I don't necessarily want to mist a lot because I'm afraid of the cardboard and eggcrates molding. Right now I have them in a medium kritter keeper and I've heard that these don't really keep humidity well because of the ventilation. Any suggestions for a better enclosure, or is a kritter keeper fine? I do have some water crystals down for their source of water. I only have about 5 of them so far, but I should probably go get some more, you're right. I honestly might put them outside in my screened porch. I live in florida and I believe these guys can be found naturally here anyways, but in the winter I plan to bring them inside since it gets down to like 60ish and I don't want to take chances.
Oh yeah, you probably shouldn't keep anything other than sand roaches (Arenivaga, Polyphaga, etc.) in a Kritter Keeper. B. discoidalis aren't terribly picky on humidity, but Kritter Keepers are terrible at moisture retention and I imagine they could kill discoids if kept there long term. I always keeps starter colonies of larger roaches (including the fairly similar B. giganteus) in plastic shoeboxes from the Container Store, which are super cheap, maintain humidity well, and are a good size. You'll have to scale up when the colony gets bigger, but they're useful to start with (you can then use their men's shoe box and later a tote). You don't necessarily have to mist frequently as long as there is plenty of water available through other sources, but do at least do it occasionally.
Next time I get paid I'll have to invest in a better container then haha. Thanks for the information! Any tips on what to gut load these with and what they feed on? Right now I've given them some cat food and fish flakes as well as some carrot. I mainly use these to feed my other inverts like my mantids and my whipscorpion.
I have no idea on that, sorry. I only keep roaches as pets, not feeders, so I'm not sure what's best to give them for feeding. I feed my pet roaches fish pellets, vegetables (celery and carrots, also lettuce for water only), occasional fruits, and leaf litter depending on the species. Discoids would eat all of those except maybe the last, but maybe that's not the best diet for feeding arachnids and mantids.
I use my B. giganteus as both feeders and pets, and I use many of the foods you mentioned. I remember reading that there may be an issue with carrots, but the rest sounds fine.
Wow, what do you have that's big enough to eat giganteus?
B. giganteus nymphs aren’t that giant. If they make it to subadult, then they are pets only.
Ah, just nymphs. Makes sense.
