hundefrau

Hey guys First of all thank you for your help back then! Now, once again I need your help on behalf of my friend, who got another rogue roach species - this time in a box of dubias. It's a female, with wings and a big blotch on her pronotum. Thank you in advance (from both the of us)

Ok, apparently he was already able to retract everything (which us a plus, I would say) and I am tempted to put him back with the others, since he seems unhappy in the smaller quarantine box

Hiya, you guys So uh... I just actually witnessed two of my A. tesselata males (in my males-only box) try to mate with each other. I actually caught some of them dancing for the other males before, but usually the other party would attack the presenting male. This time, though, the males ended up butt-to-butt (meaning the other male just rolled with it). One male hooked onto the other's outer butt and now his (what I assume is his) penis is just... hanging out? I put him in a quarantine box to hopefully give him some alone time to sort out his genitals. It's night time in Germany right now (12.30 pm) and I hope when I get up in 6 hours he'll be all good... or else I might have to mercy-kill him Do you think maybe he'll be able to retract his penis properly? Or is he doomed? Thanks in advance, as always!

Helloo I know this is probably the ultimate newbie-idiot question, but how long does a mating pair stay connected by their butts after mating? (I really tried to find information myself, first, but German Google was less than helpful...) One of my A. tesselats female and the newly dominant male have been connected for several hours now. Like as in "a lot of several hours". I'll be honest, I never got the exact duration, as university keeps me away a lot and my roaches often mate when I sleep, but usually when I get home (or wake up) after a few hours, they went on their merry way already. Is he maybe just trying to keep her from mating again so soon? Thank you in advance, as always

Hey guys, I am starting this topic for a friend who doesn't have an account on here. So, my friend keeps hissers and added a few Archimandrita tesselata nymphs and adults from a local insect convention to her collection. She just messaged me in a panic because one of the supposedly Archimandrita nymphs reached adulthood but looks kind of not archimandrita-ish to her. The roach in question is apparently rather small compared to her other adults, like half the size, but for me it's the giant unshaped blotch on its pronotum that's kinda throwing me off. It also appears to be still very light-colored, so it's kinda hard to tell tbh. Are we just blind or was there a possible mix-up at the convention? If so, what species could this fellow be? I'll ask her for more photos once its colors come through properly. As always, thank you in advance

Thank you so much! The link is a really good read :)

Hello, long time no see (as I was and still am studying for several biology exams) I was wondering about how the mating process is initiated in roaches. Shortly before I got my A. tesselatas, a year ago, I read the female signals the males her readiness for mating. But more often than not I see the males dancing for the ladies (which looks hilarious, btw) and the ladies just not caring or even fleeing in a panic from them. So... is it actually the females actively attracting males with pheromones etc. or is it more of a passive phenomenon the males pick up on (wether the females want to mate or not)? Maybe it depends on the species? Thank you in advance

(Sorry for the late reply, I was in the middle of studying for my microbiology exam) Yeah, I think that's what it was. He's still alive and active (considering he didn't pop out of his skin flawlessly and has crippled wings as well as one misshaped tibia). Though I don't wanna put him in with the other males because they would probably bully him hard and I also want to keep an eye on him eating enough.

I gotta go with Archmandrita tesselata They are the first species I kept (and am still keeping), and thus hold a very special place in my heart. I love how relaxed they are when being handeld and how each of them has a individual pattern on their wings (and their neck-shield, which I forgot the name of...)!

Update: When I checked up on him today, he didn't wiggle his butt anymore. He was mobile and active in trying to hide away. So I guess he was actually trying to get a feeling for his new, bigger body (I mean... I don't know for sure the other males didn't wiggle as well after molting into adulthood, since they all had normally formed wings and all)?

Hey guys One of my male A. tesselata nymphs molted into adulthood yesterday. Sadly one of his wings got caught up in the old skin and tore mostly off. I've set him up in a small bin so he can hopefully recover in peace, but I noticed he wiggles his abdomen up and down when I carefully move the oak leaves to check up on him (like a slow wiggle, not erratic shaking). I am unsure if this might be a bad sign of him taking more damage than just a lost wing during the molt :/ Thanks for your help

Update: Sadly, I had to send her over the rainbow bridge way sooner than expected. I just found her in the enclosure, convulsing and clearly in pain/suffering. So I decided to let her go. She actually had a little wound on the side of her abdomen with a crust on it. I suspect she did sustain the injury when she was still white and soft, maybe when she was startled. I know I did the right thing... but I still feel like I have failed her :/

Mhh okay, I'll see if she eats anything over the next few days. Thanks for your input, you two

