Red Runner Enclosures

[fallonzoey]

I am about to upsize my red runner enclosure & I'm looking for setups where people use a raised wire bottom & keep the egg crates vertically. I want to know how you make the wire mesh bottom & also how to make dividers to hold the crates up right. What is the easiest way to do cleaning/feeding. How do you warm the enclosure?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I don’t know how to use wire to set up a roach enclosure.
You can go check here to see how my dubia are set up , now with runners I would not give them as much climbing height I’ve heard they can jump but never seen it before. Get a pic of your current enclosure how is it set up?-are you doing something different next ?

Picky Dubias won’t eat?

I’ve tried apple cores and various different vegetables. I found this list I’ve tried various items from it, no luck . They had water I misted /plus small water drops in the container plenty .

arachnoboards.com

 

[jbooth]

The males can jump maybe 3" if they get a hair to, and flutter a pretty good distance from there. If the lid is within that much sometimes they can hang from the screen and jump out when I open it too. Haven't tried mesh bottom, I just clean out into another bin and let the ooths keep hatching for awhile before I freeze the substrate. Heat pad underneath with a dial on it and cheap thermometer on bottom at the hottest spot in enclosure so I can adjust the pad is about as technical as I get. You can use a probe and a thermostat if you want to get more technical. Food, bowl. I use a microfiber wick for water, sticking out the top of a sealed container. Anything they have to climb on like food/water dispenser needs to be scratched up really well with sandpaper or something, razor blade so they can climb it.

 

[SpookySpooder]

The males can jump maybe 3" if they get a hair to, and flutter a pretty good distance from there. If the lid is within that much sometimes they can hang from the screen and jump out when I open it too.

Mine do this as well and I've found a couple taps on the lid dislodge them or send them running for the egg crate. I hate escapees so much, part of why I stopped crickets.

Curious if anybody here knows of any good examples of a mesh bottom setup? Search not yielding any photo threads

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Mine do this as well and I've found a couple taps on the lid dislodge them or send them running for the egg crate. I hate escapees so much, part of why I stopped crickets.

Curious if anybody here knows of any good examples of a mesh bottom setup? Search not yielding any photo threads

I’ve found YouTube videos were someone replaced the bottom of the tank with mesh . Seems like too much work for me. Easier to just clean the bin.
But I’m not sure if that’s what the op is referring toward.

 

[fallonzoey]

The males can jump maybe 3" if they get a hair to, and flutter a pretty good distance from there. If the lid is within that much sometimes they can hang from the screen and jump out when I open it too. Haven't tried mesh bottom, I just clean out into another bin and let the ooths keep hatching for awhile before I freeze the substrate. Heat pad underneath with a dial on it and cheap thermometer on bottom at the hottest spot in enclosure so I can adjust the pad is about as technical as I get. You can use a probe and a thermostat if you want to get more technical. Food, bowl. I use a microfiber wick for water, sticking out the top of a sealed container. Anything they have to climb on like food/water dispenser needs to be scratched up really well with sandpaper or something, razor blade so they can climb it.

What is a microfiber wick? I have zero clue when it comes to keeping roach colonies. I have just been doing veggies & potatoes in a round container with a top & a hole cut in it to let them come in & out.

 

[jbooth]

What is a microfiber wick?

Just a strip of a microfiber rag pushed tight through a hole into a reservoir... for non-climbing roaches it has to be made climbable though, scuffed up well, ramps up to it, whatever. Hissers don't need such a thing, but non-climbing roach nymphs will drown in water dishes. It does keep the poop out of the water though.

 

[Kada]

What is the percieved end goal of the mesh bottom? To be honest, it seems unlikely to have any useful utility. but if the end goals were shared, the community surely could better help with a sollution.

I find red runners do better on a substrate, at least as far as breeding goes. bran is a common one here. mesh would either only be minimally useful as a sieve or too large and probably enable escapes of babies. but if I were to do it ( I never would), I would use a stacked tub and add a screen to the second/upper layer. the upper layer being easy to remove onto another, already cleaned, bottom and then the dirty bottom can be cleaned. better yet, the contents placed into an already quite hot fire to prevent any escapees.

