Perplexing N. cinerea Situation...

[Mechanical-Mind]

Hello All,

4-5 months back I fragmented ~25% of main colony of Nauphoeta cinerea and set them aside in a new tank in an attempt to establish a second colony. My problem that has left me scratching my head for 3 months is that there seems to be a bizarre number of 'blatant' deaths. What I mean by that is there are two to four dozen dead roaches of sub-adult sizes laying on the bottom of the enclosure at any given time, for "no reason." They're kept in exactly the same environment is my primary group. That is, ten gallon tank, double screened lid, petroleum jelly barrier, egg crate climbing material, no substrate, gravity chick feeder w/ gravel for water, and the exact same varying diet - they're all maintenanced at the same times, fed the same foods, etc. etc... That said, this problematic colony is still growing, albeit at a poorer rate than I would've hoped. Meanwhile and fortunately, the primary colony apparently exhibits virtually no unaccounted deaths, and is still keeping up with a loss of roughly 100-160+ nymphs each week. In the end though, has anyone experienced just loads of seemingly unexplainable deaths? Any words on why - are there common roach epidemics? I can't seem to find any mites, but would that do it? Internal parasites? Diseases, etc?

Thanks in advance,
-Matt

 

[Stylopidae]

Stress, maybe?

Are they kept in the same room?

Contamination of the tank prior to introduction of the roaches, perhaps?

 

[Mechanical-Mind]

Thanks for your reply EC. Both groups are kept in the same room and on the same shelf, only a few feet apart. They're offered fresh food every 3-4 days and the problematic group has really only been manipulated en masse recently, due in large part to my inquiry. For the past couple months the only time I've really come near them was to access their neighbors, the primary colony. Contamination, though, that may be something. I can't say that I've ever changed out their egg crate. As for the enclosure itself, I'm less skeptical; that was well cleaned and well rinsed.

Thanks again,
-Matt

 

[Stylopidae]

Some stores may spray for pests, as well as some resturants. Pesticides may be getting on egg crates that way, so it may be an egg crate problem with the new colony.

For my roaches, I use pizza boxes from resturants that friends work at that don't spray or eggs purchased from where I work because I know they don't spray.