First B. fusca matured!

[Mr. Mordax]

I went in to give all the veggie-eaters some lettuce tonight, and discovered that one of my Blaberus fusca finally matured! I picked these guys up at a show in November. (Clicky for zoom.) Photo credit goes to Lori.



"That's one small step for a cockroach . . ."


So I'm guessing this one's a boy?


I think I need to give them a bigger habitat soon. I had no idea these guys pooped so much!! Now that I've got at least one adult I can fatten him up and put him in a hamster ball to have fun with the cat . . .

 

[KyuZo]

Congrate! how big is the enclosure now?

 

[Mr. Mordax]

They're in a smallish Sterlite tub. It's kind of crowded right now, but I think we have a couple of spare 10-gallons.

 

[KyuZo]

for that species, i would have them in at least a 10 gal. tank.
If you have a few males in there they are going to be chasing each other all around the tank. the males are going to be running, jumping, and do a little flying. it is going to be crampy, so with a 10 gal, just keep one or two males.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Hmm . . . I have a couple of sterlite tubs that look to be around 20 gallons . . . maybe I should move them into one of those.

I was planning on upgrading their enclosure when they started maturing, anyway. Thanks for the tips. I can't wait to see one fly!

 

[bugmankeith]

Thats a female.

I keep those as pets, an all female colony, so they never mated. I have some B. Fusca going on 3 years as adults! They can live pretty long if cared for properly and not cramped with hunderds of other roaches.

10-15 in a 20 gallon is what I have

 

[Mr. Mordax]

It's a female? I thought they had the extra-big terminal segment.

 

[bugmankeith]

Oops sorry I didnt see the line good enough. Yes it looks like a male then.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Bit of an update . . .

I moved everyone into a 10 gallon tonight. Since the original post one more male matured, and sexing everyone shows I have 13 males and 11 females. I was hoping it would lean a little towards more females, but I'll see how this works out.

The two adult males are sharing the same cramped hide. Most of the nymphs burrowed instantly.

 

[KyuZo]

when more males mature, i would normally cull the ones that came out of a bad molt or the smaller males.

 

[bugmankeith]

Or you could sell some males, people always look for cheaper breeders, and you could make some extra cash.

Some roach sellers allow you to request what sex you want sent, thats how I got all females, I just asked for females before I placed my order.

 

[KyuZo]

yea, but very few people want to buy males. very few, i can't think of anyone.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I want to get a breeding colony going, so I'm all for having males. Maybe I can separate the extra ones and impliment them if breeding doesn't take off.

By the way, these guys are ovoviviparous, aren't they? How big are the first instars?