why wont they breed!!

[codykrr]

ok so a while back(months ago) i got over 1000 B. lateralis from Jmiller. (awsome guy btw) and ive tried everything to get these stubborn things to breed! ii keep them hot (80 plus) tried keeping them with peat moss but had molt problem on my egg flats..so i got rid of the peat. made there vents smaller, sprayed and still nothing. ive got tons of ooths but no nymphs! and i dont know why. my T room stays 78 degrees with 65 to 70% humidity and i feed them dry dog food, and water with crystals and yetno nymphs... i need some advice. i even tried the "set em and forget them meathod" too...still no nymphs. im starting to hate these little bastards. all ive gained was escaped roaches(which my wife freaking hates me for) so if i cant get these things to breed and succesfully reproduce ive gotta get rid of them...i will post pics of my setup in a second.

 

[codykrr]

ok there on the left(the right is my B. dubia colony) i taped off the air vents to hold more humidity
View attachment 80947

and this is the inside

View attachment 80948

so what am i doing wrong...literally had these things for over 5 months now...and not one little nymph!

 

[The Dude]

I got like 200 or so from Biomarine like less than a month ago and I've already seen nymphs running around (I'm guessing that they have to be new since almost everything else is larger than before). I just feed them dog treats (the milk bone ones) and dog food as well as fruit from time to time. I use real water though since I don't feel like ordering crystals. Just put rocks in a jar lid. I don't really keep them anymore moist than that. I spray the egg crates now and then, but not that regularly. I don't have the egg crates very orderly like you have them though, just kind of threw them in there. Only have the food and water at one end. I also don't use a clear container, which could be a factor? Room fluctuates from 78-84 or so. 60-70% humidity in the room, prolly more in the container since all I did was drill some holes in a rubbermaid top. Oh, and I don't use cardboard to separate the egg crate.. they have pretty free range, I guess.

 

[just1moreT]

i dont what you be doing wrong i had mine for sevral months and i dont do anything special to them and all of sudden there was a ton of little roaches running around i just have cat food and lettuce and water cyrstals in there around 73 degrees

i bet one day you have a ton of them

 

[Endagr8]

Was the peat moist?

I also got 1000 from Jay, but mine have been reproducing like crazy. At first it seemed like nothing was happening, but with a little patience, the population exploded, probably doubling within a month.

 

[sharpfang]

You Know What's Wrong

I'll send ya some Ex-tense or Viagra.....Just grind it up w/ meal......

Make sure no one Male eats too much....cause then their exoskeloton
hardens up too much............

Play some barry white .........................................................Jason

 

[codykrr]

Was the peat moist?

I also got 1000 from Jay, but mine have been reproducing like crazy. At first it seemed like nothing was happening, but with a little patience, the population exploded, probably doubling within a month.

yeah the peat was moist...and my egg flats started wicking up water and molding..and i dont want any mold/fungus in my feeder tanks. and ive had nothing but patiece with this things. literally over 5 months and not 1 nymph. there where tons of nymphs when i got them but now they have all gotten bigger.

ive been waiting on that so called population explosion every one keeps telling me ill happen and nothing....

 

[Endagr8]

ive been waiting on that so called population explosion every one keeps telling me ill happen and nothing....

Have you tried incubating the oothecae? That's kind of annoying, but it works...

 

[codykrr]

no, and i dont plan on it either...if i cant get them to hatch out in the colony i might as well breed crix....thats just to much hassel for me.

 

[Matt K]

If they were all young nymphs when you got them ( ? ) then it would be correct that you dont have them now. If they have all turned to adults within the past couple of months and yoiu see ootheca in there then you are very very close to having thousands of tiny nymphs..... and so the cycle begins! You can try to feed them al off, but it will take 6 months and by then you will have even more nymphs, cycle repeating itself but this time with all ages and more roaches than you know what to do with (except for selling them for cheap on AB) >

Sometimes they boom right off the bat, and sometimes they have to have time to get geared up, but either way once they get going, they go well. You seem to be doing everything more than right, so hang on.

 

[codykrr]

see matt thats the thing...there were tons of adults in there when i got them as well as tons of nymphs(more adults i would say though) alot of my adults have died out...and what nymphs i had are now adults (or close to) im going to keep them for a while longer..and see how this pans out. but i will admit this is becoming frustrating. but i like them a lot better than dubia, because most of my Ts nail them within seconds v.s. days with the dubia...if i can get this colony kicking well enough i may even sell off my dubia...


i do have one question. ok i lied 2..