 

[jbooth]

Easy separation of ooths I'd think? and cleaning. I'm curious as well. My humidity is simply too low in the room not to have sub and a bit of moisture. I use reptisoil personally. There's a million ways to keep them and alive is my preferred one. Got down to 2 adult females before I figured it out

 

[Wenzer]

I have seen some setups like described with the wire grid underneath the egg crates. I don't remember the specifics but chicken/garden wire and two or three small, thin pieces of lumber is what I can imagine. Like a couple of 1-2 inch square dowel, something to lift it off the bottom. If the tub is very wide, a 3rd dowel in the middle could help keep it lifted

Wire would need a decent gap size, cut to fit the bottom of the enclosure. All the ones I've seen only cover about 2/3 of the tub with the wire grate, and I believe they simply packed the egg crate between the sides of the tub and resting on top of the wire, so during cleaning they could just... Tip the enclosure towards the non-wire-covered side, so it all slides that way, I think? Could also zip tie or staple the wire to the dowels so it doesn't slide.

Personally I don't really see a major advantages of this, unless someone preferred to use a small brush and dust pan to clean out that side of the tub, maybe? Without having to remove the roaches/egg crates entirely? It would probably make it a bit faster to spot-clean I guess. I feel like tipping the tub like that would be risky with the males, though. Mine really like to jump lol

Just a strip of a microfiber rag pushed tight through a hole into a reservoir... for non-climbing roaches it has to be made climbable though, scuffed up well, ramps up to it, whatever. Hissers don't need such a thing, but non-climbing roach nymphs will drown in water dishes. It does keep the poop out of the water though.

20231027_184642.jpg

That's such a great idea and I am stealing it I feel like my red runners' water crystals dry out faster than when I had dubias, not sure why. The crystals are kind of annoying anyways; the ones I have take forever to swell up.

 

[l4nsky]

I am about to upsize my red runner enclosure & I'm looking for setups where people use a raised wire bottom & keep the egg crates vertically. I want to know how you make the wire mesh bottom & also how to make dividers to hold the crates up right. What is the easiest way to do cleaning/feeding. How do you warm the enclosure?

I do something similar, but IMO, the purpose of keeping the egg crates vertical and off the the floor is to allow the ootheca to fall through AND so that these "pods" can be removed easily, facilitating fast cleanings and quick ootheca harvests. To do this, I use some cheap drying racks made for washing dishes, inverted with some stainless steel wire run between the uprights and with some light diffuser scraps attached to the floor to hold the egg crates vertical.

Takes 3 mins to fully clean the colony and another 5 or so to separate out ootheca using a strainer and some centrifugal force.


I have both my dubia and lats setup this way because it's just easier to take care of them. Just lift one of the two pods up and over to an empty tote, clean, move the other pod over, clean, then place the first pod back in. Simple.

Just a strip of a microfiber rag pushed tight through a hole into a reservoir... for non-climbing roaches it has to be made climbable though, scuffed up well, ramps up to it, whatever. Hissers don't need such a thing, but non-climbing roach nymphs will drown in water dishes. It does keep the poop out of the water though.

I've looked into this as an option in the past, but my concern was hygiene related. I would probably be changing that microfiber rag a few times a month and that doesn't really seem easier than using water crystals with a ladder for nymphs to crawl out from.

 

[Kada]

I do something similar, but IMO, the purpose of keeping the egg crates vertical and off the the floor is to allow the ootheca to fall through AND so that these "pods" can be removed easily, facilitating fast cleanings and quick ootheca harvests. To do this, I use some cheap drying racks made for washing dishes, inverted with some stainless steel wire run between the uprights and with some light diffuser scraps attached to the floor to hold the egg crates vertical.
View attachment 460070
Takes 3 mins to fully clean the colony and another 5 or so to separate out ootheca using a strainer and some centrifugal force.

View attachment 460075
I have both my dubia and lats setup this way because it's just easier to take care of them. Just lift one of the two pods up and over to an empty tote, clean, move the other pod over, clean, then place the first pod back in. Simple.


I've looked into this as an option in the past, but my concern was hygiene related. I would probably be changing that microfiber rag a few times a month and that doesn't really seem easier than using water crystals with a ladder for nymphs to crawl out from.

That's a pretty nice clean tub setup you have worked out. I like the idea of dish rack type things for raising things off the ground. I'm going to start applying that to my cockroach bins. makes such great sense!

 

[jbooth]

Yeah it's a lot of roaches too, I can't get there except by crushing hundreds and hundreds of baby dubia heads on a weekly basis lol. Instead I go for the actual pinheads I want, and after a couple hundred I'm back to just adults in my runners again. More every time though. The struggle is real.

