B. giganteus can't stand high temperature?

[Forcep]

I've got a problem with giant caves since I've moved all my critters into a university rearing facility (which looks perfect for breeding arthropods). They were previously kept around 75F, and I was worrying that the temperature was not high enough. To my surprise those giant caves did very well with half a dozen molted to adult perfectly, with zero mortality.

After I've move them to the current rearing room (with temp around 85F, it maybe higher than 90F in some sealed containers), all my other roaches and tarantulas seems to be much happier except giant caves. I've got a dramatic 100% mortality during the final molt. Then I replaced the lid with a mesh so the temp inside the tank dropped down a little (with humidity gone as well). Now the adults finally survive, with slightly deformed wings though.

I'm quite surprised and frustrated 'cause all my other critters grow like weed in the same room. I've heard B giganteus being notorious for their mysterious death during final molt, now I wonder if it's temperature related.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

I keep mine at 70-75 and still see the high mortality rate when they molt to adults. It is observational data, but I do not get this high mortality rate when the enclosure is not crowded. If I have 6 juveniles, all will molt to adults and the mortality rate is 0%. If the enclosure is at crowded, the mortality rate jumps way up. Again, I stress this is just an observation I have noticed over many years. Good luck.

 

[wodesorel]

Mine have been around 65-70 all winter, and I don't think I lost a single one on their final molt. Never found a single dead body. I did have some deformed wings from the earliest adults before I got them moved into their new 20 gallon tall that is completely covered in elm bark on the back and one side. After they all had enough vertical space they all molted perfectly. They're looking a little ragged now from fighting.

However, the two that I gave to my pet shop lady as penultimate nymphs died right after their final molt. We compared notes and it sounded like she was feeding them the same way I was. I forgot to ask if she had them on heat tape or not. I'm sure by now she won't remember where they had been kept. I thought that was odd that out of all the ones I had, the only ones that died were those two.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Mine have been around 65-70 all winter, and I don't think I lost a single one on their final molt. Never found a single dead body. I did have some deformed wings from the earliest adults before I got them moved into their new 20 gallon tall that is completely covered in elm bark on the back and one side. After they all had enough vertical space they all molted perfectly. They're looking a little ragged now from fighting.

However, the two that I gave to my pet shop lady as penultimate nymphs died right after their final molt. We compared notes and it sounded like she was feeding them the same way I was. I forgot to ask if she had them on heat tape or not. I'm sure by now she won't remember where they had been kept. I thought that was odd that out of all the ones I had, the only ones that died were those two.

Cool. Thanks for sharing. How big is your enclosure and how many adults did you have at any one time?

 

[Forcep]

I keep mine at 70-75 and still see the high mortality rate when they molt to adults. It is observational data, but I do not get this high mortality rate when the enclosure is not crowded. If I have 6 juveniles, all will molt to adults and the mortality rate is 0%. If the enclosure is at crowded, the mortality rate jumps way up. Again, I stress this is just an observation I have noticed over many years. Good luck.

I believe overcrowding will be a factor too if only I can get my colony ever start breeding Mine is a tiny colony with plenty of vertical surface, unlimited rotten wood and leaf litter supply. The only change which have brought up mortality is high temperature. Mine peppered roaches have exactly the same set up and conditions and they are all very healthy I may need to find a "cool spot" for my giant caves lol

 

[MrCrackerpants]

I believe overcrowding will be a factor too if only I can get my colony ever start breeding Mine is a tiny colony with plenty of vertical surface, unlimited rotten wood and leaf litter supply. The only change which have brought up mortality is high temperature. Mine peppered roaches have exactly the same set up and conditions and they are all very healthy I may need to find a "cool spot" for my giant caves lol

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[Forcep]

Mine have been around 65-70 all winter, and I don't think I lost a single one on their final molt. Never found a single dead body. I did have some deformed wings from the earliest adults before I got them moved into their new 20 gallon tall that is completely covered in elm bark on the back and one side. After they all had enough vertical space they all molted perfectly. They're looking a little ragged now from fighting.

