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emmett

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Everything posted by emmett

  1. still not even sure if its true, it just keeps popping up on people i knows facebook as one of those life hack things and everyone asks me if its true....i dont know!
  2. my two larvae just came in from bugsincyberspace! i also ordered a gromphadorhina oblongonota nymph that is stunning as well, but im definitely excited to get into the beetle side of things. i have to try and get some nicer pictures of them sometime soon. thank you to everyone who has shared their information and care, you all continue to give me confidence to care for the creaturea i love! and of course thanks peter for all the amazing work you do/services you provide!
  3. just found out about these beauties, picking some up soon! thanks to everyone who answered twilightroach's questions!
  4. its more of an issue with mobility but sometimes skin on exoskeleton contact can be overwhelming. this is actually a great suggestion, im just an idiot who didnt think about this lmaooo. its always a treat hearing your advice
  5. @Hisserdude the adult female psuedoglomeris magnifica always takes my breath away! definitely going to pick up that one, perfect room decor! you definitely found a gem! and happy early birthday if i dont make it online! šŸŽ‰šŸŽ‚
  6. obviously, this is a joke...hopefully im not the only dork who thinks its funny lol. reminded me of catdog, instead its....roachroach?
  7. wowza šŸ˜šŸ˜šŸ˜ thanks @Hisserdude, helpful as always
  8. cool response @BlattaAnglicana, ill try to remember to come back and give you a šŸ’™! i eventually want to branch out into other inverts, but my dreams of mantids intimidates me right now! id want a tarantula or two but i dont think im ready for them either lol. closest things ive done to roach keeping are collecting local wooly bear caterpillars as a kid and raising them then releasing, same for ordered caterpillars into monarchs, and my mother is a second grade teacher who had mealworms as something to follow throughout the school year awhile back. my dear darkling beetles...ah the good old days! my dubia colony was so much fun, one day when i have the means id love to have all different bins of other roaches! the adult female dubia who was already gravid and some subadults with one teeny tiny nymph was given to me by someone who just knew "hey he likes roaches!" and once she had the first round of nymphs i was in love with them all but was selling them off/giving them away as feeders. it really made me sad the first time i did it but after my friend's sibling's very unhealthy bearded dragon started looking a whole lot better i stopped feeling bad about feeding them off. they had a good purpose. and like you said, you cant name every single one out of a billion! i gave the colony a nicknamed as a whole tho! called them the dubes and it made me laugh everytime i said it! id probably do that with my colonies anyway because im a dork like that! i never expected to do a colony and swore it was just so she could have her nymphs without them getting all up in everything else but once it happened...i caught roach fever and started making a list of "ooh~ i want that one for a colony, that one for a colony, i NEED literally five billion of that one..." the little nymph that was gifted to me, i had separated just incase he was male and i was wrong about the adult female being gravid with all of the sub adults molting into females....i was right lol! i watched him fall off his little egg carton after his last molt and after his wings bent/curled under him. i named him pluto bc he used to be the littlest and funny enough he grew up to be different than all the others. when i finally moved him in with the colony and newly adult females (all girls of the gifted ones besides him) i was worried he might not be able to mate bc his wings wings were so weird....obviously not long after all the adult females were gravid and he was just chillin! yeah he was the only male (until i got a small 'mixed bag'to add in lol) and it always made it feel like seeing an old friend in passing when hed just walk all over. everyone was thriving and to me he was the king of the castle. one tiny nymph, a few sub adults, and a pregnant lady turned into such a massive deal that i couldnt keep selling/giving them away fast enough! i wasnt originally supposed to start any colonies...only two hissers...yeah as you know theres just something addicting about these little guys! i had a clear tub and would just lay under the wire rack and stare up at them for awhile. i sold the colony to someone local and while i missed my dubes...i know they were out there doing good. the most amazing thing about the hobby is you get to see these animals entire life cycles and you are the center of it! i love hearing everyones stories on here!
  9. ill have to look into it! maybe then ill have some excuse to grow my collection if i can say its for a reason lol even if itd just be a couple people, it would be fun!
