Cockroach of the Week 10/19/09- Polyphaga aegyptiaca
- Thread starter Zephyr
- Start date
Hibiscusmile
Sixth Instar
I ment on how to keep them, I would never remember....
Matt K
Eurycotis
When you have several hundred (like I do) and you maintain that group for quite a few years (like I have) this is how it is over time, even after partial substrate changes.
I've been keeping P. aegyptiaca for 3 years now; they're a very hardy species and easy to setup.Buy a $1 Sterilite storage container (depending on the size of your colony you may want a different container; however you want it to have some depth) from Target, a dollar store, etc. Drill holes 1 inch from the top of the container along the rim with about 8 holes on the long sides and 5 on the short sides. No holes drilled on the top. For substrate, I do a mix of everything. However, the key is keeping the moisture just right. So you'll need a mix of about 35% top soil, 35% vermiculite (coarse or fine works,) 10% peat moss, and 20% coconut fiber. Allow this mix to "air out" til it looks visually dry. Mix in some strands of wet moss (sphagnum moss works well.) To your container, add enough to fill 35-60% of the container. Put an inch of well-crushed, dried, dead, oak leaves on top of this and mix it into the substrate a little. For temperatures, anything in the 70's will produce more than you'll ever need. For food, they'll eat the oak leaves; however I add a small piece of carrot or fruit every week, with some occasional dog/fish/cat/parrot food.
The most crucial part of caring for them is the weekly moisture check. The surface of your mix should look dry. Mark one side of the container "wet" and the other side "dry." Every week when you add treat foods, pull back the "wet" side of the enclosure so there's only an inch of substrate on the bottom visible. Mist this until it's thoroughly moist. Push the top layer of the substrate back over this and do the same with the other side, except mist only enough to make it appear damp (do not mist NEARLY as much as the other side!) Pull the substrate back over and mist the top of the substrate well. This provides the perfect humidity gradient for all stages of life.