barriers

Allpet Roaches

Allpet Roaches

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A significant aspect of housing for many of the roaches is the barriers that prevent animals from being all over the lid when opened for feeding and watering. Of course there are various nonclimbing roaches like Blaberus that require no barrier. Vaseline has proven very successful in keeping most glass climbing species under control as long as it is reapplied every so often and kept clean. The teflon paint (sold as bug barrier, bug stop and various names) seems to work OK on lobsters and is fine for a barrier as long as the lid is airtight but it doesn' seem to keep most species from climbing. Anyone have a different experience or find a new type of barrier?

 
honestly a tight lid is best

those barriers just make a mess

an bug barrier straght up sucks!

i use vasaline for most and hate it

another option is packing tape around the inside of the containers

thanx froggy

 
I keep Blatta lateralis (is that the name - Turkistan Roaches). They are non-climbing, but I found that when the population hit a certain density, the roaches, esp the mature males, started bailing out and a tupperware tub with roach barrier could not keep them in.

I went to a cooler, which has a tight lid, and six 1.5" vent holes drilled in the top sealed with aluminum screen via hot glue. Note - nylon screen will get chewed through. This has worked well in keeping them contained.

froggy said:
honestly a tight lid is best those barriers just make a mess

an bug barrier straght up sucks!

i use vasaline for most and hate it

another option is packing tape around the inside of the containers

thanx froggy
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We use the bug barrier on our hissers and seems to work just fine. We have watched several of them try to climb past the barrier with no success at all.

I think the smoother you can apply the bug barrier the better it works.

 
A thin coating of olive oil around the top edge works well too, but must be re-applied every few months, more often in the warmer months. Less messy than vaseline, and a little less work, but same concept.

 
Olive oil works good for p. nivea and you don't have to reapply it very often. I used to put vasaline around the top of my tanks. What a mess! I would not reccomend anyone using that stuff. It's so hard to remove. I haven't tried bug barrier yet though.

 
I have great luck with Vaseline and a screen lid. Or a screen lid only that has 250 micron brass screen mesh. Depending on the species.

 
I used to use barriers but they just got messy, melted, or got all over my arm everytime I messed with a colony. I haven't used them latly...of course I just keep a few collector species and utilize the Bucket Method... I may have a different opinion if I kept large colonies of climbing feeder species....

 
Oh ya- as far as screen sizes go, I normally just use regular metal window screening on my buckets..2 layers..one on the inside and one on the outside. For smaller species with tiny nymphs I go with large pipe screens (very tight mesh)...you can get them from any "smoking" store very cheap...they usually have a variety of sizes.... normally 12 for around $1.... They will even hold in panchlora nymphs without problems....

 
I have used all three, vasoline, oil and bug barrier. Have not had problems with any of them. It seems (when I cam cleaning bins out) is the only time they try and exscape and to my witnessing they either don't try to cross the barriers or they fall back down trying. I would say that the bug barrier is the least messy, but a mix of vasoline and olive oil would be more trusting I think.

Lobsters seem to be the only roach I keep that could get to the d top of the bin so I put about a 4 inch barrier. Plus I have a tight lid with screened top.

 
What about the teflon paint? Has anyone used that. I'm kind of curious about it. Where can you buy it?

I've never really had a problem with roaches trying to escape till I got hissers. The little nymphs hang out at the top ready to run out when I open the lid.

 
Roachsmith said:
What about the teflon paint? Has anyone used that. I'm kind of curious about it. Where can you buy it?I've never really had a problem with roaches trying to escape till I got hissers. The little nymphs hang out at the top ready to run out when I open the lid.
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The bug barrier and teflon paint should be the same thing. Teflon paint has pros such as dirt doesn't stick to it, it doesn't wipe off easily or stick to you (or your clothes), lasts longer, and looks better on a white surface. Cons: it doesn't work especially well, doesn't work at all with most of the lower weight roaches and looks bad when painted on glass.

 
Orin McMonigle said:
The bug barrier and teflon paint should be the same thing. Teflon paint has pros such as dirt doesn't stick to it, it doesn't wipe off easily or stick to you (or your clothes), lasts longer, and looks better on a white surface. Cons: it doesn't work especially well, doesn't work at all with most of the lower weight roaches and looks bad when painted on glass.
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I just tried it out. I still prefer Vaseline, because on approach a roach will touch it with thier antennae and sometimes turn away. With the teflon paint they try to walk on it regardless of traction, and the tinier ones still go over it. The teflon also runs before its dry...

 
Matt K said:
I just tried it out. I still prefer Vaseline, because on approach a roach will touch it with thier antennae and sometimes turn away. With the teflon paint they try to walk on it regardless of traction, and the tinier ones still go over it. The teflon also runs before its dry...
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Hey all,

I'm olive oil all the way!! I used to use Vaseline, but when you want to use the tank for something else you cant ever get it clean! Then someone told me to use olive oil, and its super, works great on both my lobsters and hissers. I reapply it every few weeks, just to be safe, but they NEVER get out! I used to have a few get past the Vaseline, but not with the oil!

Just my 2 cents but its the best out there, and when it dries your tank is good as new!

~Samuel

 
I use vaseline, can't put a price on the questions and looks your get from a cashier when you put 3 or 4 tubs of vaseline on the check out counter. I just tell them I like to grease myself up with it and run around the local mall naked if they ask. So far it does the job for the hissers.

 
Shawn H said:
I use vaseline, can't put a price on the questions and looks your get from a cashier when you put 3 or 4 tubs of vaseline on the check out counter. I just tell them I like to grease myself up with it and run around the local mall naked if they ask. So far it does the job for the hissers.
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Yea that is always great! When you have like 3 packs of pantyhose, 4 tubs of vaseline and some Rubbermaid tubs... And being a 16yo guy its even better :P

 
Bear Foot Inc said:
Yea that is always great! When you have like 3 packs of pantyhose, 4 tubs of vaseline and some Rubbermaid tubs... And being a 16yo guy its even better :P
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Haha not sure what else you could buy and get a better reaction, maybe if you through in some duct tape.

 
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