1. when you use moist peat as substrate, how do you prevent yout flats from molding? i almost thought about switching to cork board for this but decided agaist it.

2. i have scuttle flies in my lateralis tub bad. they seem to lay eggs in my water crystals and ill have maggots in my crystals...how can i prevent that?

 

[Frédérick]

personally, I offer them cereals like oat flakes and bran, and veggies. they won't need much water with veggies around anyway, but i provide a little cap of water with a rock in it and allow it to dry out before filling it. as for dog or cat food, i don't provide it ALL the time, like only a small handful of it every week. make sure its all eaten and you may skip a day or day before refilling. too much rpoteins seemed to interfere with reproduction somehow. mine do real fine with this schedule. also the temps can be higher, like around 90F, and for the oothecas dessicating, well it does happen even in the best setup, but what i do to optimise hatching is i take a small container halfway filled with barely moist vermiculite, and ditch a fraction of eggcases. just look in your bin and take a couple of those that are the most visible with your tweezers. then i place the top sideways so there is good ventilation and i've put a carton stripto help babies get out. speaking of getting out, the cheapest solution i've found for escapees is taping a 3'' strand of saranwrap all around the inside top of the enclosure. i won't even believe you you still have escappes with this method lol hope this helps mate! don't give up, when it starts reproducing you won't ever have feeder scarcity times!

Fred

 

[Endagr8]

1. when you use moist peat as substrate, how do you prevent yout flats from molding? i almost thought about switching to cork board for this but decided agaist it.

2. i have scuttle flies in my lateralis tub bad. they seem to lay eggs in my water crystals and ill have maggots in my crystals...how can i prevent that?

I used cocofiber as substrate and somehow my egg crates didn't mold. I doubt this has anything to do with cocofiber vs. peat though; I think I just got lucky.

My lats consistently ruin their water dish by dragging food into it. I'm working on finding feeding dishes with higher and steeper walls, but at the moment, I change the water (I gave up on wasting crystals, so I just offer plain, shallow water) weekly.

 

[Frédérick]

i forgot to precise what bedding i'm using, i use normal topsoil with no additives you can buy a lot for like 2$. i moisten it every 2-3 days, with a glass of water all around the cage. its filled with maybe 3'' of topsoil. and a cheap and excellent food source i use is cooked lentils. i have yet to try raw lentils tho, they might be able to eat it anyway?! anyhow lentils and other beans are a good source of proteins and moisture if theyre baked. thats pretty much it! hope it goes well

 

[Matt K]

I never get mold or flies in my lateralis.

I use about 2 inches of cocofiber on the bottom. If it is moist enough to wick up into the egg cartons then you are watering it way too much...it can still give off humidity and seem dry on the top quarter inch or so.

I also DO NOT use a water dish. Once a week I pour water directly on them other wise they get water from thier food. Easy.

 

[rvtjonny]

oh, oh, oh, i know..... your forgetting the Oranges, the most important thing

clean the bins out and get rid of all that crap ie. flys, magots, mold.. go to the dollar store and pick up some pantie hoes and glue it over you screen that will keep some of the pests out and open up them vents. good luck

 

[codykrr]

about freaking time!!!!

ok so guess what!? i went to go check on them this evening and i have my first signs of nymphs!!!

and johny i dont have a problem with them mting and laying ooths...just getting them to hatch but now my worries may be over!

 

[JC]

I only had 7 mated females. I now have over 500 nymphs and hatching.
I keep them very humid.

Substrate: Potting soil 2 inches +

Food: Dog food(90 percent of diet) , apple(1 slice), oat meal(occasionally, to see them run with it :} )

Temp: 80-84F

Humidity: 85%

*Never allow the substrate to dry out. I occasionally flood substrate to help this

The End.

 

[snappleWhiteTea]

my dubias wont breed either.

 

[elportoed]

Aside from heat and humidity for the lats and dubias, I think they prefer to be crowded together. Too many egg crates will spread them out too much. Also if you add a horizontal crate on top, it kinda helps with keeping humidity in. Well, that's my theory.

My colony has no substrate. They don't really explode, but they produce enough to feed my small slings.

I use the same method with the dubias. The colony went out of control. I had to sell and give away a bunch this past spring.