Jsutsboctwerp
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2020
- Messages
- 9
Heyo; so I bought some Madagascar roaches about a year ago or so. Turns out one was pregnant, and so when she gave birth I decided to care for her babies. Now I have almost thirty roaches, about seven or eight months old…? I feed them lettuce usually, or whatever other fruits and vegetables I can get my hands on (I’ve noticed they seem to like apples and onions as well?) and they live in one of those big butterfly habitats that come with those painted lady kits (mesh springy thing about a foot in diameter and two-three feet tall), with some loose substrate tossed around on either end so they have something to hide in.
I’ve been trying to be more serious about taking care of them. The thing is, they were all a product of parthenogenesis, as in the mom just kind of popped them out on her own one day despite Dad being long gone. This makes them “clones” of Mom, technically, right? For this reason I know they are all females, so I haven’t been worried about more breeding and reaching their habitat’s carrying capacity. They seem very social, and whenever I separate them they get seemingly dismal and slow and unhappy. I read somewhere that they like to remain in their familial groups and stay together, and while I haven’t done much research into it it seems valid.
I was cleaning the “enclosure” today and found that one of them looks a little worse for wear - it looks like part of her exoskeleton got pinched, almost, with some odd formation protruding out. I’ll include photos. Is this something to worry about? How do I help?
And in general, does anyone have any advice on how to best promote happy and healthy living for them? They’re kind of my babies now
is there anything specific I should know to keep them healthy, help them grow? And if they’re clones, does that increase the risk for any sort of disease?
Thank you guys <3
I’ve been trying to be more serious about taking care of them. The thing is, they were all a product of parthenogenesis, as in the mom just kind of popped them out on her own one day despite Dad being long gone. This makes them “clones” of Mom, technically, right? For this reason I know they are all females, so I haven’t been worried about more breeding and reaching their habitat’s carrying capacity. They seem very social, and whenever I separate them they get seemingly dismal and slow and unhappy. I read somewhere that they like to remain in their familial groups and stay together, and while I haven’t done much research into it it seems valid.
I was cleaning the “enclosure” today and found that one of them looks a little worse for wear - it looks like part of her exoskeleton got pinched, almost, with some odd formation protruding out. I’ll include photos. Is this something to worry about? How do I help?
And in general, does anyone have any advice on how to best promote happy and healthy living for them? They’re kind of my babies now
is there anything specific I should know to keep them healthy, help them grow? And if they’re clones, does that increase the risk for any sort of disease? Thank you guys <3
