New pets!!! (MY Roaches are here)

[Lankyrob]

Finally got them all settled in now - just got to get some breeding going before i start feeding them off to me lizards

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Animals/Reptiles/Photo0185.jpg

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Animals/Reptiles/Photo0184.jpg

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Animals/Reptiles/Photo0183.jpg

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Animals/Reptiles/Photo0182.jpg

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Animals/Reptiles/Photo0181.jpg

They were just being kept in the plastic container with the eco earth - decided to give htem the extra space and plenty of climbing room so they now have the choice of where to go.

[infernalis]

Nice, I'll tell ya Rob, their droppings look just like eco earth.

Don't clean out the poop, the babies will need it.

Fresh fruits and veggies, they love them. soft stuff like straberries, melon, squash, kiwi, things like that.

[Lankyrob]

I got some roach food "free" as part of the purchase so am gonna mix that as part of their diet along with fruit - would they eat veggies as well or are they too tough?

[infernalis]

They seem to prefer soft sugary things. I tried squash and they like it.

[Lankyrob]

Ok - good to know.Carrot has been recommended for the fluid content - have you tried yours with carrots?

[infernalis]

I will.. sounds reasonable.

I have a small water dish that is insect friendly, has rough walls so bugs can get out without drowning, works a charm.

[belovedboas]

cool rob!!! I've heard (don't know much about roaches lol) that they are a great source of foood for lizards and such there dubias right?

[Lankyrob]

Yes Dubia roaches. I decided to use the bug gel wayne, small plastic lid buried in the earth so that i can get it out easily to clean but the roaches dont habve to climb to get to it.

[Jenn_06]

you dont need the dirt they have live birth and keep them in the dark. i was told to feed them oranges it makes them breed better.

[Lankyrob]

Just a quick question, how soon can you tell males from females? i know males have obvious wings as adults but how soon do they show? Definitely got three nice big juicy females (about an inch long) but jot seen any obvious males as yet.......

[presspirate]

They are interesting little critters aren't they? I just can't seem to keep my nose out of their box. I'll be sitting here, and all of a sudden I'll think..."Hey, I wonder what the roaches are doing?" So, I'll turn my chair around and take the lid off for a peek. Maybe reach in and coax one onto my hand. And look at them for awhile. They're probably thinking, "Dude...the light...." But, you know they're roaches. And mine are currently munching apples.

[Lankyrob]

They really seem to like the dirt in there, they are burrowing through it and burying themselves, unless you think it is likely to cause any harm? They have PLENTY of cardboard snd hiding space in their too so they have plenty of choice as to where to go...?

I am the same greg, i keep wanting to hold them and watch them climbing aroumd their giant cardboard climbing frame. Maybe we are just a little weird? :crazy:

[presspirate]

I am the same greg, i keep wanting to hold them and watch them climbing aroumd their giant cardboard climbing frame. Maybe we are just a little weird? :crazy:

Maybe we are, but.....by who's definition? And does it matter? :freakedout: I don't think the dirt will harm them Rob. They are after all roaches. And their species will be here long after ours is gone. Have you found yourself rescuing overturned ones that seem to be struggling on their backs? I've done that a few times now....:elvis:

[Lankyrob]

Not rescued any......yet! In terms of weird i love the quote " i tried being normal once - worst five minutes of my life.."!! :)

[bighog85]

You can literally throw anything edible in there and they will eat it. Mine have a constant supply of chicken feed in the tubs and then I throw everything that we don't eat in there as well. Fruit and vegetable scraps, bread scraps, everything. The next day I go in and it is all gone. Next time I have a snake not eat I am going to try and throw a rat or mouse in and see what happens. I'm betting that there will be a skeleton and nothing more left the next day. I started with 1,000 and I estimate that I am in the 5,000 range eight months later. The population has really exploded since my sav died but I am taking in another one next week so hopefully I can get it under control again. What are you feeding them to?

[Lankyrob]

Feeding them to these guys

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Reptiles%20Nov%202010/DSC_0053.jpg

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Reptiles%20Nov%202010/DSC_0063.jpg

Just want to bump my question again - how soon is it possible to tell males from females? I know it is blatantly obvious as adults because of the wings.......