 

[ellie1600]

Is anyone using a clean up crew? I was considering purchasing buffalo beetles to experiment with in my dubia colony...and MAYBE with my red runners. My dubia colony used to be a lot smaller, but its growing out of necessity and I need help keeping up with their frass. I somehow ended up with a stray buffalo beetle in one of my last batches of....something. I left it in the dubia enclosure, fully expecting it to die off, since it was a solo act. Tonight I looked and noticed that it must've laid eggs in the chow on the floor. There is a LOT of confirmed buffalo beetle larva in there. I can use them in my dubia colony, to be sure. However, I'm wondering how they do in red runner colonies. First of all, I do not keep substrate in my set up. I have a large black tub, 1/3 mesh cut out screen mesh ventilation on top, tight lid, smooth sides, I feed a mix of dry food and fresh veggies a few times a week, and plenty of water crystals. My spider/reptile room could be warmer, so I am thinking of experimenting with a heat mat on the side that is VERY low....but thats another post for another day. I would also LOVE advice on economical dry food- since I dont think I have EVER found anything that isn't expensive. Thanks!!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Is anyone using a clean up crew? I was considering purchasing buffalo beetles to experiment with in my dubia colony...and MAYBE with my red runners. My dubia colony used to be a lot smaller, but its growing out of necessity and I need help keeping up with their frass. I somehow ended up with a stray buffalo beetle in one of my last batches of....something. I left it in the dubia enclosure, fully expecting it to die off, since it was a solo act. Tonight I looked and noticed that it must've laid eggs in the chow on the floor. There is a LOT of confirmed buffalo beetle larva in there. I can use them in my dubia colony, to be sure. However, I'm wondering how they do in red runner colonies. First of all, I do not keep substrate in my set up. I have a large black tub, 1/3 mesh cut out screen mesh ventilation on top, tight lid, smooth sides, I feed a mix of dry food and fresh veggies a few times a week, and plenty of water crystals. My spider/reptile room could be warmer, so I am thinking of experimenting with a heat mat on the side that is VERY low....but thats another post for another day. I would also LOVE advice on economical dry food- since I dont think I have EVER found anything that isn't expensive. Thanks!!

wish I could’ve afford to get a cleanup crew right now , but I need hundreds or thousands to survive my bin . Here’s a dedicated of the topic.

Has anyone had success keeping "cleaner" beetles with feeder insects? Are they worth the hype?

Hey folks! I'm sure that many of the people on this forum are used to keeping and breeding feeder insects, like crickets, roaches, and mealworms. I've heard that some people have an issue with flies and mites when keeping and breeding insects. I've also heard that keeping other insects in with...

arachnoboards.com

 

[Wenzer]

Is anyone using a clean up crew? I was considering purchasing buffalo beetles to experiment with in my dubia colony...and MAYBE with my red runners. My dubia colony used to be a lot smaller, but its growing out of necessity and I need help keeping up with their frass. I somehow ended up with a stray buffalo beetle in one of my last batches of....something. I left it in the dubia enclosure, fully expecting it to die off, since it was a solo act. Tonight I looked and noticed that it must've laid eggs in the chow on the floor. There is a LOT of confirmed buffalo beetle larva in there. I can use them in my dubia colony, to be sure. However, I'm wondering how they do in red runner colonies. First of all, I do not keep substrate in my set up. I have a large black tub, 1/3 mesh cut out screen mesh ventilation on top, tight lid, smooth sides, I feed a mix of dry food and fresh veggies a few times a week, and plenty of water crystals. My spider/reptile room could be warmer, so I am thinking of experimenting with a heat mat on the side that is VERY low....but thats another post for another day. I would also LOVE advice on economical dry food- since I dont think I have EVER found anything that isn't expensive. Thanks!!

It's my understanding that buffalo beetles can have a voracious appetite for protein, and may pose an issue for colonies if they're not satiated (they'll apparently eat egg cases roaches who are mid-molt, soft and unable to defend themselves).

I haven't tried them myself, but I'm honestly about trying them in the red runner colony. They're crazy overpopulated and I can't seem to find enough other keepers to take more and keep my numbers down lol. Losing some egg cases, in my situation, would likely be a net positive overall.

I'm not sure if you're asking about dubias or red runners when you mention temperatures, but in my experience dubias are a bit more reliant on the warmth, whereas apparently my red runners breed like rabbits in slightly warmer than room temp (anywhere from 70 F to 76 F, my "exotics" room haha). When I kept dubias I always struggled to get them going with enough heat and humidity. I've learned, now, why red runners are an invasive pest lol... They don't need much to go nuts!

