minionsonice

Hey hisserdude the bin is about 20 gallons. I was able to take a better photo of them during cleaning. I said I had a lot but then only showed like 5 so I had to lol I ended up breaking the cave tube into halves. The bottom of the tube was collecting too much frass.

The number is a very rough estimate based on how many I can feed off and how many are probably left, etc but yeah they took a few years to grow to that number. I’ve never actually counted how many and it may not look like it from this pic but there are a lot. Here’s how I keep them, nothing fancy. They are in a secure dark bin so they are only exposed to light whenever I open the bin. There’s a large cork tube, a ‘cave’ if you will haha. Most of them seem to hang out inside here or buried under the 3-4” coco coir substrate. Temperature is at upper 70’s year round. There are definitely casualties from fighting and I hear a commotion coming from the bin sometimes. But overall this seems to work for me so far.

It’s been a long time since I started this thread under a guest name. I wanted to give an update. My group of 1.2 has turned into many x 100+ now… and I do use them as feeders. Having said that I don’t have a lot of animals I need feeders for. They are also noticeably slower in maturing and producing vs. other feeder roaches I have, so if I had a lot of animals in need I wouldn’t use them as the main source. I go through phases of using them as feeders and letting them repopulate every now and then. They are also kind of squirrely and that might be something to consider when using them as feeders. All in all very beautiful roaches and enjoyable to keep for how nice looking they are. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from doing this and it definitely can be done, but there is a reason or two as to why they are not exactly ideal feeder roaches.

My giganteus are finally reproducing here and I am curious to know if dwarf white isopods can cause harm to the nymphs. The enclosure is somewhat becoming overrun with those dwarf whites... anyone think this could be an issue? They have a good amount of deep substrate and there’s enough food around in both wood chips in the substrate and what I feed them, but I’m worried the isopods might snack on soft growing nymphs if they ever felt like it. At this point I’m hoping the nymphs will snack on the isopods but I’m pretty sure they are scavengers, not predatory hunters.

Hi I noticed that from some online picture I am seeing some color variations in nymphs. For example in this Blaberus nymph there are sections that are really bright maroon where in others it’s much more dull. Does this have to do with how fresh from the last molt/how close to the next molt they are? Or is this a color variation in some nymphs?

Thanks Hisser, it looks like I will use the microwave first and freeze it after to make really sure

Hisserdude you were right, they were mushrooms. Picture of what I plucked out I just plucked this from my isopods enclosure. I am not sure if this is the same species as the one in my roach enclosure. It seems like the last time I serviced my isopods, which is admittedly a while ago, this was not there. The funny thing is I keep reading about how isopods love mushrooms so maybe one would choose to leave something like this in. I didn’t want to take any chances so I got it out of there, but found a few of the dwarf isopods on and around the mushroom. I continue to get them out of my roach enclosure as I see a build up. I think I will change out the substrate soon. Anyone know if freezing the substrate works as a way to sterilize it?

hi, first time poster here and new to roaches so please bare with me. i found this substance build up in one corner of the bin.. i'm really not sure what it is. sorry for the bad photo, but when closely looked at they almost look like... small tiny eggs? i know there are springtails that came with the organic soil.. maybe it's mold. I'm really not sure. thanks for your input.