Twilightroach

That's what I thought, which is why I was asking to make sure. So I will not use them. Thanks @Hisserdude!

I might try that if I keep having problems. Thanks for the suggestion!

What about Styrofoam egg containers? can those be used for roach housing? or will they eat the styrofoam?

Greetings,

The cardboard egg crates in my roach containers keep becoming wet and nasty due to humidity when the air conditioner in the room is off. It is cooler which is why it is off...but humidity is still kinda high.

So I am wondering is there anything else I can use besides cardboard egg crates as a housing option for my roaches? They are Red Runner roaches being used as feeders.

What else do people use for this? Are there any options besides cardboard egg crates?

I have had a stable red runner (Turkistan roach) roach colony for a couple of years. Everything was fine. But randomly the other day the colony suddenly had massive deaths. I don't know why they are dying! There is no mold as far as I can tell. They were fine one day and then literally the next there were dozens of bodies all over.

It is like they are just dying for no reason all stages of the roaches. The only thing I can think of is maybe I put a bad apple in there, other then that nothing has changed or could possibly cause this that I can think of.

Has this happened to anyone ever? is it some kind of colony collapse?

That is very interesting.

How long does it take red runner ootheca to hatch normally? I know it probably depends on temperatures and humidity right? But how long would it take them to hatch with temperatures in 65-69 degrees?

And also what is the maximum time I would expect an ootheca to hatch or still be viable? Like how long should I wait until the ootheca can be regarded as not going to hatch or non viable?

Yep thanks,

Well more babies have arrived! another female had babies last night, I found her in a tube with a bunch of babies. The first batch of babies I think has started molting! I think I saw a 2nd instar or two last night.

Lots of little mouths to feed now!?

It finally happened!! My Madagascar Hissing cockroach finally had babies successfully! I have been waiting forever for babies. The largest female was looking rather plump for the past few weeks or so. And then I looked in my cage last night and saw a bunch of babies! There are probably around 25-35 nymphs and they are all so cute!

I am super excited they finally had babies.

22 hours ago, toadstar said:

What happens if you crush it? What sort of consistency do you get?

Is there a water source available for your roaches? Maybe add some water crystals.

When I crush the little round things its like you are popping an egg. Also when I squished one, clear liquid came out, (I used a dissecting microscope to see this since they are so small). Also to me, it seems the larger round things dry out and open, and then inside is another small oval thing like an egg? I observed this under the microscope. So it is a mystery as to what these things are, or if they are harmful or not at all. But there doesn't appear to be anything living in the 'eggs' if that is what they are.

Its just kinda freaky, I know they aren't normal. But looking on the internet I haven't found any answers. I did get some pictures with my dissecting microscope camera at 10x if you want to see them.

Water crystals added.

15 minutes ago, toadstar said:

Do they get protein in their diet as well? I feed mine fish food flakes and I've got oodles of nymphs.

Yes, of course, they get fish pellets and dog food as protein. I was just mentioning the fruits and vegetables only that's all.

3 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

I'm honestly not sure why your females keep aborting, they have plenty of fruits in their diet right? 

Yes, I feed them apple, carrots, and potato. So they get plenty of fruits. I even feed them orange on occasion. Maybe the next ootheca she carries will be good. Hoping!

On 9/15/2017 at 11:18 AM, Axolotl said:

I've been rearing mine in a mix of coco fiber and decaying hardwood leaves. I added a bit of sphagnum moss to help retain some moisture. I let their enclosure go pretty dry, then spray with water until the soil is damp through all the layers. So far, so good. They do seem to enjoy small, tight hiding spots. Mine love to pack themselves together in a 1" wide birch bark coil. It's absolutely crammed in there. I feed them the same as hissers. They're not really picky. I keep them at 78-85F in a well ventilated plastic storage container.

Oh and I should mention that they are hella fast. You'll definitely need bug barrier! They are incredibly gorgeous, so well worth the work. Hope this helps! 

On 9/15/2017 at 4:29 PM, Hisserdude said:

They do seem to need a substrate, coconut fiber works fine, and they like things humid, not necessarily moist, just humid will work, (they aren't all that picky though). They like a somewhat roomy enclosure with lots of hides, if they get too crowded they start nipping each other's antennae a lot. Other than that, care is similar to hissers, the same diet will work for them, they breed at the same temperatures, they can climb so airtight lids are preferable, etc.

What kind of habitat would be good for them? as in what kind of cage, that is secure enough to not let them escape? What kind of bug barrier would work?

Would a large plastic critter keeper type cage be sufficient? with egg crates and substrate?

The dog food I have been feeding them is made of duck and potato.

Do you think they could be some kind of mold or fungi things? I looked at some on the bottom of their cage, and it appears that the little white things are popping? or opening? and then around some of them there is this very thin white fuzzy stuff, almost like it exploded? Or maybe they are tiny parasitic worms? and I can see the remains of an empty shell but the contents are gone. Very very strange I must say. But I am worried for my hissers especially if it is a worm. Or they could be air bubbles which are popping and becoming moldy?

