Whats the best way to breed red runners?

[Wolf135]

I plan on starting a colony since they're more nutritious than crickets and I don't like having to depend on petstores for feeders.
So what should I feed them to make them have the max amount of nutrition?

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Mine get pond fish pellets and carrots.
Other stuff like apple/banana or whatever on occasion but that's really it.

 

[ThatsUnpossible]

I feed mine on chick crumb, they have a dish of water crystals and sometimes get a piece of fruit or veg. They used to eat pre-packed Roach Chow but I noticed it sometimes got a bit of mould forming on it, the chick crumb doesn't get that. Not everybody approves of the water crystals and just uses fruit or veg for moisture but It's easier for me and doesn't mould.

Dave's Little Beasties has a good video on how he keeps his Red Runners. Since I copied him my roaches don't smell, probably because it makes them easier to clean out.

My colony is small (I've only got 3 T's) and I've only had it a couple of years. I hope someone more experienced answers because I'm always looking for improvements.

 

[Frogdaddy]

I started my colony a year ago and whatever I'm doing is working as I have an endless supply. I may even sell some excess in the near future.
I would say it probably costs me $1 per week to feed my roach colony.
I feed a leaf of Kale, a quarter of orange or apple and 1oz of frozen/thawed peas and carrots mix. Every other week they get a few pieces of cheap dry dog food (15% protein). They are thriving.

 

[fallonzoey]

I am just starting a colony of red runners as well, so I want to follow this post for advice. I watched that video suggested above & I also watched a few others. The one put out by "Robbys Reptiles" was very informative. I originally bought a 40qt "steralite" container, but when I received my starter colony, I decided it would be too big. So yesterday I went and got a 20qt container. I have egg cartons to put in the container that I purchased from my local Tractor Supply store. I bought screen mesh from Lowes that I am going to use to put over the hole I am cutting in the top for ventilation. I going to do the bare bottom method, so no substrate on the bottom of the container. I bought a 1lb bag of roach chow from a reptile expo last weekend to feed them, along with a few jelly feeder cups. I also plan on feeding oranges, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and leafy greens. For water source I am going to try a few different things; I have water crystals & water pillows, but long term I will probably use potatoes as a water source & try a wet paper towel (or sponge) in a water dish. At the expo, I asked several breeders their opinion and potato as a water source is VERY popular. I will continue to update my experience on here.If you have any questions, feel free to DM me. I will help however I can!
Link to Robbys Reptiles video:

 

[l4nsky]

The best way to breed lateralis? Food, heat, humidity, and time. Everything else kind of boils down to personal preference IMO.


(10 gallon aquarium in the background to give a sense of scale)

I'm rather lazy when it comes to my colonies, so at the moment they all get a prepared diet (thefeederfarm on eBay is my go to for bulk ordering) and water crystals. When my collection gets to the point where I'll have to break up husbandry over multiple days instead of doing a few hours one day of the week, I'll probably start mixing in fruits and veggies. At that point, I'll be doing husbandry in the room daily and can remove the remains before the roaches drag them around or they start to mold.

 

[Wolf135]

The best way to breed lateralis? Food, heat, humidity, and time. Everything else kind of boils down to personal preference IMO.

View attachment 428205
(10 gallon aquarium in the background to give a sense of scale)

I'm rather lazy when it comes to my colonies, so at the moment they all get a prepared diet (thefeederfarm on eBay is my go to for bulk ordering) and water crystals. When my collection gets to the point where I'll have to break up husbandry over multiple days instead of doing a few hours one day of the week, I'll probably start mixing in fruits and veggies. At that point, I'll be doing husbandry in the room daily and can remove the remains before the roaches drag them around or they start to mold.

I've heard different requirements about humidity requirements some say they like it humid others say they like it dry.

 

[ThatsUnpossible]

I've heard different requirements about humidity requirements some say they like it humid others say they like it dry.

I found the same conflicting advice too. I think humidity helps the eggs (oothecae) to not dry out. Some people separate the ooths and put them in a more humid place. I just left mine in and most hatched eventually. You could try both and see what works best for you.

Any other opinions on humidity out there? I'd like to hear more experienced keepers on this.

 

[l4nsky]

I've heard different requirements about humidity requirements some say they like it humid others say they like it dry.

It's actually both. IME, they need a decent ambient air humidity to keep the ootheca from drying out, but won't thrive if kept on a moist substrate (and the colony will have a horrible smell). They do hail from some rather dry areas like North Africa and Arabia, but they'll be found in areas of high humidity like under rocks and stones in wadis or near farms. In captivity, this is actually pretty simple to accomplish using water crystals and enclosure ventilation. A large enough bowl of water crystals balanced with the proper amount of ventilation in the tub can provide a dry, yet humid environment that's ideal for them.

I've kept them bioactive with cork, bare bottom with cork, bare bottom with eggcrate, and substrate with eggcrate. By far, the best method for me has been substrate with eggcrate. The substrate does provide a bit of a humidity buffer even in a "dry" state and helps to control odor IMO as well.

