roach colony

[solaceofwinter]

my friend may be giving me some hissing roaches, id like to start a colony for feeding my spiders. where do i start LOL

 

[KJE]

You might want to read this thread. It's a great thread for those interested in roaches.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=463

 

[Czalz]

my friend may be giving me some hissing roaches, id like to start a colony for feeding my spiders. where do i start LOL

Here's what you can do(and some things you'll need):​

(1) large aquarium, or large plastic container​

(2) I read somewhere that having a very thin (1/4 or so) layer of substrate was good for absorbing wastes, etc......I do this, but many people would insist it's not necessary.​

(3) some type of hide for your roaches....hisser males are a bit territorial, so I use squares of plywood with spacers between the "levels" to insure that each male can have his own breeding group​

(4) plastic lid to put some type of food on ( I use chicken feed), and some type of dish to keep a moist food in. A balanced diet is good, and moisture is necessary(not standing water), so make sure you keep some type of moist food in another dish separate from the chicken feed (or whatever you use). I took advantage of pumpkin carving this year, so I have about 6 gallon bags of pumpkin in the freezer that I can take out and use as a moist food whenever I need to.​

(5) petroleum jelly (vaseline)....Hissers are glass climbers, so you'll NEED this..... Towards the top of the container, smear a 2-3 inch wide strip of vaseline to prevent any escapes. When the roaches run into the vaseline, they begin to slide, and quickly return to the floor of the enclosure.​

(6) Roaches- I use a 5.1 ratio(5 females per male) in my colony, but I don't think there's a wrong way to do it. Just make sure your females outnumber your males if you expect any kind of worthwhile results.​

(7) twigs..these are completely optional, but I have found that if you place a pile of twigs about 6 inches away from the "roach motel", many of the nymphs (babies) will enter the pile, and stay there. this makes feeding them to your t's (or whatever else) much easier. Usually any stick you pick up will have 5-10 nymphs clinging to it(once your colony is well established).​

I'm sure I missed something, so if you have any other questions feel free to ask.​

 

[solaceofwinter]

okay thats a good start. now how about living requirements, temperature etc. also food options. how often do they reproduce? basically how long before i start seeing little ones around?

 

[Czalz]

okay thats a good start. now how about living requirements, temperature etc. also food options. how often do they reproduce? basically how long before i start seeing little ones around?

Room temperature is fine, but as with other feeders, if you want them to reproduce faster, then raising the temp between 80 and 90 degrees would probably get you better results.
Gestation is about 2 mos, but if you're getting an existing colony, then you'll probably get some babies much sooner than that.​

Dry food options are very numerous, and include : cat food, monkey biscuits, oats, cracked wheat, chicken feed, etc.
Moist foods can be just about any kind of fruit or vegetable(apples are good). Occasionally tossing in some leftover salad (no dressing) can't hurt either.
Caution: Moist foods should only be offered in quantities that can be consumed in about a day, otherwise mold can become an issue.​

This one's free- I don't think any other kind of moisture is necessary, and IMO misting is just asking for trouble, so if you must raise the humidity for some reason, then just put a dish of water with a highly permeable material (panty hose, mosquito netting, etc.) over it, and a rubber band around it to keep the roaches from getting in and drowning.​

 

[solaceofwinter]

thanks for the advise, well see what i get from the show today.

 

[roach dude]

from what ive heard hissers arnt great feeder the blaberus fammily are apperently better

 

[Hedorah99]

I have fed hisser nymphs to some of my juveniles. The nymphs just appeared to be really tough and dragged the slings and juveniles around the tanks. It also took them a LONG time to die even after being secured in the chelicerae and repeatedly envenomated. I have only fed an adult to a T. blondi and it was a freshly molted roach. These are just my experiences with them. I would prefer something in the blaberus family because they appear "weaker" and not armored like a rhino.

 

[Czalz]

from what ive heard hissers arnt great feeder the blaberus fammily are apperently better

I think solace was wanting info specifically on raising hissers, since she might be getting some free*. I feed hissers, and don't have any problems with them, but most of the time I find myself feeding lobsters to anything in a deli cup, and hissers to those in larger aquariums. I also have dubias, and I think they'll be great, but I've decided to let my colony get really well established before feeding from them.