last winter I was away from our house for a week, i kept my thriving orange head colony over the heater vents as normal but turned the house thermostat down to 55F, the local heat from the vent kept them warmer but after a week in the dry midwest winter i found about 25% dehydrated and a few dead. Anyway this winter we went away for 12 days, in order to avoid the dessication issue I left the roaches away from the vent. I expected the roaches to simply slow down at temps between 50-55F but be otherwise OK.
well i was proved wrong, on arrival i found the still moist tank full of dead and dying roaches. Some seem just about OK but the majority of both adults and young seem to have been permanently damaged from the cold, many adult females aborted their ootheca. Anyway im hoping to salvage those least harmed and see if the damage isnt permanent to all of them.Even once warmed back up they dont seem to be reviving. In order to slow down my colony i had kept them at 65-70 F for the last few months with no problems.
i know that these are tropical insects but i kept phasmids for years in the UK and cool spells never seemed to harm them in this way.
well i was proved wrong, on arrival i found the still moist tank full of dead and dying roaches. Some seem just about OK but the majority of both adults and young seem to have been permanently damaged from the cold, many adult females aborted their ootheca. Anyway im hoping to salvage those least harmed and see if the damage isnt permanent to all of them.Even once warmed back up they dont seem to be reviving. In order to slow down my colony i had kept them at 65-70 F for the last few months with no problems.
i know that these are tropical insects but i kept phasmids for years in the UK and cool spells never seemed to harm them in this way.