Random side note, but it's funny I got a thread notification tonight, I was just cleaning out my colony of red runners.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

It's my understanding that buffalo beetles can have a voracious appetite for protein, and may pose an issue for colonies if they're not satiated (they'll apparently eat egg cases roaches who are mid-molt, soft and unable to defend themselves).

I haven't tried them myself, but I'm honestly about trying them in the red runner colony. They're crazy overpopulated and I can't seem to find enough other keepers to take more and keep my numbers down lol. Losing some egg cases, in my situation, would likely be a net positive overall.

I'm not sure if you're asking about dubias or red runners when you mention temperatures, but in my experience dubias are a bit more reliant on the warmth, whereas apparently my red runners breed like rabbits in slightly warmer than room temp (anywhere from 70 F to 76 F, my "exotics" room haha). When I kept dubias I always struggled to get them going with enough heat and humidity. I've learned, now, why red runners are an invasive pest lol... They don't need much to go nuts!

Random side note, but it's funny I got a thread notification tonight, I was just cleaning out my colony of red runners.

Interesting I didn’t know red runners breed room temperature, but I can’t get them because they are too much looking like a pest species and it’s my parents house . Plus there more expensive then dubia everywhere I’ve seen. Supposedly they breed like crazy but no hobbyists here sell them. And one guy said he culled more then i needed in a month , so people are wasting them instead of selling even at a discounted rate .
how do you compare Dubai and red runners?

 

[Wenzer]

Interesting I didn’t know red runners breed room temperature, but I can’t get them because they are too much looking like a pest species and it’s my parents house . Plus there more expensive then dubia everywhere I’ve seen. Supposedly they breed like crazy but no hobbyists here sell them. And one guy said he culled more then i needed in a month , so people are wasting them instead of selling even at a discounted rate .
how do you compare Dubai and red runners?

Yeah, I'm honestly surprised how well they reproduce without much supplemental heat. I started with a good size scoop packed in a 16 ounce deli cup from a local last year and if I could count them all, I wouldn't be shocked if there's at least 1000-2000, easy!!

The culling you mentioned, I'm pretty sure I may need to start doing that lately when I clean, I don't bother trying to sift out a lot of the extras from the frass. I'll let most crawl back into the tub but I'm not nearly as picky as I was with my dubias.

Dubias vs red runners, in my experience the red runners win by a landslide. The colony started quickly, I was able to feed out of it way sooner than I could with dubias. As a feeder they're wonderful for getting my picky eaters to hunt. They don't really burrow like dubias will, but if they aren't eaten quickly they will wander around for a while and I will sometimes find them stuck in little crevices. I've just been stuffing any cracks and gaps with substrate or moss so there's nowhere else for them to go.

Only "downside" is that since they do reproduce quickly, they get dirty quickly, so need more frequent cleanings than my dubias did. I do wonder how big of a dent the buffalo beetles could make in the clean up...

If you ever decide to give them a shot, send me a message and I'll help you out, for the cost of shipping

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Yeah, I'm honestly surprised how well they reproduce without much supplemental heat. I started with a good size scoop packed in a 16 ounce deli cup from a local last year and if I could count them all, I wouldn't be shocked if there's at least 1000-2000, easy!!

The culling you mentioned, I'm pretty sure I may need to start doing that lately when I clean, I don't bother trying to sift out a lot of the extras from the frass. I'll let most crawl back into the tub but I'm not nearly as picky as I was with my dubias.

Dubias vs red runners, in my experience the red runners win by a landslide. The colony started quickly, I was able to feed out of it way sooner than I could with dubias. As a feeder they're wonderful for getting my picky eaters to hunt. They don't really burrow like dubias will, but if they aren't eaten quickly they will wander around for a while and I will sometimes find them stuck in little crevices. I've just been stuffing any cracks and gaps with substrate or moss so there's nowhere else for them to go.

Only "downside" is that since they do reproduce quickly, they get dirty quickly, so need more frequent cleanings than my dubias did. I do wonder how big of a dent the buffalo beetles could make in the clean up...

If you ever decide to give them a shot, send me a message and I'll help you out, for the cost of shipping

K thanks , I’ll try and remember that. How many months do they take to mature ?
I’ll definitely want some eventually.
The Dubias take 4-7 months it seems . And while there a bigger Meal I cant feed off females with out crashing the colony unless there dying.
I’m sure you’ve seen the colony I keep of Dubias , I’m coming back from a complete rebuild of a collapsed colony. I’m still not convinced the heat mat raises the temperature much. But I don’t want to derail this thread if you got any tips comment there. Since that’s a different topic.