Roach Racing

[willywonka]

We are having a carnival at my school and I was going to have cockroach races. I am interested in any pictures of “tracks” that I can make. Also, what can I use to paint numbers on the roaches that won’t harm them?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

You could put the roaches in translucent plastic pipes. Just number the pipes and write down which roach races where. That way you don't need to paint them at all.

 

[Texas Blonde]

That sounds like its going to be a blast! What species are you using? Please post pics and let us know how it goes.

 

[Bayushi]

Staying in one of the cheaper hotels in hawaii i had the pleasure of seeing roach races.. as stated above they used clear tubes with the numbers painted on them and shot glasses of sugar water at the end as enticement for the roaches to actually run.

 

[willywonka]

Staying in one of the cheaper hotels in hawaii i had the pleasure of seeing roach races.. as stated above they used clear tubes with the numbers painted on them and shot glasses of sugar water at the end as enticement for the roaches to actually run.

The tubes sound great but these are a bunch of kids and I think dumping a bunch of roaches in the center of something and watching them scatter would be more thrilling for them than seeing them run down tubes. The sugar water is a great idea though.

Speaking of Hawaii, when we were there we had roaches in our rental car. Didn't see any when we picked up the car but later that night when we opened the door and the light came on, they were scattering all over the place. Needless to say, my wife freaked and rode all the way back to the hotel stomping her feet. We got a new car the next day.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

The tubes sound great but these are a bunch of kids and I think dumping a bunch of roaches in the center of something and watching them scatter would be more thrilling for them than seeing them run down tubes. The sugar water is a great idea though.

But how is it a race if you just throw them in an open place? Then it's a buch of roaches scattering. Why have numbers on them then anyway?

 

[Jimmy James]

Yeah, it might be exciting for kids to see roaches scatter, but it won't last long. But if they come and place bets (my schools always had little tickets that you could gamble with, then exchange them for prizes), then I think it would be exciting for a longer period of time.

 

[jojobear]

Willy,
Been there, done it, bought the T-shirt. I teach science workshops to homeschool kids and last fall I did entemology and we had a roach race. I used clear tubing (approx 1-2" in dia)from home depot in a 10' roll I then made 3 three foot tracks and attached them to a board. Home Depot also has end caps for the tubing (I smeared 1 endcap w/peanut butter). Stuck the roaches (lobsters) in the tubes. Then tapped them to the starting point and then each group roots and hollars for their own roach. They kids loved it and the winning roach didn't get fed to the T or the scorpion I had in class. If you have any other question feel free to ask.

 

[Bayushi]

another way of doing it would be like how they race hermit crabs. Place them in the middle of a circle around 2 to 3 ft in diamiter and let them scatter. first roach out of the circle wins.

one of the other highlights of my hawaii trip was the sign on the door of my hotel room. "Please do not move the buckets of water... they are there to save the lives of falling lizards"

 

[willywonka]

That is what I was invisioning Bayushi. Placing a bunch of roaches in the center of a circle and having them dash to the outside of the circle. First one there wins. I still need a way to identify the roaches. Any suggestion?

 

[Jimmy James]

another way of doing it would be like how they race hermit crabs. Place them in the middle of a circle around 2 to 3 ft in diamiter and let them scatter. first roach out of the circle wins.

Roaches are a lot faster than hermit crabs. It wouldn't be very exciting, because they would all just scatter really fast and you wouldn't really know exactly which one got out first.

 

[Texas Blonde]

Maybe you could make a bunch of lanes, similar to bowling lanes, but with dividers. Slant them downwards and put some of that sugar water at the bottem. If each roach had a seperate lane, you wouldnt have to mark on them.

 

[Jimmy James]

Roaches might be able to crawl over that, though. I think that the plastic tubing is the best idea.

 

[Fini]

I am pretty sure they have an Aussie event. Perhaps you can Google up some pictures of their track.

 

[willywonka]

I am pretty sure they have an Aussie event. Perhaps you can Google up some pictures of their track.

Tried that and couldn't find anything of use. I know at the ATS Conference there were races but I wasn't there to see it. I was hoping that someone here was at the conference and could tell me how they did it.

 

[Scolopendra55]

I wish my teachers were cool enough to do that kind of stuff in grade school