Bugboy3092

You could try horseshoe roaches, they’re easy to care for and they’re quite interesting

Do you dig through the substrate often? Otherwise there is no way you’ll ever see the nymphs, they’re extremely tiny (almost ant sized) and quick burrowers. For the most part your enclosure sounds fine, maybe break apart the leaves, a little bit more moisture, and you should be good.

Haha, for future reference it’s down towards the bottom of the page.

This post should be in the ad listings section of the forum, but I could sell you a pair of adults

Orange slices seem to be the generally accepted favorite food of many roach species, hissers one of them! They also seem to love turtle hatchling food (strangely specific) and will eat cracked bird seed.

Sorry for the long wait, just saw the reply, at that point I’d only had the colony for a couple months, they’re almost a year old now and have at least tripled what they were

I’m not sure if it may or may not destroy the screen, but as my saying goes, “just burn it”. Supposedly many plant oils can be burned to be removed, for instance, many nuts containing oils (especially peanuts, and they contain tons of oils) are flammable for this reason, so there’s a chance it’d destroy the chemical/decay it to a harmless state.

While not new, arilus cristatus aren’t too common yet, and platymeris are large and gorgeous. Psytalla are absolutely beautiful, but are quite a bit more expensive.ambush bugs are also quite interesting.

You could try adding rotten, moldy hardwood leaves to the substrate (the thicker the layer the better, but 1 inch makes a big difference) as it seems to improve the overall health of a colony (it’s the main food source for many of my colonies). You might want to try decreasing the humidity a little, and at the same time tape over the lid of the cage. By plenty of water, do you mean they have a water dish? If so, I would get rid of it, theyll get all their moisture from the air, food, and substrate. Poisons contained within bark wouldn’t be the cause, and I would recommend using it instead of egg cartons. The stringy fungus is most likely mycelium of a decaying fungus, which likely came from the bark. The fungus is actually beneficial to the roaches, as decays organic matter into edible rot (for instance, wood, coco fiber, and leaves can be decayed by it). Hope this helps!

Interesting, I definitely need to head back there then! Speaking of heading to places, I’m going to New Mexico on the 21st, any species I should be on the lookout for while there?

I’m surprised the elliptorhina males allow them to live in close proximity. Do you know anyone who has phortioeca for sale in the us?

For sure, at least some of us are located in areas where there may be native/introduced species that make a great cultivar, though not all of us. I’ve been trying to capture adults of the species pseudomops septentrionalis (pale bordered field roach, which is actually the species pictured in the allpet roaches sign above) but they seem to be quite elusive. I haven’t really been able to find much info on the wild habits of the species, I’m searching in an area where I have seen an adult before, but failed to capture it. Maybe using a sweep net along the edges of fields would work? I’m not sure, so hopefully someone here can help. Aside from them we’ve also got my favorite native species (cryptocercus wrighti) in the area (I’ve seen, and tried to keep adults in the past, but back then I wasn’t very good at keeping insects, and thus they died), does anyone know a better method of collection besides cutting into rotten logs? This practice is quite destructive and I’m trying to cut back on it (however, the promise of cryptocercus makes it pretty hard haha) and thus would like to find a better way of collecting them. Aside from that, we’ve also got the fairly common parcoblatta, as well as the definitely common German roaches (forgot the Latin name) and smoky brown roaches (once again, forgot the name) I also know a place where it is easy to collect panchlora (I’m almost certain they’re the “giant” panchlora Nivea, I feel like I remember them being about twice the size of the normal ones). I’m gonna have to go back there soon.

How did you sex them? The only accurate way to sex nymphs (and can be used as early as 2nd instar, when they’re still super tiny) is to check the last abdominal segment(s). The female has one big segment, while the male has three smaller segments. Sadly, hissers can’t change their gender, which kinda sucks if you’re trying to start a colony with two females haha.

