First roach colony has mold... any advice

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
734
I have had my colony for a little over 2 weeks. I have dry cat food in with water crystal gel. Cat food I have on the floor and the water gel is kept in a lid with raised edges of course. I look in to check just about every day. I checked just now to see if they needed more water gel and I saw mold on the cat food. I'm taking all of the bad food out and switching to a better container for the water gel. Is there anything else I need to do? Clean out entire enclosure...etc.? They are discoids that I'm raising if that helps at all. I also keep a bottle of water in with them that has holes punched into the top for humidity purposes. I'm posting this in here b/c I know a lot you guys have colonies as well and they are food for all of my T's. Well in a couple of months at least.
 

aluras

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
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435
first of all some people say that they like to use cat food...I dont. I just use greens or leftover apples and stuff like that. I have never had a problem with mold except when I have used animal food. As far as water i just spray them down every couple of days and its good enough. They can absorb the water through their food and think about being that small with a drop of water. Besides, I wouldnt worry in the least about mold in a colony of roaches....unless it got outta hand. IMO its not going to hurt a freakin roach....Thats just My opinion.....Good luck.
 

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
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May 24, 2009
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734
Is mold not a problem with roaches? I swear I've heard that it can kill your whole colony.
 

spiderfield

Arachnobaron
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Apr 13, 2009
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538
I have the opposite problem. I give my dubia colony dried cat food every few days which they just mob over. The only times I find mold is when I find an uneaten piece of fruit, in which case I just toss it out. Likewise, if I find some mold on their feeding dish or egg crate, i'll either wash the dish or toss out the egg crate. In my opinion as well, I don't think mold is that big of a problem with roaches, unless their "knee-deep" in the stuff. But if one takes an issue with mold in their colony, what's the cost of piece-of-mind but a quick cleaning of the enclosure?
 

BrynWilliams

Arachnoprince
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Joined
Apr 22, 2009
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1,295
I feed my roaches on oranges and a multi-bran/oats cheap cereal, has bits of dried fruit and the like.

They happily get all their moisture needs from the oranges and eat the cereal like it's going out of fashion. I never mist or up the humidity and never leave the oranges in for more than a day or two. I put the oranges in on a shallow dish which I clean when I take the old ones out. This way I've avoided the moisture buildup that can cause mould and the tank is bone dry everywhere else.

They still are breeding like weeds (the females all birthed this week oddly - like 500 new ones to deal with :p) in these conditions so I see no reason why it shouldn't work for you :)
 

spiderfield

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Messages
538
I actually just checked up on my colony just now to remove a watermelon slice that they devoured overnite and found a female birthing as well. Its always a pleasant surprise to see a bunch of small white nymphs running around. :)
 

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
734
Alright, thanks everyone. Sounds like I did fine. I cleaned out the enclosure late last night. I moved the food to the other end of it. Talk to you guys later.
 
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