how does this look?

[word]

for hissing cockroaches....
anything i should change or add??

 

[Wade]

Looks great, although the ventilation may be inadequate as the colony grows. I'd cut out the center of that lid and glue in some sort of screening. If you're just starting out with a dozen or so, it's probably OK the way it is. Also, a water source might not be a bad idea, but you can get away without that as long as you provide fresh fruits and veggies all the time, which gets tedious IMO. I offer a dry diet of chicken feed (unmedicated) and a water source.

Wade

 

[word]

thanks for the info! i was planning on feeding catfood and fresh fruits. what would be an easy water source? plastic lid? i only have 15 females and 5 males right now and they are only being kept at around 70F so i don't know if they'll breed very much or very quickly. i understand that humidity and substrate aren't much of an issue?

 

[Wade]

No, you shouldn't need to worry about substrate or humidity. They won't reproduce much if kept at that temp year around, but they do pretty good if they're in the 80's at least part of the year.

You can offer a shallow water dish, but it's a good idea to have rocks, cotton or papertoweling in the dish to prevent drowning. I've been using the water gel stuff, sold under various brand names. The stuff sold as "cricket water" at pet stores works but is too expensive IMO. You can buy simmilar products in dry form at Home Depot or Lowes. The brand at Home Depot is called "water saver" and it comes in a jar of white-ish crystals. 3 tablespoons disolved in a gallon of water makes a gallon of "gel". It can be offered in a dish without fear of drowning.

Wade

 

[word]

thanks for the info on the "water saver." i'll have to pick some of that up! i don't expect to have a huge colony but it'd be nice to have a regular supply of something other than crickets, which i hate, and meal worms. i may try to keep the temp around 80 for awhile and see how that works.

 

[Malhavoc's]

Question. Do males fight? Mine have been combating pretty hard lately.. shaking their abdomens around and raming and chasing each other around.. by morning they've ripped everything up.. should I remove the extra male or what?

 

[Navaros]

Question. Do males fight? Mine have been combating pretty hard lately.. shaking their abdomens around and raming and chasing each other around.. by morning they've ripped everything up.. should I remove the extra male or what?

I think you've answered your own question. Yes they will fight over females/territory or whatever they decide to fight over. Don't remove the extra males, it is normal. I love watching roaches interact with each other, they are very interesting. Actually, one of my favorite species to watch are lobster roaches. The males display and fight ALL the time. You will occasionally see a group of females together in a depression in the egg crate and a single male guarding over them, attacking any other males that wander too close. ;P

Word: The setup looks great to me, but like Wade said, give them a water source. Giving them fresh fruit all the time is a pain. I feed a mixture of whatever dry foods are around in my house, different cereals and dog food mainly, and every few days some fresh fruit or veggies. I always have dry food and a dish of the water crystals available to them. I need to head to a store tomorrow and pick up one of those tubs too, they look like they'd make great roach tubs!

 

[TexasJackDaniel]

Water Saver @ Home Depot?

No, you shouldn't need to worry about substrate or humidity. They won't reproduce much if kept at that temp year around, but they do pretty good if they're in the 80's at least part of the year.

You can offer a shallow water dish, but it's a good idea to have rocks, cotton or papertoweling in the dish to prevent drowning. I've been using the water gel stuff, sold under various brand names. The stuff sold as "cricket water" at pet stores works but is too expensive IMO. You can buy simmilar products in dry form at Home Depot or Lowes. The brand at Home Depot is called "water saver" and it comes in a jar of white-ish crystals. 3 tablespoons disolved in a gallon of water makes a gallon of "gel". It can be offered in a dish without fear of drowning.

Wade

Wade........in what department do you find "Watersaver" at Home Depot? Did a search on their website but did not get a hit.

 

[Navaros]

The gardening department.

 

[Wade]

It's usually in the little section for houseplants, where the small bags of specialized potting soils and mosses are (not outside with the big bags of soil). I haven't bought it in awhile since a jar goes a long way, maybe they carry a different brand now. Lowes was carrying a similar product, but I can't remeber what they were calling it. It's used as a soil aditive to help soil retain water. Somebody posted a good online source for the stuff awhile back, but I don't remember the address.

Wade

 

[Malhavoc's]

just what kinds of dog/cat/ceral fodo do you feed their roaches and which ones are actualy good for the,? lol.. I've foudn mine have a divine taste for soda.. they get quite bloated on the stuff..

 

[Wade]

Generally, the cheapest, generic dry dog foods are the best, because they have a lot of grains as fillers. Not good for dogs, but better for roaches.

Wade