[bighog85]

Just want to bump my question again - how soon is it possible to tell males from females? I know it is blatantly obvious as adults because of the wings.......

It is tough with these guys because they will rarely evert or anything so it is kind of a crap shoot. You can look down by the vent and look for two bumps lined up parallel with the vent, but many times males and females have those and unless you can compare it with a known male or female then again, it is not really a very reliable way of doing it. I was able to guess correctly with my water monitor but it was most likely very lucky. I got him when he was about two weeks old and there were others there that I could compare him to so that probably helped. It has a pretty colorful hood for being young so I would guess male and it has a bigger head so that would also lead me to say that.

[Lankyrob]

Lol - sorry for the confusion Brian - the question was with regard to the Dubias rather than the lizards :) - i had asked earlier in the thread but with no answers.

[radstusky]

This photo might help:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a74/iloveherp/comparison2-phot.jpg

I'm not taking any credit for the photo of course. You don't need many adult males in your colony, maybe 1:5 or 1:10 to the females. My panther cham loves the adult males with wings for some reason, and of course any freshly molted are like a delicacy!

[presspirate]

Gotta say Rob, Tilly is a doll. They have one at my local reptile store, but I just cannot afford it at the price.

[Lankyrob]

They have a HUGE male frilly in our shop that we have our eye on but not having the space or money is a problem, how much do they sell for over there?? The one here is £200?

[Reptile_Reptile]

^^^ whats conversion rate to usd on your currency

[infernalis]

Female adult.....

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/PG1/images/1aroach.jpg

Male adult and juvinile...

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/PG1/images/2aroach.jpg

[Lankyrob]

So males are generally duller in colour throughout life?
Rearranged their enclosure this morning, they seem to spen a lot of time in the dirt so moved the dirt so that it is sat on top of the heatmat. The are a LOT more in there than i originally thought. When we got them home i had a little dig through the dirt and thought there were probably thirty or so, now that they are mostlyout and a bout i would say there are mor like fiftyto sixty.

JR the USD equivalent would be about $300 i think.

Last question for now, brian says chuck anything in there for them to eat, is there anytng that they MUST NOT be fed?

[infernalis]

Just look at it this way Rob, Your animals are eating the roaches, so whatever you feed the bugs, you feed your herps.

Further, anything that spoils quickly will stink up your roach colony.

A roach colony can be a disgusting box of bugs, or a colony of pets that you show off. Nice thing about roaches, they don't care either way.

A box of poo will make a roach just as happy as a well groomed enclosure would.

But it is YOU who has to live with this box in your home, so it's up to you. ;)

Personally I toss the chicken bones in the bin and serve grains and fruit to my feeders.

Take thinks like fruit, squash and pumpkin out after a couple days, fruit flies will show up in your roach colony.

[Lankyrob]

Cheers wayne, surprises me how quickly they are drawn to food! I was just off to bed and realised one of our banana's in the fruit bowl was past the point that any of us would eat it so peeeled it and put it in and within 10 seconds it was covered in cockroaches!! they just came from everywhere and descended on it - do you think they communicate where food is or just have a very good sense of "smell"?

[infernalis]

It's the smell. Who knows they may communicate?

[presspirate]

They have a HUGE male frilly in our shop that we have our eye on but not having the space or money is a problem, how much do they sell for over there?? The one here is £200?
The one I have been looking at is $200 but throw an enclosure and supplies on top of that, I just couldn't afford it right now.

[infernalis]

Just want to bump my question again - how soon is it possible to tell males from females? I know it is blatantly obvious as adults because of the wings.......


Honestly Rob, I never gave it a thought, I just make sure there is always a number of males and females (obvious adults) and just feed the others to my lizards.

Since the monitor (Chomper) is so big, I feed him adults, I just make sure I leave enough adults behind in the colony so it can replenish itself.

[Lankyrob]

Yeah, thats my plan too. I will feed off the adult males leaving enough for a 1:5 ratio males to females. If i get to the point of having too many then i may feed off a few of the females but 1:5 is what i am aiming for. Looking at the colony there are a number of "possible" males but no full adult males at the moment. Am not going to start feeding off until i am happy that the colony will replenish.