worth it though if you want to boost your population.

I've never given any of my roaches substrate, except the hissers. They're more like pets anyway as their hard shell could be damanging to my T's fangs if they aren't freshly molted when I try feeding them.

So, I would decrease ventilation if I were you. Hope it helps.