Eublaberus posticus Colony Photo Share

[Arachnophobphile]

So these are my current photos of my Orange Head Roaches as of 7/17/2023. I now have some mature males. I received a 100 count 3/4 to 1 inch on 3/23/2023 from a vendor. In reality did not get 100 individual roaches as they go by weight. I did receive roaches that were bigger than 1 inch. I finally just got some mature males last day or two. I never used any heating source. Temps have been 69F to 70F up until April. May to currently temps are a constant 72 to 73F. Will be using a heat source to encourage prolific reproduction.

Sterilite 20 gallon bin with 3/4 of heavily moisten sphagnum moss ground cover. It's for eggs and larvae plus moisture. I do not recommend this storage bin for B. lateralis or roaches that can climb and/or fly it is not weathertight.


Same bin as complete setup. Tuna can full of roach chow and 5 inch shallow container lid full of hydrated water crystals.


Mature male roach next to a quarter. Right when I snapped the photo it moved.


The next set of photos are of the roaches in the bin, (most are hiding), sliced up orange in the middle of the food area, (paper towels laid under feeding area). This will give the rest of you roach keepers a good laugh. Instead of using mesh just on the air vent I covered the whole top and put the lid on over it. I have clips, (the generic kind) that secure the edges.




Also since you noticed the eggcrates near the top there is packing tape to prevent them from reaching the mesh. These Orange Heads do not climb, fly or jump.

My setup is far from perfect I know but it works for these roaches and will work for B. dubia I can't recommend for any other type of roaches due to the lid.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

There are some more notes on Eublaberus posticus Orange Head roaches I like to share for anyone interested.

1. They are easy to transfer to a different bin. If you use 1 dozen eggcrates simply lift it out of the bin full of roaches and put in other container.

Unlike B. lateralis that would be jumping off the eggcrate to make hasty retreats orange heads are difficult to get off the eggcrates. They have and keep a strong grip and fight to stay secure on it. Using a hobby paintbrush will be needed to guide them off the old eggcrate onto new ones which is still some work as they don't want to leave it.

Paper towel rolls work really well in scooping them up and transferring. One thing, mature males can move rather fast, not B. lateralis fast but fast.



2. Foods I provide:
Roach Chow, (easy to find recipes to make your own or buy from reputable online vendors), high protein count cat food, apple and an orange maybe once every 2 weeks, (it is recommended not to provide oranges often)

Foods mine will not eat:
Lettuce, raw spinach leaves, green pepper and cucumber

3. These roaches eat alot. Compared to B. lateralis, E. posticus consume alot of food due to their size.

With eating comes pooping and whew.....do they ever poop alot and big turds too.

If you do not use a cleanup crew such as Buffalo beetles then cleaning will be required more often. Letting it go for extended time be aware of the harmful bacteria that poses an issue in their enclosure and to you.

4. Eublaberus posticus make great pets. They are an attractive roach. If you handle them they will immediately walk upwards.

Unfortunately they are not display roaches. Orange Heads absolutely hate light. Out of the roaches I've had B. dubia and B. lateralis, E. posticus react like vampires at the slightest sign of light.

I hope some of this helps if not hope you at least enjoyed the photos.

 

[SpookySpooder]

@Ultum4Spiderz Check this out

 

[Arachnophobphile]

@Ultum4Spiderz Check this out

Yes I know but thx anyways @Ultum4Spiderz and I have been comparing notes as we both got our E. posticus roaches around the same time.

I didn't want to hijack his thread so made a separate one with photos and my experience with mine.

 

[SpookySpooder]

Ahahaha nice, good to hear that. We've been trying to troubleshoot his roach colonies and I figured since your thread had such great presentation that he could reference it because you've done a great job setting these up.

You mentioned they poo a lot, I maintain my roach colonies once a month, and I don't notice any horrible musk or stench coming out of them, how bad do orange heads get? How often do you have to maintain it to stay on top of the odor?

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Thanks for the compliment. In reality my setup is nothing special. It's a cheap container from Dollar General.

Sorry that was something important I forgot to mention.

E. posticus are actually odorless. I cleaned their bin out yesterday to set it up for breeding.

Although alot of poop and frass, or maybe that's the same thing haha, no odor.

Odor in the E. posticus bin is strictly dependent on what food you provide is in there.

So I get odor from the dry cat food. I do not use any fish based dry food.

I recommend cleaning the bin out after significant feces buildup due to bacteria. I do not have a cleanup crew like Buffalo beetles so I need to clean once every two weeks give or take.

