Tips for keeping a tiny roach colony?

[Moakmeister]

I still say buy four. Sell them off as they grow and you sex them. When you get a confirmed female, just sell the rest of the slings. Sorry man, it's about the only way this is going to happen.

Although, if you're in a dorm, you can't really be in the invert hobby at all. They routinely spray pesticides, and you have no say in it. Plus, if you get caught, you could be faced with some hefty fines or worse. Remember, you're bringing a venomous animal into a room that isn't yours. Is this really worth the discipline that you can end up facing? Seriously, just hold off until you get your next place. This isn't fair to the spider or your roommate.

my dorm doesn't spray pesticides at all. we dont even have housekeeping. of course, im not one to argue with an expert, but i thought tarantulas liked to be in the dark and keep to themselves. i was just gonna put the enclosure in a drawer, with it always cracked a bit open for ventilation, like hobbyists do. my roommate never gets in my stuff and i have no worries about him finding it. And he's never here. Also, my christmas break lasts an entire month. during that time i can make sure that my family knows how to take care of the tarantula just in case i do need to leave it at the house.

 

[EulersK]

my dorm doesn't spray pesticides at all. we dont even have housekeeping. of course, im not one to argue with an expert, but i thought tarantulas liked to be in the dark and keep to themselves. i was just gonna put the enclosure in a drawer, with it always cracked a bit open for ventilation, like hobbyists do. my roommate never gets in my stuff and i have no worries about him finding it.

My dorm didn't either when I was a freshman... until they found bedbugs and doused the place in pesticides without any notice. We're not really talking about tarantula husbandry here, we're talking about respecting things that aren't yours. You're sharing a room with someone who may be petrified of spiders. Your roommate signed up to live in a dorm that had rules in place, and you're taking it upon yourself to change those rules without him knowing. That is simply unfair to him. Further, and I can't stress this enough, that is not your room. You're sleeping there, but it's not yours. This isn't just in dorms, this is with life. If you rent a house/apartment, then it is the landlord's rules because it's their property.

Many universities require that students live in the dorms their first year. If you get kicked out of the dorms for this offense, then you suddenly can't go to school. I know that this is a harmless tarantula, but what do you think administration will think when they hear you smuggled in a venomous animal? You telling them the species won't help - you smuggled in a venomous animal that grows to the size of a dinner plate. That's even worse.

Look, at the end of the day, it's your decision. You're an adult. But understand that at the least what you're doing is dishonest and unfair, and at worst could result in you not being able to attend this college.

 

[Moakmeister]

My dorm didn't either when I was a freshman... until they found bedbugs and doused the place in pesticides without any notice. We're not really talking about tarantula husbandry here, we're talking about respecting things that aren't yours. You're sharing a room with someone who may be petrified of spiders. Your roommate signed up to live in a dorm that had rules in place, and you're taking it upon yourself to change those rules without him knowing. That is simply unfair to him. Further, and I can't stress this enough, that is not your room. You're sleeping there, but it's not yours. This isn't just in dorms, this is with life. If you rent a house/apartment, then it is the landlord's rules because it's their property.

Many universities require that students live in the dorms their first year. If you get kicked out of the dorms for this offense, then you suddenly can't go to school. I know that this is a harmless tarantula, but what do you think administration will think when they hear you smuggled in a venomous animal? You telling them the species won't help - you smuggled in a venomous animal that grows to the size of a dinner plate. That's even worse.

Look, at the end of the day, it's your decision. You're an adult. But understand that at the least what you're doing is dishonest and unfair, and at worst could result in you not being able to attend this college.

maybe i SHOULD leave it at home... that's a good point you made about the bedbugs. The good news is that off-campus dorms DO allow pets, so i could definitely bring my T to college next year.

 

[EulersK]

maybe i SHOULD leave it at home... that's a good point you made about the bedbugs. The good news is that off-campus dorms DO allow pets, so i could definitely bring my T to college next year.

Oh, leaving it at home is an option? Then just do that! Feed it when you go home, you know that they don't need to eat very often. As for off-campus dorms, be sure to find out what they define as "pets". Often times, inverts are not considered pets.

Also, don't live in a dorm if you don't have to The cost is ridiculous in most cases. I was paying about half to rent an apartment than I did living in the dorms.

 

[Moakmeister]

Oh, leaving it at home is an option? Then just do that! Feed it when you go home, you know that they don't need to eat very often. As for off-campus dorms, be sure to find out what they define as "pets". Often times, inverts are not considered pets.

Also, don't live in a dorm if you don't have to The cost is ridiculous in most cases. I was paying about half to rent an apartment than I did living in the dorms.