Ok, I know this may be in the wrong topic (hopefully not) but I have to ask, what’s everyone’s all time favorite species? Recently I’ve been getting hooked onto roaches more and more (I now own thirteen species!) but, as everyone does, I have my favorites! i haven’t really been on this forum too much (I’m way more active on the beetleforum) so I hope I’m not encroaching on any unspoken boundaries or anything. Anyways, here’s my favorites, why they’re my favorites, in descending order. #1: broad keys roaches/hemiblabera tenebricosa, definitely my personal favorite so far, I haven’t had them for too long, but I absolutely love the aesthetics of these guys! Plus, they seem pretty easy to care for, they get fairly large, and they’re native! #2: gromphadorhina portentosa, of course, how could this not be in anyone’s top roach list? They’re easy to care for, get huge, HISS, very easy to handle, and have a long lifespan! They’re also, in my opinion, the classic, best possible insect to use for outreach (not even BDFBs get the love and attention these guys do) with young children, I’ve had so many kids loving the hissers by the time I’m done letting them see them! #3: simandoa conserfariam, while these guys aren’t huge, or great for handling, I must put these up here simply because of the story they tell! What better roach to say to people “hey, were not the evil creeps you think we are” while I haven’t had the chance to use these for outreach yet, I’ll definitely try in the future! #4: lobster roaches, yes, I know some people may not like these guys, and most people I show them to wrinkle their noses in disgust, well except for some kids, but I can’t leave my dutiful, most useful, important colony out of the list! These things are saviors for those who have lots of predators that feed on roaches, as they breed fast, grow up quickly, will accept most foods, seem to not smell, are quite pretty if you really look at them, and seem to be accepted by most animals for food (I’ve never had anything refuse them). thats it, beyond that I can’t really decide which other species I love the most, but I’d like to hear other peoples opinions too!

I’d rocommend lobster roaches, they aren’t huge, but they breed like crazy! I got Dubias thinking they’d be enough for my frog (I got 100 of them!) but they declined very quickly. However, despite being pretty much the only thing I use for feeders for everything, my lobster roaches have been on the rise (I started with 200) and might have doubled (?) since I got them.

Ok, thanks! When it gets anaerobic it smells pretty bad right? Not that the substrate conditions are like that now, but just so that I know. Thanks for all the advice!

Ok thanks, the compost is actually store bought and already fermented and everything, so it shouldn’t go anaerobic (I’ve used this stuff in flower beetle enclosures, it seems to provide some nutrients and is a good filler) I’m assuming that torching the leaves sterilizes them? That’s a lot shorter time than I expected from such a large roach wow! Thanks for the advice!

Ok, so I recently (yesterday) got myself a small colony (10 older roaches, one gave birth while in shipping) of horseshoe roaches (H. Tenebricosa) and I have to say that this may be my favorite species (I didn’t quite expect them to be so large haha). Anyways, I really want to make sure this colony succeeds, I’m pretty sure I’ve got their setup right (approx. 4 inches substrate of coco fiber, compost (mainly as a filler, has worked very well in my setups) and mainly decaying oak leaves. I’m assuming they’ll basically have the same diet as most other live bearers? Also, I’d very much appreciate an approximate lifespan and time-til-maturity. Is room temperature ok for them? I’ve read multiple opinions on substrate moisture, so I’ve decided to play it safe and give them a moist substrate, is this ok? Any help is greatly appreciated, as please please correct me if I’m wrong on anything here. Thanks!

Thanks! Let me know if you do

You say that you gave them mainly wood as larvae? Wood is generally saved for lucanus and dynastes species, while cetoniids only need a little of it, if at all. The main substrate should consist of well decayed leaves, and little to no wood. In terms of supplement foods, I find that a specific brand of turtle hatchling formula works great, just sprinkle a little pile on top and wait for the grubs to eat.

Beautiful! Do you think you’ll have any adults for sale soon?

Btw how do you get the blue death feigning beetles to breed? Mine had larvae last year but they ended up dying and I never learned the stimulus for laying eggs.

Well that's good ?, I forgot the brand, but it didn't say anything about pesticides.

For roaches I have Gromphadorhina portentosa, Therea petivernia, and I'm getting blaptica dubia. Also, if you're getting into millipedes I'd recommend Narceus Americanus if you're looking for a good beginner species, as they're easy to care for, breed easily, live a long time, and grow to over four inches in length.

Thanks, as for beetles, I've got d. Tityus larvae, cotinis nitida larvae, euphoria sepulcralis , mecynorrhina torquata larvae, bolitotherus cornutus, a warrior beetle, eleodes hispilabris and obscurus, asbolus verucossus, cryptoglossa variolosa, a large hide beetle species from New Mexico (forgot the name again ?) , a P. Muelleri, tenebrio molitor, zophobas morio, and platycerus viriscens. I'm not sure if I have more, but I might