Lateralis Roaches, poor hatch rate

[neoncacti]

Hey everyone, so, I have had a small bin of lateralis roaches for a while and kept them with soil. It became dirty and problematic, but I knew that the ooths were hatching.

I later turned that bin into a bare-bottom bin, and noticed that the hatch-rate went down noticeably. Or at least I have not noticed any young in a while.

I ordered a new batch of roaches, and then moved them into another bare-bottom bin, twice the size. The current setup includes those two round patches of coco coir where I move any ooths I find to increase the humidity, is also where the heat mat is. All the roaches tend to hang off the ventilation from there. Still haven't noticed any new young, though I saw broken (or hatched?) ooths.

So my question is, am I doing anything wrong or should I just go ahead and wait a bit longer? I periodically feed fish flakes/pellets, and carrots or potatoes, they don't seem to care for greens like salad etc. I don't think I've properly seen tiny roaches ever since the original setup.

 

[Dry Desert]

Hey everyone, so, I have had a small bin of lateralis roaches for a while and kept them with soil. It became dirty and problematic, but I knew that the ooths were hatching.

I later turned that bin into a bare-bottom bin, and noticed that the hatch-rate went down noticeably. Or at least I have not noticed any young in a while.

I ordered a new batch of roaches, and then moved them into another bare-bottom bin, twice the size. The current setup includes those two round patches of coco coir where I move any ooths I find to increase the humidity, is also where the heat mat is. All the roaches tend to hang off the ventilation from there. Still haven't noticed any new young, though I saw broken (or hatched?) ooths.

So my question is, am I doing anything wrong or should I just go ahead and wait a bit longer? I periodically feed fish flakes/pellets, and carrots or potatoes, they don't seem to care for greens like salad etc. I don't think I've properly seen tiny roaches ever since the original setup.

Several people say it's better with no substrate, I think that's just easier maintenance wise. I personally use a medium coarse Vermiculite substrate, a good 1.5/2 inches. It gives the nymphs somewhere to hide, because if there is a food or moisture shortage the adults will cannibalise the nymphs.

 

[neoncacti]

Huh, I didn't know that would be a thing. So it's possible that the adults cannibalized on the nymphs if the setup got too dry, ergo the empty ooths? I kinda blamed the P.pruinosus I keep as cleanup crew, but it makes more sense this way.

I might try some other type of substrate then, I don't think vermiculite is so readily available here, but would maybe peat or coco coir work? Otherwise I'll make a mix of sand and potting soil or something. Maybe just keep one side humid?

Ideally I'd want to keep the substrate away from the heated part, and away from the eggcrates, so that the substrate remains cleaner for longer. But I feel that would defeat its purpose?

If all else fails, I might just stick larger bits of cucumber in there, though I noticed in the bigger bin they've been eating less than before. Could this also be humidity related?

 

[RoachCoach]

You can run a no sub bin if you can easily control humidity. For the lazy person setup(me) then coir or vermiculite is easy and cheap. They are extremely hardy, so detecting whether they are needing anything is tough. The females actively search out moist sub to drop their ooths in. If you see them running about with the ooth hanging on a lot, then you are lacking in a safe spot for them to put it. Add carrots because they are great for them and they mold slower than anything else out there. Also maybe potatoes, I know for SURE you guys have those there. It's less about heat and more about moist clean substrate.

 

[l4nsky]

I've tried bioactive with cork, no sub with cork, no sub with egg crate, and sub with egg crate. By far, the most successful setup has been egg crate with substrate for me. I keep the colony in a double enclosure and by keeping a larger bowl of water crystals, I can keep a 65% RH environment while maintaining a dry sub.

 

[neoncacti]

Thanks for all the info! I'll compile all of it and find a good middleground for my setup