New guy, new roaches.

A

ambystoma

Second Instar
Hi everyone, should go without saying that I'm new to the forum. I've kept inverts for years now, started with tarantulas and now I've moved on to roaches. I've kept a colony of dubias and lateralis for a while now and have had very little issues getting them going. I recently bought a bunch of new species, as I've grown to appreciate them more and more. This past week I've picked up:

Schultesia lampyridiformis

Gyna lurida - normal and yellows

Eurycotis floridana - wc a few weeks ago. layin ooths already.

Blaberus craniifer

Archimandrita tesselata

Gromphadorhina portentosa - I've seen them around before, and though "eh", but really dig them now.

Aeluropoda insignis - the antennae on these guys are awesome!

Nauphoeta cinerea -because why not?

Panchlora nivea

Eublaberus sp. “Ivory”

Eublaberus posticus

I've read up on all of them and don't foresee any issues with their care. I have kept mantids for a while now too, so I have some experience with more difficult inverts (breeding D. lobata for example). I'm just looking for stories, general info, anything really. I have so many now, but there are so many more species I'm interested in.

Also, anyone have a good source for enclosures for the climbing species? I've read about tubs with a barrier, but some of the species I have seem to be able to climb over barriers fairly easily. That wouldn't be a problem for me, but I'm sure my roommates don't want to see the occasional roach in their space.



 
I'd say welcome to the hobby but it seems you're already well on your way to being one of "us". Haha.

I made a website a while ago that desperately needs updated but there is some useful information on there about what you're looking for.

Specifically though certain climbing species are much harder to contain than others. Since you're keeping E. floridana you'll experience this well. In my experience it's easier to use a gasket rimmed locking tuperware container instead of a barrier to contain them. At least something that has a tight, airless closure anyway. That's how I keep my German roaches.

But if you have any unanswered questions we will do our best to answer for you.

 
Welcome! If you've managed to breed D. lobata then I'm sure you'll be the master of cockroach in no time :)

What barrier are you using? I have a barrier of Vaseline and mineral oil mixture, and it always works good. (Occasionally escapes may take place in species like German or brown banded, but I guess you are not going to keep those lol)

Eublaberus are pretty smelly so get prepared :P And Therea is a must-have in the hobby!

 
The lobata weren't too difficult for me, just took time. I find mantids easier to work with as I can monitor them pretty easily. I've been thinking of setting up an old lab cabinet I have with flexxwat and a thermostat for my roaches. Thinking it should work nicely. Thanks for the advice!

Haven't had the need for barriers yet, as the colonies are pretty small. I've put the climbers in cleaned out fruit fly containers for the time being. I was thinking of getting gallon jars and modifying the lids with a fine mesh. Therea are pretty awesome, but I none were available at the expo I was at. There were some pretty good deals there, so I snagged a bunch of species! Once these colonies are established, I know it will take some time for some of em, I'd be very open to trades haha.

 
Be careful of smaller containers, if they are air tight they could suffocate the Roaches in the overly humid air. If they are not air tight they tend to dry out quickly and need more attention. Just saying. I've had issues on both ends. Good luck.

 
Oh yea I know they dry out quickly. I'm used to monitoring humidity levels with the mantids and dart I have. I always make sure there's some source of moisture in there and they typically get a daily mist. Appreciate the concern though.

 
Don't let them suffocate either... Lost a species like that once... Take Vfox's words like gold, you won't suspect to find Eurycotis sp. nymphs or even hisser nymphs around the house, you will be surprised

 
Yea, I had an issue a few years back when moving with suffocation. Lost an entire colony of lateralis because I had thought they would be okay for a day in an air tight container.

 
I've had great success keeping Gromphadorhina oblongonota nymphs (which are great climbers!) in a tank with a piece of ladies' tights/pantyhose material stretched over the top. I then usually have a fitted lit with air slits/holes over the top.

Simply tie a knot in the legs of the tights as close to the crotch as possible, cut the legs off and you can stretch the body piece over a decent sized tank. Keeps the air flow and prevents escapees!

The nylon dissuaded most chewers as well.

 
Hmmm, maybe I'll give that a shot, or at least a variation on that. What about the nylon do you think dissuades them? I use pvc mesh in some lids and have seen some holes chewed in them... though that could have come from ambitious mantids.

I'm enjoying this forum a lot so far. Seems much friendlier than a few others I've been a part of. I wasn't expecting many responses to be coming in, but was pleasantly surprised.

 
No idea, I just thanked God that it did :P I wondered about it being because it's inorganic or because the mesh is so fine, but honestly I'm not sure.

Agreed, this forum is not only one of the friendliest I've ever been a part of, there's always someone who knows the answer to any questions. I knew bigger-all about roaches when I joined :P

 
Thank you!

It's looking like this hobby has the potential to get very addictive. I've been looking around at the multitude of species in the hobby and keeping a mental checklist. I'm almost happy there weren't more species at the expo, as I bought just about every species I saw there haha.

 
Wait, so you've get all of these from expo? Hmmm the species list looks familiar... Is there any chance you got them from White plains expo?

 
Glad you're enjoying your roaches. There are some very difficult species out there, but most don't take too much effort.

 
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