Hello All,
Well, M rhinocerous has been my dreamed roach until a few years back when I was able to get several youngs, that took a lot of my savings.
My experience with the rhinos has been good, not too bad.
I agree with Graham about some unexplained deads.
I started with 5, 3 year old nymphs and 15, 1 year old nymphs, as a home I used a 20 gallon terrarium, with about 5-6 inches of substrate.
Substrate
Sand mixed with organic potting soil and wood/leaf mulch (50/50 mixed) at a ratio of 40-30-30%
I keep the substrate humid, just enough so the sand could stay firm, as the Rhinos love tunneling.
They would start a tunnel in one end of the terrarium to the other side and ended up in a small chamber in the very center, where all of them congregated.
I cover the top of the substrate with some decayed oak and brown eucalyptus leaves. which they will munch on all the time. I also sprinkle some fish food flakes and some pieces of fruit like Apple,banana,carrot,letuce and potato. I would then removed the uneaten food within a few days.
I started having some deads in a few years, so now I am down to only 10 nymphs, mostly the older one survived.
I have talked to some people in Australia who have them as pets and they have experience a 10% mortality rate (more or less ) in the first year.
I currently have 10 young ones from 2-4 years old and an adult pair,that hopefully produce babies this year! ( I really hope)
I was told to keep the youngs humid for 6 months and dryer for another six. Adult will mate and reproduce within November/December as late as February
No special light is required
Temp around the 70s,room temp, and as low as 67-68 F
Humidity 80% for six months,dryer for another six months (perhaps 40s?) although 60-70 % is good.
As graham said, loosing this roaches is a big loss, specially after the high prices on this roaches, so the more we share experiences the better. Hopefully we can succed on breeding this wonderful pet, so other might get the privilage of rearing and keeping them.
Good luck Graham and Matt K, with your Rhinos.
Ftorres.