TheSwarmThing

Thanks a lot for the tips @Matttoadman! I will see what I can get for the budget I have. I would love to have a nice set-up I could show people instead of plastic bins.

Thanks for the tips @Matttoadman and @Hisserdude! I could imagine a beautiful enclosure with a waterfall or some other source of running water for these roaches, but this would be out of my budget right now. But I keep your suggestions in mind, and perhaps in the future I can make a semi-aquatic display. @Hisserdude is the problem with the standing water was your own experience or did you read it somewhere? I'm only asking because if it's in a book or paper I would love to read it, I'm always trying to learn new things about insects. And if it is your own experience, then thanks a lot for sharing this valuable information!

Yes, it is complicated to even imagine how could I design such an enclosure, so thanks for the tip, I will stick to a normal set-up then.

Hi Everyone, I'm considering keeping Opisthoplatia orientalis. I've read that they are semiaquatic. What kind of set-up would you suggest for this species? Should I put some water to their enclosure? Thanks a lot!

Hi Everyone, recently I put some big (dead) maple leaves to some of my cockroach enclosures just as decoration and climbing surface, but some species seem to be eating them (e.g: Hemiblabera brunneri, Elliptorhina javanica). Do you give dead leaves as food for your roaches? If yes, which tree species would you recommend? Thanks a lot and happy new year!

Thanks a lot! I have to be more careful in the future then. Is there any sort of barrier hissers can't cross? I've tried a couple of things but they seem to walk through everything and escape under the lid of the container.

Hi, I don't think anything would be wrong with your set-up. I keep my hissers under very similar conditions and they breed pretty well eventhough I have only 6 adults. It is possible they just simply grow & reproduce slowly. Inbreeding could cause problems like slower development, shorter lifespan and decreased fertility as well. If your animals are indeed hybrids, that could also cause delayed or even no breeding. In my opinion it is quite hard to tell G. portentosa or G. oblongonota from their hybrids, but if you would post some photos, we might be able to tell. So I think you can just wait a little longer, see if they are just "taking their time" or maybe introduce a new male (or more males/females) to your colony to see if that solves the problem. I understand it's a difficult situation, but I hope I could help a bit.

Hi All, I keep Gromphadorhina oblongonota, G. portentosa, Elliptorhina chopardi and E. javanica. They all seem to be reproducing nicely. My only problem is, that some of the nymphs have escaped in the past and now it seems like I've put some of them back to the worong containers, as I can see different looking nymphs together in a few of my terrariums. Do you have any idea how could I tell the nymphs of different species apart? Some of them are pretty small (3-4 mm). I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!

I bought a few Hemiblabera tenebricosa individuals recently, and I'm already in love with them. They do burrow in the soil all the time, and they look super cool. I'd also highly recommend this species.

Wow, looks awesome! Can't wait to see more pictures.

Thanks for the help @dcfarms and @lovebugfarm! I managed to relocate my female, she doesn't seem stressed at all. Now hopefully I only have to wait a few weeks for the babies.

Hi everyone, I just bought a new enclosure for my hissers when I saw my female with an ootheca. In your opinion would it stress the female, If I'd relocate her to the new enclosure? I don't want to her to abort the babies or anything. Could the time until "giving birth" be estimated somehow? Thanks for the help!

Thank you @pannaking22 for the suggestions. I was really worried because of the mites. I have some isopods in other enclosures, I'll add some more to the mite-infected ones. Thanks a lot!

Thank you @pannaking22 for your help! I'll rise the temperature for E. opaca and E. javanica.

@Manuel_P I haven't seen any mites on the roaches, only the symbiotic ones running around on them. So I think they appared after death. @Hisserdude Thanks for the suggestion, I will try to do that. The ventillation wasn't so good in their enclosure. I bought a new one, and relocated all my roaches to the new, clean box. Do you have any idea, how these mites could get to my enclosures? Now I've checked all of them and I could find them elsewhere, mainly on the food of the roaches. I try to keep everything clean, I even wash the tweezers between enclosures...