 

[Frogdaddy]

I keep my roaches in an enclosed cubby that retains heat and probably some humidity. During the winter when the air is dry I do place a container of moistened vermiculite in the cubby. I don't know how much it helps. It seems for me that reproduction is pretty seasonal most hatchings occur in the summer months.

 

[haremlord]

How often do you guys swap out your egg crates?
Also, can I tell the difference between an unhatched egg and an egg that "died"?

 

[DomGom TheFather]

I've been doing bare bottom sterilite bins with vertical eggcrate/cardboard and screen lid. Separate dishes for protein and veggies. Keeps the smell down in larger colonies and they seem to do fine. I stopped separating ootheca. I let them hatch out and whatever makes it makes it. When there is an overabundance of nymphs, i put a piece of banana in a small plastic mayonnaise jar with holes too small for adults and use that to pull what i want. Harborage gets changed every few months and whatever is left in the frass will either hatch out in the next few weeks or it won't. The mayo jar trick works well for stragglers, especially if the outside is lightly sanded and holes are an inch or two from the bottom.

 

[Liquifin]

As long as it's warm then they'll do fine. I find that humidity doesn't affect too much on oothecae hatching as long as temps are ideal. I just feed my colonies dog food and some fresh fruits or vegetables for water.

How often do you guys swap out your egg crates?

It would depend on how clean your colony is and the egg crates itself. There are some colonies where I haven't swapped egg crates in almost 2 years and others I swap out every other month. As long as the egg crates are not torn-up, molded, or caved in, then it should still be usable. As long as you clean the colony on some kind of basis, then you shouldn't need to swap out egg crates too often. Roach feces/poop tends to cause egg crates to mold or go bad quicker in my expereince.

 

[SB300]

I only collect egg cases when I clean out my runner colony (Many 1000s of them) which because of my set up takes literally a few minutes I then separate all the egg cases

I put them in a plastic box on damp coir sub with a sealed lid and Voile panel for ventilation and it also stops all potential invaders then just some egg carton strips and dry food - fruit - Gel



Then when I need any feeders I simply take a piece of egg carton and tap it and I've got loads of tiny feeders which are currently feeding all my scorplings very well


A simple system but it works perfectly
In-between clean outs they hatch in the main colony (egg trays on a raised wire floor with dividers) I only collect them so they're not wasted as there are always many 100s of cases which produce a few thousand nymphs and as they grow I just put them back into the main colony and then collect the next lot at clean out time again

SB

 

[SB300]

This is how I keep my lobster and runner colonies (and all my feeder colonies) the pics show the fixed tray bar to keep the egg trays from moving I also use the suspended wire floor then finally egg trays and plastic dividers in-between on top of the wire floor

To clean frass and bodies I simply remove food dishes etc then tip the tub and bang a few times this allows all the waste to slide from under the trays to the open end where I leave it for a while for all the live roaches to make there way back into the trays then simply remove the waste by scoop or Hoover (biddy only Hoover not the household one )

So to fully clean out from start to finish literally takes me about two minutes plus whatever time I wait for the roaches to get back to the trays (but I usually clean all my feeder colony's at the same time so I don't have any actual waiting time as by the time I've banged the last one the first ones ready for any Roach free waste to be removed) 6 very large colonies (84+ litre tubs 1000s of roaches) get done in about 15 minutes

Thought I'd post my methods as it saves me A LOT of time

I don't use a lid as the barrier I designed stops any escapes (all species)


The small stack of cut egg trays is just a simple way to collect feeders and they're a perfect size to tap straight into my Roach separator
SB

 

[Vulksgren]

This is how I keep my lobster and runner colonies (and all my feeder colonies) the pics show the fixed tray bar to keep the egg trays from moving I also use the suspended wire floor then finally egg trays and plastic dividers in-between on top of the wire floor

To clean frass and bodies I simply remove food dishes etc then tip the tub and bang a few times this allows all the waste to slide from under the trays to the open end where I leave it for a while for all the live roaches to make there way back into the trays then simply remove the waste by scoop or Hoover (biddy only Hoover not the household one )

So to fully clean out from start to finish literally takes me about two minutes plus whatever time I wait for the roaches to get back to the trays (but I usually clean all my feeder colony's at the same time so I don't have any actual waiting time as by the time I've banged the last one the first ones ready for any Roach free waste to be removed) 6 very large colonies (84+ litre tubs 1000s of roaches) get done in about 15 minutes

Thought I'd post my methods as it saves me A LOT of time

I don't use a lid as the barrier I designed stops any escapes (all species)


The small stack of cut egg trays is just a simple way to collect feeders and they're a perfect size to tap straight into my Roach separator
SB

Thanks for the neat idea. Was thinking of using red runners again over mealworms. They almost infested my house last time from the few that escaped.