Here is a different site that appears to have the same problem mine do, at least I think, although no resolution was found.. but at least I am not the only one with this weird thing.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/madagascar-hissing-cockroach-poop.281337/

On 9/2/2017 at 0:08 PM, Redmont said:

The temp drop and the extra male combined could have led to her aborting the ooth. I'd suggest removing 3 of the males to a  separate cage. and only add a male to the cage if a male dies.

Ok so I did what you suggested, removed the 3 extra males, and gave the cage heat. But last night I found another aborted egg case. And this time, there was a single baby madagascar hisser that hatched out of it. But the little guy has messed up legs. I also could tell that a few of the other eggs were about to hatch.

Why did a single nymph hatch out? And any suggestions as to why she is still aborting her eggs? Also why aren't any of the other females having babies? Does only the most dominant female have eggs?

Yeah, it is strange. But here is a picture of their frass. The circled section is the most clear and you can see the oval things I was talking about.

Ok, so this may be a bit of a weird topic/question, but I noticed some strange things in my madagascar hissing cockroach frass. Several of the feces in my hissers cage have these strange opaque ovalish shaped things in them. They look like tiny eggs. They don't look like they belong in the feces, and I am not feeding the roaches anything that I think would turn out to look like this.. To me, they look like parasite eggs, or at least that is what they make me think of. What are their feces supposed to look like? The things in question are in several of the frass pellets in varying degrees, like some have a few, others seem to be nothing but these odd shaped things. Is this normal? or might there be something wrong with my hissers? They are on a normal diet of apple, potato, dog food, and fish pellets. Nothing out of the ordinary.

They all seem to be healthy too so maybe this is just normal? maybe they don't process food well for some reason? I am probably worrying over nothing but they seem strange to me.

Any help would be appreciated!

Hello, so I was thinking of getting some simandoa cave roaches,Simandoa conserfariam, sometime soon but I don't know their care requirements. Are they similar to madagascar hissing cockroaches? Do they require a substrate? high or low humidity? what about temperatures? Anything in particular I should know about them? Are they hard to keep? how long do they live?

Thanks.

12 hours ago, Redmont said:

Ya, what are the temps of your cage and are they steady temps? Temps could be hi which allows her to mate but if the temps drop she may abort it. Out of the 7 roaches what is the male to female ratio there should only be one or males for the females, if there's more males then take them out 

They are living in a 5 gallon class cage. So they have plenty of space with egg cartons for hiding places. I got them as nymphs and they have been growing up together, but it looks like I have 3 females and 4 males. Lots of males... perhaps that is the problem?

Or it could have been a temperature drop, since it has recently gotten colder where I live. They have had pretty steady 70s temperatures for the most part. In the summer there was no need for a heater since the room has been mid to high 70s. I can try turning on their heater to see if that helps.

Why would she abort the eggs? yes she has always been with males. There are a total of 7 Madagascar hissers in the cage. Would removing her to a separate container help?  Is there anything I can do for the eggs? Can I incubate them? or are they not viable?

Hello, so I have a female Madagascar hissing cockroach that has laid a bunch of eggs that is about 1 inch long. I know it is not a true ootheca since Madagascar hissers don't lay ootheca on the outside but have the nymphs hatch inside. But this is the second time I have seen a bunch of whitish tan eggs stuck in a bunch together. What is wrong with my female? why is she laying the eggs outside and not having them hatch inside? Will the eggs hatch even though they are outside? is there something wrong with my female?

I will be away for a little over a week. Yeah, my Turkistan roaches are always hungry and eat up a slice of apple or two a day. That is true I could give them some dog food, I forgot about that thanks.

What types of food can I put in my turkistan roach colony that won't spoil or get rotten but also last several days. I would like the colony to be self sufficient while I am away.
I was planning on putting a lot of fish food pellets and also an apple, maybe cut in half? and some flukers calcium cricket diet. But I am unsure of the cricket food, has anyone fed that to roaches before? And how likely would it be for the apple to rot and mold?

How long can roaches last without food if they eat all the food?

Thanks for all the advice. I have toilet paper tubes in there for them. Which works nicely.

I have been wondering, there must be an easier way to get roaches out of a container to feed them then I have been using.

I have my turkistan roaches in a large plastic container with egg crates (stacked vertically) and coconut fiber, and I have been using a small vial to try and get/scoop small roaches out to feed but it doesn't work very well. There must be a better and easier way to do it. Does anyone have suggestions? How do you easily get your roaches out to feed them?

Roaches are pretty hardy. So as long as you don't squash or push them too hard they should be fine. One way to get them to move is if they are on your arm to angle your arm upward. The roaches usually try to climb upward.