 

[SpookySpooder]

Dollar store setup! Perfect! You don't need a high-tech set up for dwarf shrimp, just like you don't need a high tech set up for breeding roaches. Are they gonna appreciate that you used a $20 bin or a $2 bin? NOPE! I buy my greens from the ALDI, not the Whole Foods, but they can't seem to tell the difference anyway!

It's a good set up for intended purposes.

Kudos to you for posting the process, it'll help somebody like me who needs a visual reference.

Sounds to me like orange heads are too much maintenance for my tastes though, I'm glad I never tried. I quit crickets because of the smell.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Ohhhhhhh crickets.....oh how I loathe them, the smell and the noise at night when I'm trying to sleep. Unfortunately been using them until I get a fully self replicating colony of roaches.

These roaches are really not high maintenance. If you have Buffalo beetles then there's nothing to do but feed'em.

Out of the roaches I kept these are easy to put in temp bin to clean theirs out. Took me a couple of minutes to put them in temp bin, 5 minutes to clean bin with dawn soap and water, scrub then put back together.

The only way an orange head will escape is if you fling them across the room on purpose

Whatever they are on they cling tight to. It really takes some doing to free them from it.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Ahahaha nice, good to hear that. We've been trying to troubleshoot his roach colonies and I figured since your thread had such great presentation that he could reference it because you've done a great job setting these up.

You mentioned they poo a lot, I maintain my roach colonies once a month, and I don't notice any horrible musk or stench coming out of them, how bad do orange heads get? How often do you have to maintain it to stay on top of the odor?

Yeah the moss or substrate is definitely something I can try and upgrade my orange roach colony with. I was trying no sub for a days/weeks. I clean my cage out once a month but with Buffalo beetles it would be rarely .

Ohhhhhhh crickets.....oh how I loathe them, the smell and the noise at night when I'm trying to sleep. Unfortunately been using them until I get a fully self replicating colony of roaches.

These roaches are really not high maintenance. If you have Buffalo beetles then there's nothing to do but feed'em.

Out of the roaches I kept these are easy to put in temp bin to clean theirs out. Took me a couple of minutes to put them in temp bin, 5 minutes to clean bin with dawn soap and water, scrub then put back together.

The only way an orange head will escape is if you fling them across the room on purpose

Whatever they are on they cling tight to. It really takes some doing to free them from it.

Chirping crickets yeah no way I could sleep well with those . I tried top soil and coco fiber not sure which is more appropriate or a mixture.. prob the latter .
Buffalo beetles definitely gotta get someday .

 

[SpookySpooder]

The amount of maintenance I do for my roaches is minimal. But I also use dermestid beetles and they seem to consume all the frass. You don't want to use too many beetles as I've read they will eat the ootheca, but if your colony is big enough that won't matter much. I could probably go 2 or 3 months between cleanings but I like to stay on top of maintenance.

For me it's about how minimal of an impact they have on the senses, I can often hear them in the other room scritching on the bin walls under the constant trickling of water and that is the limit of my tolerance. If I can smell them through the bin, or they emanate an odor into the room, I won't tolerate it.

Chirping is also too much for me. I kept crickets once upon a time... then one night I had the idea to spray a can of RAID into their bin. Didn't though. The next morning I took them to the pet store and dumped them all off in exchange for a starter roach colony. I do not regret that and I will never go back to keeping them.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Yeah the moss or substrate is definitely something I can try and upgrade my orange roach colony with. I was trying no sub for a days/weeks. I clean my cage out once a month but with Buffalo beetles it would be rarely .

Chirping crickets yeah no way I could sleep well with those . I tried top soil and coco fiber not sure which is more appropriate or a mixture.. prob the latter .
Buffalo beetles definitely gotta get someday .

You could mix everything together if you want.

The only reason to even have substrate is for the type of roaches that lay their eggs, oothecae in it and the larvae remains in it. Moisture is more for them than the rest of the orange head roaches. The older roaches will hydrate off hydrated water crystals, fruit and vegetables. Although creating some humidity is beneficial I myself refrained from providing an abundance of it.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

You could mix everything together if you want.

The only reason to even have substrate is for the type of roaches that lay their eggs, oothecae in it and the larvae remains in it. Moisture is more for them than the rest of the orange head roaches. The older roaches will hydrate off hydrated water crystals, fruit and vegetables. Although creating some humidity is beneficial I myself refrained from providing an abundance of it.

If I do add substrate it will be the way you did. I had full sub and the food dish molded underneath.. top soiled prob needs isopods or something like buffalo beetles.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

This is my first try with pure sphagnum moss, I hope it works. As long as I keep it moist. If it dries out then it'll be a mess.