why wont they breed!!

[JC]

Also high direct heat will make them not reproduce as well. That was my main problem at the beginning with both with my lats and dubias. Substrate helps regulate heat if you are using a under-tank heater.

 

[gvfarns]

Well it sounds like you are doing well now. If you get 1 nymph you can get thousands. Glad to hear it. I would have said keep the substrate but don't get it as moist, but if they are hatching for you, you don't need advice. You should start giving it.

Regarding the nasty little flies, check out where their maggots are living. If they are growing in the water crystals, what are they eating? It looks like both your food and water (as well as their poop) are on the bottom. I would suggest trying a food dish and a water dish and trying to keep the bottom of the enclosure clean. Maggots need both food and water. If you can really keep those two ingredients separate (dead roaches count as food, as do their feces) then the maggots can't live.

I had a big fly problem a bit ago but it was because I was super negligent and my water bowl (I was using actual water at the time as an experiment) got naaaasty with...various things. I tossed it and the flies died out right away and never came back.

 

[codykrr]

to be honest i belive the maggots were living off of the dead roaches..i acually picked out some of the dead ones, and seen them comingout of them. i think the water crystals were just a place to get a drink and not dry out..,maybe even a breeding ground.

i have got rid of the flies for the most part. still had a few. what it was is i was concentrating on the humidity in the bin of the lateralis to much and put to many water crystals in there. they didnt get eaten up fast enough so now i just put a little bit in there.

i will say one thingi noticed though. the ooths that were on the floor werent hatching, just the ones that were embeded onto the egg flats. dont know why though, because my heat source is from above nd not below..either way, now i feel a little better knowing that after 5 months there finally hatching out. thanks guys

 

[gvfarns]

to be honest i belive the maggots were living off of the dead roaches..i acually picked out some of the dead ones, and seen them comingout of them. i think the water crystals were just a place to get a drink and not dry out..,maybe even a breeding ground.

Yeah, I've seen that too. I hate dead roaches (they make me feel like a bad owner, and they smell to high heaven). I have been thinking of keeping a few dermestid beetles in there to eat anything that dies. They don't eat live roaches, right? For now my solution is to keep two roach bins. One is always empty. When things get nasty I move the living roaches to the new bin and toss out the remaining frass, shed skins, and dead bodies. Nice thing about roaches that can't climb smooth surfaces is that they are really easy to manipulate like that.

i will say one thingi noticed though. the ooths that were on the floor werent hatching, just the ones that were embeded onto the egg flats. dont know why though, because my heat source is from above nd not below..either way, now i feel a little better knowing that after 5 months there finally hatching out. thanks guys

This is very interesting. Heat from above and only ooths on the egg crates hatching. Maybe heat was the problem, not humidity.

 

[koolkid98]

The dermestids should only be placed in and moderated as they can and will attack nymphs.

 

[gvfarns]

The dermestids should only be placed in and moderated as they can and will attack nymphs.

Gotcha. Thanks for the answer.

 

[burmish101]

I keep my B. lateralis and P. austrailasiae(sp?) in very damp conditions and the eggcrate and everything breaks down very quickly. Its the only way personally i've had luck hatching ooth's but this method works for me, though it stinks badly of festering god knows what whenever I open the cage. Damp and no air holes for flow Oo, but once every week or so I feed them and have tons. The Periplaneta have gotten into all my bins except my bananas and I dont notice tiny Peri's in any cage but the one I keep them with the lats in.

 

[BigToach]

i would switch to a dark color tub. dark, warm and moist is the key. i dont know if it makes any difference but i get apple/avocado/pear crates from the super market, they are made of the same pulp as egg crates and they are free, just ask the produce guys. good luck

 

[koolkid98]

Gotcha. Thanks for the answer.

No problem!

 

[gvfarns]

i would switch to a dark color tub. dark, warm and moist is the key. i dont know if it makes any difference but i get apple/avocado/pear crates from the super market, they are made of the same pulp as egg crates and they are free, just ask the produce guys. good luck

Though I understand there's a lot of concern about supermarket crates since apples, avocados, and pears are typically sprayed with pesticide at times so there's a good chance of bringing harmful chemicals into your colony if you use those. Then your T 's or whatever eat a bunch of roaches and everyone is sad.

 

[evicton]

Do these things ever stop breeding once they start lol? I use no substrate, and I have never misted my Lat tubs it seemed to take a while for them to start up and I was actually fine with this but then I introduce some oranges into there diet and boom. Now I keep my bins in my T room and I let it drop down to the low 70's and upper 60s at nights. I know this room has not been higher then 75 for the past month. I rehoused my colony tonight as I disliked the bin they were in. And there was more newborn nymphs in there I was under the assumption these guys would not continue to breed in these temps and if they did the eggs would not hatch lol.

 

[Finntroll86]

I don't know if anybody suggested this(didn't want to read through the 2 pages...yea I am lazy). Just a thought I see you have them in clear/opaque tubs, maybe they need solid color tub for darkness. I would think they would feel more comfortable in a dark space to breed then it being lit up all the time. maybe I am wrong but meh.