Dang. I've wanted a T for years and now that i can finally get one, i have to leave it at home I'm trying to convince myself I could keep her safe by thinking a way out of the pesticide thing, like maybe keeping her in a portable plastic cabinet that I own so they can't spray in it, but now I'm getting too carried away with this. And I checked a few months ago with the pet policy. The only pets they allow are fish. And I could've lived off campus in my freshman year, but I didn't want to, and that was before my interest in tarantulas was re-ignited.

EDIT: pfft lol i just realized they can't spray in the cabinets anyway. Those are people's underwear drawers. I could just keep her in one of those drawers and she'd be safe.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

It's not that hard :-s

1.0 & 0.1 together, clean & fresh carrots (food/drink at the same time), no substrate aside for cricket fodder, no water dish or things like that, temperature the same of your T's, time = done.

Babies all over the place. With crickets things are different.

 

[Moakmeister]

It's not that hard :-s

1.0 & 0.1 together, clean & fresh carrots (food/drink at the same time), no substrate aside for cricket fodder, no water dish or things like that, temperature the same of your T's, time = done.

Babies all over the place. With crickets things are different.

lol i forgot this was a thread about dubias. Maybe EulersK and I should move this somewhere else.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

lol i forgot this was a thread about dubias. Maybe EulersK and I should move this somewhere else.

Whatever. But my Reign for Peanut, the legendary Theraphosidae!

 

[Moakmeister]

Whatever. But my Reign for Peanut, the legendary Theraphosidae!

why do people still bring up Peanut

 

[Chris LXXIX]

why do people still bring up Peanut

I am the only one that bring up Peanut, actually. Because he/she is the legendary Theraphosidae.

 

[Moakmeister]

I am the only one that bring up Peanut, actually. Because he/she is the legendary Theraphosidae.

have you named any of your tarantulas Peanut to honor the legendary Theraphosidae?

 

[Chris LXXIX]

have you named any of your tarantulas Peanut to honor the legendary Theraphosidae?

No because exists only one Peanut, man, and you were the only one lucky enough to meet him/her. I can't into blasphemy :-s

 

[AmberDawnDays]

maybe i SHOULD leave it at home... that's a good point you made about the bedbugs. The good news is that off-campus dorms DO allow pets, so i could definitely bring my T to college next year.

Or just wait until next year.

 

[Hisserdude]

There is no way for you to halt the growth of a roach without starving it, you can feed them less and keep them cooler to slow their growth down, but you can't completely halt it, and they will definitely still outgrow your T. If you decided to breed them then you'd pretty much always have small nymphs available though.

 

[EulersK]

EDIT: pfft lol i just realized they can't spray in the cabinets anyway. Those are people's underwear drawers. I could just keep her in one of those drawers and she'd be safe.

Man, with my story about the bed bugs, do you think they sprayed people's beds? Or even in their rooms? No, they did the hallways. I still wouldn't want my spiders anywhere near that.

And, again, this is not your room. Your roommate did not sign up to get a spider. I'm going to be frank here: You need to respect the people around you. Just because you disagree with a rule doesn't mean you get to break it. You signed a contract with the college, so like it or not, their rules are law now.

 

[Moakmeister]

Man, with my story about the bed bugs, do you think they sprayed people's beds? Or even in their rooms? No, they did the hallways. I still wouldn't want my spiders anywhere near that.

And, again, this is not your room. Your roommate did not sign up to get a spider. I'm going to be frank here: You need to respect the people around you. Just because you disagree with a rule doesn't mean you get to break it. You signed a contract with the college, so like it or not, their rules are law now.

I'll just leave it at home then. I want the best for her.

 

[Cassiusstein]

I personally think you should still get a dubia colony, even though you can simply keep mealworms in your fridge. I've had a lot of fun growing my colony, it's nice to see all the babies popping up.

With that said, I keep mine at 90 degrees or even higher! They seemed to go absolutely nuts with the breeding as soon as I did this.

Water crystals water crystals water crystals. When it's that hot they're gonna need a lot of water, so as long as they're using it up, add more.

I make my food from crushed up branflakes, fish food, and a bit of random things I think they may enjoy. I offer an orange or similar citrus fruit weakly, and a bit of green veggies.

Verticle seems to be best in my opinon, plus when your eggflats are verticle all of the frass falls to the bottom as opposed to right on your flats.

Another personal thing I do is keep them pretty dark, they really don't see light unless I open the top.

Until your colony grows enough, make sure to check for dead colony members daily and remove them.

My biggest tip? Just like everything else, remember to have fun!

 

[obie]

quick question . can you keep turkastan and dubia together in a large tote. and will the colines survive and reproduce. not with each other just living altogether

 

[All About Arthropods]

One would eventually outcompete the other and there would just be one species left.

 

[Ungoliant]

I breed and sell dubias as a part time job, and here's what I've learned so far. Note that almost everything is experience based, so this will be much less fact-based than my posts about tarantulas.

Thank you so much for this advice. I am thinking about trying dubia roaches as a primary feeder, and the money-saving tips are very much appreciated.