Hi guys I need your input about the behaviour of one of my newer adult females. So in the last few weeks four nymphs molted into adult females. For two of them things went as usual. The other two apparently got startled into hiding before they stretched their wings. I noticed that one of the females with wrinkeled wings just... doesn't do much compared to the other roaches and seems to live in slow-motion, both while being held and in the enclosure. Like, she moves reeeeally slowly and mostly hides away under leaves and hiding places. and she doesn't seem to notice food in front of her with her maxillary palps. Not even when I put it right under her mouth. I'm honest, I do not know if she actually eats anything, as I am away for uni most of the day, but her abdomen looks still rounded. I'll try to feed her baby food tomorrow to see if she wants to/manages to eat that at least. She is also, even now, still rather pale and her antennae are squiggly, not straightned like the others'. So my questions are: 1) Are there actually any disadvantages the wrinkeled-up wings could cause for the two ladies? 2) Should I be worried about the slow-mo roach (I know this is a rather vague question) and do you think there is anything I can do to make life easier for her, since I don't want to give up on her without trying...? Thank you in advance

Sorry to revive this older topic again, but I got good news! Today one of my other female nymphs molted into adulthood without problems I was afraid I had to little vertical climbing space in their box (which they never seem to use that much anyway and rather molt hidden away), but now my mind's at ease!

Yeah, I was surprised she got stuck, as I never had a problem with bad molts in the 8 month I've had my roaches :/ I just feel like there was something I could've done or provided to her to help her molt properly...

Thank you for your reply Alas, I have no photo, as I went to bed after making my post (it was 5 am in Germany) and when I woke up today, she was still alive, but partially eaten. So I send her over the rainbow bridge I was feeling like something was off with her quite early into her molting process. I don't know what it was exactly, but she just seemed to do worse than the others. The humidity is generally adequate, I'd say I didn't have any troubles with molting before. I had misted shortly before she started... Well, I guess you win some, you lose some (even if I had hoped to win this one and am quite sad)...

Hey guys, long time no see Guys, I am a bit worried about one of my female A. tesselata nymphs. She is in the process of her final molt, but it's taking quite some time (I believe). She's been at it for about 9 hours now. Is this an "acceptable" duration or should I be worried (they usually molt when I am asleep or at university, so I don't know how long it takes them). My other problem is that she tore of the old skin almost completely. All that's left now are her head and her legs. Are the roaches capable of freeing their head/legs with the rest of the old skin almost completely gone? I also think her intestines are poking through one point of her right side (of her abdomen). I am really scared of losing her and honestly... I don't have much hope for her Thank you in advance~

Hey, you guys I have a question that is probably a stupid one. I noticed on several occasions wet spots on the egg cartons that I have in my enclosues. Now, I know roaches don't really pee but defecate their waste out. I mostly saw the wet spots after the dominant male had chased away a contender and where the dominant male was sitting before (before attacking). Is this some kind of dominance behaviour or to mark a territory? Thank you in advance and sorry for such a dumb question

Thank you for your reply The coconut fibre substrate is more small-particled than chunky and pretty soft, so I think my mother got the right thing by accident! I was worried that the coco fibre is too soft and without enough space for the little nymphs to squeeze through But I guess the mixed-in bark substrate takes care of that.

Hi guys So I am planning on setting up new boxes for my roaches. The old boxes need cleaning! My mother bought me some of those blocks that make substrate when put in water. They are coco fibre/chips blocks and I used one of them experimentally. Now I am unsure if the coco fibre is suited for my smaller Archimandrita nymphs (some not molted at all, meaning they are tiny). They need to be able to hide away in the substrate to be happy roaches, I read. Would you guys recommend coco fibre for little burrowing nymphs? I intended to mix the coco fibre with bark substrate that I also used in the old boxes Thank you in advance

Hello! I am sorry if this is the incorrect section for my question, but since it kinda has to do with molting I thought to try my luck here Anyway, two days ago a male nymph [Norbert] molted into adulthood and is still not completely colored in (he's very light brown as of right now). On several occasions I caught my currently dominant male [Ulrich], who's usually rather aggressive towards other males, sitting together with the new male and inspecting him with his antennae and mouth-thingies. Overall dominant Ulrich is peaceful towards newbie Norbert. The other males in the box are still attacked on notice, basically. Might this be because Norbert is still too "new" and thus doesn't give off male scent signals, yet? (My english is bad today, I am so sorry)

I actually do not know how old she is. She already was an adult when I got my roaches, though - they've been with me for about 6 months now.

Sorry to butt into this post Is that a general sign if an aging roach? Because one of my Archimandrita females randomly lost a few of her tarsae (she gets around with her 3 remaining feet but limps quite a bit), one of her five legs is unmoving and her mouth cannot chew "solid" food (I feed her baby food only now), not even a softer zucchini. I'd be relieved if it was just her age showing, she's really giving me a heartache.

Long time no see... I was actually gonna make a post stating how well my once prolapsed female developed. While I did not see her defecate, she was mobile and energetic. But now she's done it again :/ This prolapse is about the same size as the first one. There was what looked like a deformed, flat ootheca stuck to the little bubble, like she was trying to get rid of that and accidentally shat out her inner organs again. I hope she can manage the miracle again and survive, but my hopes are slim.