Surinam roach Journal/Care

[Bob Lee]

Writing this so I don't forget everything...
Also because it's been a while since I've posted

This thread would probably be especially helpful for people in Canada since this is one of the few roaches we can have legally.

Let's start off with care:
High temp, some sources say 27C some say 32C, I just shove them in the furnace room and they do fine. (It's around 25-30 I would say)
Moisture is important, moist their sub when you start them off but don't add more water, they will get their water from the food. If you see huge droplets of condensation on your lid wipe it off and don't let it drip back into the container. (This will happen when you feed a lot of food that contains high moisture, like watermelon or lettuce)

Food:
They will eat anything... or so I'm told, haven't tried grass yet but quite a bit of source say they will eat it.
So far I've tried grapes, cherry, lettuce(They love leafy greens, just toss the core/stem in there if you don't eat it, mine are eating so many leafy greens that their crap are building the substrate higher...), watermelon peels, and spinach.
Lettuce stem has been an absolute favorite so far, they've devoured a huge chunk in one night before.
Other foods that they really like but I haven't tried yet are oranges(Roaches just love oranges in general), bananas, probably all the other common fruits, carrots, potatoes, and some other stuff I don't remember, will update this list as I try more stuff down here:
Grape
Cherry
Lettuce
Watermelon peels
Spinach

Reproduction:
They give birth to about 30 nymphs every month after adulthood, heat helps this process

Growth:
Takes about 3 or more months to mature, heat helps also


There really isn't a whole lot to it, these guys stay under the sub all day and don't require anything special, just make sure your sub is deep enough and they will be super happy.

Ask any questions in the comments and I might be able to answer them

 

[Bob Lee]

Alright, so I got my roaches a while back, started with about 100 nymphs.

Right now I've only got one adult but quite a few of them looks super plump and are about to molt into new adults, they are eating quite a bit when they get the food they want... which seems to be just lettuce, and less when it's just really sour grapes that no one in the family wants to deal with. lol

Also they will chew on watermelon peels, which is pretty neat, I don't think they are going to actually eat the whole thing though, looks like they mostly just bite it for hydration.

 

[mantisfan101]

Try offering protein, I find that most “cave” or substrate dwelling species tend to go nuts flr dog food

 

[Bob Lee]

Checked on them again today, I think the watermelon peel has too much moisture and is causing a lot of condensation, removing it because they only ate a little bit of the top layer anyways.
None of them seem to eat the green blueberries I threw in there, guess these aren't edible.
Still eating the grapes tho, one was hiding inside an empty grape peel

 

[Bob Lee]

Added more dirt cause they probably need more room for all the new babies that's about to be born

 

[Jimbob]

My surinams eat everything. I've thrown whole lemons in the bin even and they eat them, peel and all.

 

[Bob Lee]

It's 32C outside, took the surinams out of the boiler room cause it might overheat them.
Saw three adults today, and quite a bit more nymphs that are just one molt away.
Expecting the first population boom in one or two months now

 

[Bob Lee]

Five adults now, they are collectively reaching that stage...
Oh boy, this kicks it up to about 150 babies per month from now on, a couple more may join in the action and the rest will take probably a month or two to mature.
I'm expecting around 10 or slightly fewer adults for this first wave of population boom, I will need to rehouse them immediately when this starts happening.
I can also start selling the nymphs pretty soon, which is quite exciting for us Canadians with no good feeder choices...

 

[Bob Lee]

7 adults last time I checked, put in two huge pieces of lettuce yesterday.
They are still steadily growing... In a couple monthes I will have a steady supply of roach nymphs

 

[Bob Lee]

Well, there are quite a bit of babies in there now, but the adults seem to have disappeared mostly.
I'm guessing that they are mostly dying from old age or hiding, probably dying tho cause it is pretty close to their age limit.
Didn't get as many generations of babies as I would have liked, but there is definitely enough to have a really big third gen.

 

[Bob Lee]

I am incredibly wrong, there are a ton of babies
And some adults are still hanging in there
I have no idea what's happening at this point, they are ascending and breaking the rules of physics with their reproduction

To all faithful subjects of the emperor, citizens of holy terra, prepare yourselves for the 4th tyrannic war

 

[Vermis]

Death to the xenos! Deploy the Necromundan 8th regiment: the Spiders.

Sounds great. Any chance of pics of the hive fleet?

Also, lurking about here for the past few days, I was under the impression all species of roach were illegal to keep in Canada. Is there a list of exceptions?

 

[Bob Lee]

Also, lurking about here for the past few days, I was under the impression all species of roach were illegal to keep in Canada. Is there a list of exceptions?

Yeah there are some exceptions, some of the species that were already introduced are okay to keep, namely American roach, Surinam roach, Australian roach, Germany roach and some other species that already made them selves at home.
It sucks that all of them can climb but I would rather roach than crickets.



You can see the butt of an adult in the second image.

 

[Ode2fire]

Do you use some king of barrier to help keep them in? I've made turned a sealable Sterlite Container into an enclosure with mesh on the top I've heard you can use fluon or olive oil for ants Has anyone tried this for Surinams? My partner would freak if she sees any running around. lol.

Thanks in advance.

 

[WhiteMoss]

Fluon works on smooth plastics. The adults can sometimes make it past the barrier though. In my experience, as long as they have enough substrate and food they prefer to stay under the soil and don't typically try to escape. Only if they're underfed or there's not adequate space will they attempt to escape.