Roaches eating roaches?

charzard

charzard

Third Instar
So..I figured I'd come here instead of talking to my housemate about this issue..

I had 9 roaches, but can only seem to locate 5 of them.. They seem to hide and then reappear and I can find them, but for the last few days I've only been able to count 5. Is it possible they might have somehow died and then the others ate them?

Or perhaps they're hiding and I can't find them..even though I seem to have dug around a good amount. Hmm.. 

 
What species of roaches are they? Some are more likely to eat each other if there's an issue (stress, not enough food/humidity/hiding places, vulnerability during molting, etc.), but it still ends up being fairly uncommon. Dead roaches tend to be fair game, but you should still be able to find legs or wings or something along that line. 

 
They are g. portentosa. I'm missing 4 of the smaller nymphs I had.. I'm not sure if they escaped..but nothing has changed with their housing and they all seemed content. I'm really unsure. I don't see legs or anything.

 
Is the lid on the enclosure airtight? Because small hissers are escape artists, so if there is even the smallest gap in between the rim of the enclosure and the lid, they'll squeeze out and escape, no matter how "content" they may seem...

 
Hisserdude said:
Is the lid on the enclosure airtight? Because small hissers are escape artists, so if there is even the smallest gap in between the rim of the enclosure and the lid, they'll squeeze out and escape, no matter how "content" they may seem...
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I'm not sure how anyone finds actual air tight containers.. I've looked so many places but can't seem to find any that are good enough. I have a sterilite gasket one that I will move them to when I get back home from work..

If they did escape..I haven't found them. Only time will tell, I suppose..

 
charzard said:
I'm not sure how anyone finds actual air tight containers.. I've looked so many places but can't seem to find any that are good enough. I have a sterilite gasket one that I will move them to when I get back home from work..

If they did escape..I haven't found them. Only time will tell, I suppose..
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Looks like you've already found an airtight container. lol I use those Sterilite gasket box containers for all my climbing species, they're pretty much the most well-sealed containers you can come by and keep any species in. You pretty much only need to add a few ventilation holes(or a large one on the top/each side), hot glue or melt some metal mesh over them, and you're good to go! :)  

They likely did escape if the lid was anything less than airtight and you didn't apply an effective barrier around the inside of the container. The other possibility, cannibalism, would really only occur in the case that they were kept dry with no source of moisture.

If they did manage to sneak out, I hope they turn up!

 
If they are those gasket containers then it should be escape proof, maybe they are just staying well hidden in their enclosure, or they got out sneakily when you had the lid off while checking up on them, (it's happened to me before).

 
charzard said:
I FOUND THEM!! But I can't quite get to them.. They are inside the temperature guage..
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Oh jeez LMAO!! :lol:  Well at least they haven't escaped, can they get out of the temperature gauge if they try?

 
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I am just so amused.. I'm not sure if they can get out..I would assume so if they got in.. But I'm not sure. I might have to just take it out then.

 
charzard said:
I am just so amused.. I'm not sure if they can get out..I would assume so if they got in.. But I'm not sure. I might have to just take it out then.
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Lol, that is quite funny! Hopefully they can get out just fine, funny that they'd pick that over all the other hides in the enclosure! :D

 
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@Hisserdude I think they are stuck..I'm trying to get them out but have no idea how to do so without breaking it. I don't care to break it, but I'm afraid of crushing them. My poor little babes. I have to go to class so I will have to try when I get back to rescue them.

 
I feel so bad, though..one of them has the bottom of their legs all ripped off it looks.. It must have tried to get out or something. Or perhaps they chewed one another.

It was alone in the humidity guage and then four in the temperature guage. They will regrow legs with next molt right?

 
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Glad you were able to get them out, sorry to hear about the one with the missing leg though. :( It should grow the leg back over a molt or two, so by the time it's mature it should have all six legs again. :)

 
Hisserdude said:
Glad you were able to get them out, sorry to hear about the one with the missing leg though. :( It should grow the leg back over a molt or two, so by the time it's mature it should have all six legs again. :)
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Is it possible that there would be difficulty molting with the one that lost the bottoms of it's legs? I feel it may die because it is struggling molting. I'm not really sure what I can do to help.

 
charzard said:
Is it possible that there would be difficulty molting with the one that lost the bottoms of it's legs? I feel it may die because it is struggling molting. I'm not really sure what I can do to help.
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It shouldn't have too much difficulty because of that specifically, I don't think. Sorry to hear it's having trouble molting, try misting it lightly, and whatever you do, don't try to physically help it out of it's skin unless only the tips of the feet are stuck, as usually you'll end up doing more harm than good. :(

 
Hisserdude said:
It shouldn't have too much difficulty because of that specifically, I don't think. Sorry to hear it's having trouble molting, try misting it lightly, and whatever you do, don't try to physically help it out of it's skin unless only the tips of the feet are stuck, as usually you'll end up doing more harm than good. :(
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I feel like I should put it out of its misery.. It has been struggling for almost two days. I'm not sure if it's the tips of the feet that are stuck, but it certainly looks like that's where the problem lies.

 
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