Keeping them warm...

Kaddock

Kaddock

First Instar
I would like to keep my Gromphadorhina portentosa colony warm enough to breed... I have a digital probe thermometer in the middle of the eggcrate castle in my ten gallon enclosure, and I can't get things above 75ish F. I am burning two sixty watt lamps with their cones (vented) directly sitting on the wire mesh lid. So... wtf? Should I line the lid with foil? I had some success with this in one of my mantis enclosures... Should I go for 100 watt bulbs? Would that actually make a heat difference? <_<

Help please!

 
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The one hundred watt bulb would make the difference. In the past, I've taped Styrofoam around the outside of the glass aquariums to build and maintin heat. Now I have a reptile cages on the bottom of a metal-rack shelving system. The next shelf up is where I keep all my heat-loving bugs. You'll be better off it you can get that temp. up 5 or so degrees. Just make sure you partially wet down the substrate everyday. When you do get nymphs they'll dry up quickly w/o regular moisture.

 
I use 100 watts with the same set up and have had the same experience with 75s. 75 watts are worthless. You'll definately see a difference with the 100 watts but will get up to 85 degrees max. the next step up is 150 watts, but that would fry the heck out of your roaches. He's right, infrared bulbs do tend to dry up the enclosure, but I get around that by putting visquene (you could use plain plastic wrap) over the top to keep humidity in.

 
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For how long time a day do you keep the bulb lit??

Since heat is good for digestion and breeding there must also be a certain minimum time for the effect to work ....

BR/

Ole

 
OBJ said:
For how long time a day do you keep the bulb lit??Since heat is good for digestion and breeding there must also be a certain minimum time for the effect to work ....

BR/

Ole
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we keep our lights on 24/7. You could just leave them on during the day I assume, as long as your temps dont get below like....75? someone else would have to comment on minimum temp. either way, the hotter they are and the longer they're hot, the more they'll breed

 
I keep my light on 24/7 as well... This won't lead to any problems? Also, if I mist won't my egg crates get moldy pretty quickly, or does the heat deal with that well?

 
With two bulbs for one culture it must be a fairly large culture?

But here in Denmark we have an issue with the energy consumption.

The energy price of one kiloWatt per hour [kWh] is approx. 0.36 USD. In the US it is much less, but we have 25% VAT, CO2 tax and a long list of other taxes (it is a long bill).

So 2 bulbs of 100 Watts each is 0.2 kWh when lit and they run 24/7 meaning:

Cost per year for one culture: 0.2 * 24 * 365 * 0.36 = 630 USD/yr. <_<

I think the roach-room central heating will be kept at approx. 75 F or one could start to experiment with mating and feeding in relation to higher temperature. Since I do not need to keep up production to get feeding animals, the reproduction rate is not as important. :rolleyes:

100 Watt bulbs are now forbidden in UK, but soon we all have to give them up within EU. In a number of years all standard bulbs will disappear and only energy-saving bulbs (or rather flourescent tubes) will be left...

BR/

Ole

 
No, in the example where a 100 Watt bulb is needed, it would be replaced by an approx. 20 Watt energy saving bulb, which then only gives off 20 Watt, but of course that is because only their light concentration, Lumen, is comparable.

So the poor roaches will get a lot of light, but not the same heat.

People also complain that the light color of the has become more white-ish as from similar flourescent sources.

We prefer the more yellow-ish light and consider it more cosy = maybe a reminiscense from our days as hunters since a fire-place is always perceived as cosy.

BR/

Ole

 
There is something called "heat pad".... no light, no radiation*, only heat where you need it. ;)

*Heat is transduced mainly by conduction (if that's the correct english formulation) makeing it quite efficient in comparison to light bulbs I think...

 
Kaddock said:
I keep my light on 24/7 as well... This won't lead to any problems? Also, if I mist won't my egg crates get moldy pretty quickly, or does the heat deal with that well?
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I do find that it drys things out much quicker and you may avoid some mold, but it won't do anything for the undersides of your cartons.

