padkison

I have a colony of Blatta lateralis that are kept in a cooler with about 1.5" of vermiculite and egg crates. I feed dogfood and water crystals. The colony is doing well and appears healthy. However, should I be cleaning it out periodically?

I keep Blatta lateralis (is that the name - Turkistan Roaches). They are non-climbing, but I found that when the population hit a certain density, the roaches, esp the mature males, started bailing out and a tupperware tub with roach barrier could not keep them in. I went to a cooler, which has a tight lid, and six 1.5" vent holes drilled in the top sealed with aluminum screen via hot glue. Note - nylon screen will get chewed through. This has worked well in keeping them contained.