P. nivea enclosures?

[Beardo]

I want to get another colony of P. nivea in the near future and was wondering what you folks use to house yours in? I had some a few years back but did not have them very long.....I kept about 30 adults in a plastic gallon jar, so I was curious as to what long term options might be out there. I know that housing them is a bit different than many other bugs since they can climb and fly.

 

[zonbonzovi]

I keep mine in a KK with an inch or so of substrate. The interior of the lid has small gauge steel mesh(I think from a screen door) glued into place. Having some structure for climbing in the center has helped a little with keeping them off the sides during feeding/maintenance time. Chasing these down after an escape is near futile.

I had mold problems before, but this setup has worked great. I just toss in food items 1x/week as well as a good misting and they thrive.

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

"Chasing" them after an escape doesn't work well: patience does.

Escapees often come back to the enclosure they got out of.
Several of mine even allowed me to cup them in my hands if I didn't
startle them too much-they calm down "inside" an enfolding hand.

Flying males especially may perch somewhere up high.

If yours often do,you might consider buying a butterfly net if getting all
the way up there is too difficult to permit you to catch them in your hand or pop an open jar over them and "sweep" (say) a sheet of cardboard between the jarred escapee and whatever it landed on.

Happy hunting!