Pharma said:
There is something called "heat pad".... no light, no radiation*, only heat where you need it. ;) *Heat is transduced mainly by conduction (if that's the correct english formulation) makeing it quite efficient in comparison to light bulbs I think...
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You could also go with the standard heat cord from a reptile supply. It's also sold as a device you wrap around pipes during the winter so they dont freeze. With a heat pad or cord though you always need a thermostat to hook it up to or it'll burn through plastic or start a fire if it's on wood.

 
skips said:
You could also go with the standard heat cord from a reptile supply. It's also sold as a device you wrap around pipes during the winter so they dont freeze. With a heat pad or cord though you always need a thermostat to hook it up to or it'll burn through plastic or start a fire if it's on wood.
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That's what I use in my cabinet, works great.

 
Ah, you call that 'wire' heat cord... I didn't mentione that cause of lack of vocabulary.

Some cheap and old ones tended to melt/burn things away but the better equipment works well and can't be set on fire. I had one for aquariums which heated constantly at 30°C (outside the water) up to its silent break-down after about 15 years of nearly permanent use! OK, that cord was one of the expensive sort but it payed out well.

Anyway, I wouldn't use heat cords but heat panels because they are easier to fix on the SIDE of the roach-boxes (with mine it wouldn't work but with round bins maybe?). They shouldn't be laid underneath where they wouldn't cause a desirable heat gradient but rather a heat build-up.

 
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Word of warning: just in case you didn't know, make sure to use a rheostat so there is no combustion of the 'roaches. I have it on the back of my cabinet fixed to it with electrical staples.

 
I used to be a heat fanatic, but not anymore.

My roach colonies get the same temps as my room, which can be anywhere from 72 to 85, and my production carries on as normal.

 
Zephyr said:
I used to be a heat fanatic, but not anymore.My roach colonies get the same temps as my room, which can be anywhere from 72 to 85, and my production carries on as normal.
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Really? And you are breeding hissers? When I first got my roaches, two of the females were very pregnant, and have never produced. They shrank back down to normal size as if they aborted. This is what I was told would happen if they weren't kept warm. I have seen no sign of breeding activity, and I've been able to keep my enclosure up in the high 70s to 80s for a couple of weeks now... At what point should I be seeing nymphs?

EDIT: Scratch that! One of the females has her butt hanging out of the castle and appears to be pushing out an eggcase! These will stick to them for a while right? When she drops it, what is the recommended procedure? Do I isolate it to keep it warmer or something?

 
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Kaddock said:
Really? And you are breeding hissers? When I first got my roaches, two of the females were very pregnant, and have never produced. They shrank back down to normal size as if they aborted. This is what I was told would happen if they weren't kept warm. I have seen no sign of breeding activity, and I've been able to keep my enclosure up in the high 70s to 80s for a couple of weeks now... At what point should I be seeing nymphs?EDIT: Scratch that! One of the females has her butt hanging out of the castle and appears to be pushing out an eggcase! These will stick to them for a while right? When she drops it, what is the recommended procedure? Do I isolate it to keep it warmer or something?
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If all goes well, she'll retract it back inside herself and incubate it until it hatches.

I actually find that if you keep your hissers cooler, you end up with much larger adults.

 
Zephyr said:
If all goes well, she'll retract it back inside herself and incubate it until it hatches.I actually find that if you keep your hissers cooler, you end up with much larger adults.
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That's is strangely the opposite of what everyone else has told me, but it seems like you may be right. I will keep the conditions about how I have been and report back! How long should the incubation take? Should I try not to bug her ( :P ) ? I am thinking about changing the egg crates because there are some sticky parts exposed that are a bit lethal for nymphs.

 
Increased temperature has been documented in faster maturation rates and smaller adult body size in a few different species of insect.

 
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