However, the two that I gave to my pet shop lady as penultimate nymphs died right after their final molt. We compared notes and it sounded like she was feeding them the same way I was. I forgot to ask if she had them on heat tape or not. I'm sure by now she won't remember where they had been kept. I thought that was odd that out of all the ones I had, the only ones that died were those two.

The high temperature and high humidity made the tank quite stuffy inside, I think that kills my giant caves, although other roaches did really well...

 

[wodesorel]

Cool. Thanks for sharing. How big is your enclosure and how many adults did you have at any one time?

20 gallon tall with about 25 to 30 adults. They are the first generation born here from the ones I bought from Roach Crossing two years ago. I noticed new babies about two months ago but I haven't gone digging to check to see how many there are. It looks like there are tons of them though! Toss some water on the substrate and it's like an ant farm exploded.

This is their tank before I filled it. There's two inches of peat moss and leaves for substrate, and several thick branches in there as well. I rigged up this packing tape/vaseline barrier across the top of the two sides with the bark so they couldn't get out of the tank, and then have a screen lid over top everything since I found an escapee that I'm pretty sure managed to fly out of the tank.

I really love the way it turned out and since they do seem to do better in cooler temps I've been debating about moving them into the bedroom as a display tank. My step-daughter is beyond frightened of anything with legs so having them out in the house proper is not an option, but I'm also not sure if I want them in the bedroom since I'm slightly allergic to them. :/

 

[Alex]

I would like to think giant cave roaches would prefer cool stable temps of a tropical cave......But what about the established ones in the FL Keys??? Hot as hell there and salty humid sea air... They supposedly live in the trash heaps.

Huh...

 

[Forcep]

I would like to think giant cave roaches would prefer cool stable temps of a tropical cave......But what about the established ones in the FL Keys??? Hot as hell there and salty humid sea air... They supposedly live in the trash heaps.

Huh...

I suppose there're always cooler retreats and good ventilation in natural condition, but they don't have any choice in a small tank. For example, although it rains everyday in their natural habitat, pink toes can be killed by too much moisture in their cages.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

20 gallon tall with about 25 to 30 adults. They are the first generation born here from the ones I bought from Roach Crossing two years ago. I noticed new babies about two months ago but I haven't gone digging to check to see how many there are. It looks like there are tons of them though! Toss some water on the substrate and it's like an ant farm exploded.

This is their tank before I filled it. There's two inches of peat moss and leaves for substrate, and several thick branches in there as well. I rigged up this packing tape/vaseline barrier across the top of the two sides with the bark so they couldn't get out of the tank, and then have a screen lid over top everything since I found an escapee that I'm pretty sure managed to fly out of the tank.

I really love the way it turned out and since they do seem to do better in cooler temps I've been debating about moving them into the bedroom as a display tank. My step-daughter is beyond frightened of anything with legs so having them out in the house proper is not an option, but I'm also not sure if I want them in the bedroom since I'm slightly allergic to them. :/

Thanks!

 

[Roachman26]

Initially I bought a dozen subadults and had them set up in an 18 gallon bin. All did fine and then half of them died in their molt to maturity. Only two females made it into adulthood. It took a long time, but those females finally gave me babies. All the babies did fine and when they molted I had zero casualties. When those babies started having babies, I couldn't give them away fast enough. It became like a dubia colony... only bigger. The temperature in my reptile room never drops below 80 and it would get into the mid 90s everyday on summer days.

My conclusion from this and other anecdotal evidence is that they don't like moving or having their environment disturbed. I saw this with many other species too. I had 18 species at one time. Whenever I got in nymphs, it would take a long time for a colony to really get up and running. When things really seemed to get going was always when the babies born or hatched at my place reached maturity and started reproducing themselves.

Anecdotally too, I never had much luck getting babies out of adults that had been shipped in from elsewhere. Because of this I made it my practice to ask for young nymphs so that they could have several molts and mature in their own enclosure at my place to make things as stable as possible for them.

As far as temp in the wild, I saw a Southeast Asian turtle study where they recorded temps in the actual locations where the turtles were found. Ambient air temps would be 95-100 at human head height with humidity near 100%. They found temps from 69-72 down in the underbrush on the ground where the turtles were.

Just throwing in what I've seen.