  10. the internets funny like that, i feel like an archeologist sometimes when i discover something thats been buried in time. nine years sometimes feels like its a billion in internet time
  11. say whaaaaaaaaaaa :^0 i need to figure out how to find one of those around me...might have to start one. "Got Roaches" is cute! a friend of mine got the phrase "want to see my cockroaches? no? fair enough....what about my cock?" printed on a few stickers for me as a gift once lmao ill have to see if i can find the rest of them somewhere for a picture
  12. i love the folks at joshsfrogs, ive bought a lot of different supplies and plants from there (even some roaches) and they are pretty nice. i suck at substrate, ik its not complicated to make a nice mix yourself, but its just hard for me me to tell whats good or not. especially whats too moist and too dry for my roaches? if its not completely soaked or completely dry i couldnt tell you lol (im an idiot, sue me.) i saw this substrate when i was about to order some leaf litter and it sounds pretty good in my uneducated opinion. it says its good for bioactive, which i dont have, but if its be a good fit for for a regular enclosure i might buy it. is/could this would be good for archimandrita tesselata ? ugh. https://www.joshsfrogs.com/josh-s-frogs-biobedding-tropical-bioactive-substrate-4-quarts.html the websites description incase link no longer works: Josh's Frogs BioBedding Tropical Bioactive Substrate is the perfect substrate for your tropical bioactive enclosure. Biobedding Tropical is a unique blend of organic and inorganic ingredients, trace elements, and beneficial fungi that serves to jump start the bioactive environment. Biobedding Tropical helps maintain humidity while providing a substrate your pets can dig and lay eggs in, all while helping to maintain healthy populations of microfauna. Biobedding Tropical is ideal for crested geckos, water dragons, anoles, tropical snakes and lizards, and many other reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. How BioBedding benefits you and your pets: less frequent substrate changes - spend less time maintaining your pet's tank, and more time enjoying your pet! This also means less stressful tank cleanouts for your pet! more naturalistic approach to pet keeping - that much closer to replicating your pet's native habitat tank stays cleaner due to bioactive cycle much more attractive appearance than traditional substrates i want to try it if it will be a good fit, i wish there were more places like kyles website that could give more info. sometimes its overwhelming trying to go through so many posts for answers. i think i would probably mix it in w regular coco husk chips or eco earth? thank you everyone, if you have better ideas please let me know!
  13. (anyone who had difficulty handling at first, medical conditions or not, please feel free to reply with what worked for you!) i am not really one for holding my pet roaches, i prefer just to watch them going about in their own little world, but i really miss the occasional novelty picture. i handled my first few hissers a few times but the pain in my hands made it difficult for awhile and i kind of just gave up. it makes me wish i wouldve tried more to fight through the pain lol. my dubias didnt hurt as much but it still was a really uncomfortable sensation. i also got kind of nervous that i would dropped them by accident because my fingers get stiff, plus i cant really bend down quickly, move furniture, etc to find them before the family cats do. if i saw one of the cats eating my roach i think id have a heart attack. does anyone with chronic pain or joint stiffness as symptoms have any tips to get used to handling them? or maybe and tips to further prevent accidentally losing them? i want to buy an archimandrita tesselata or two since they are so beautiful and really big, but i reaaaalllyyyy want to hold it/them! when i held my dubias, it was always one at a time and in a plugged up bathtub so they wouldnt escape immediately. i know a.tessellata can if anyone who used to be scared of them has any tricks that made it easier to tolerate (i know when people i know have tried to hold them the sensation is weird and it freaks them out at first), maybe i could alter your skills to fit my situation? im really happy to be back active in the community, it always makes me feel like i can get good information in a short period of time rather than trying to search through google a bunch for nothing. im probably going to be asking a lot of noob questions about archimandrita tesselata and their care if i get some. lmao i cringe at some of the stupid stuff and misunderstandings of what was happening back then, but like some people im here to be a better roach parent! i think relearning how to handle them despite my pain would be very rewarding for me, i wish it was as simple as "just pick them up" :^(
  14. @Betta132 any updates? i see you havent been on in awhile but heres a shot in the dark! this was such an amazing read! if they take off/have taken off with the bow-chicka-wow-wow and are rare in the hobby im sure you could definitely make more than a few pretty pennies!
  15. i totally agree! a lot of people freak out when they ask if i have any pets and among the zoo in this house i say cockroaches, but after i talk more about "no they arent the yucky ones, no they dont run around loose in my home" they usually seem either mildly interested or at least less grossed out. i know ive hooked 'em when they start asking lots of questions. like in many areas, having education about the topic can make a lot of difference. when its presented in a way thats not like "YOU ARE WRONG!!!1! WHY DO YOU FEEL [in this case, disgusted] ABOUT THIS?!!1?!!!?1!!?1?!?!??" people are more willing to hear you out. and as much as its easier to say "ugh just go google it" i think that if the time is available to give basic answers then its more likely they will learn vs saying they will google it and never doing it. nobody has to know a reason why we love this hobby and if they think its nasty i guess they just shouldnt do it then lol, but its always nice to hear "i still think its gross but it sounds like its important to you" or "i hate them still, but they dont sound too bad" over whining and complaining about someone elses roach population.
  16. (sorry since this thread is super dead im doing hissers again lmao) Im_A_Screamer said: so what if i have a short temper? idgaf if you dont like me yelling at you @Miss.Hiss.20 when you walk all over me! you know i am NOT afraid to speak my mind OR push a girl. or if you want, tell your bf @GPor_Ted_tosta to come fight me behind the corkbark at noon #dealwithit #angerissues #fightme #punkassroach #femalesbebuggin #hissmewiththatbullsheet #donttreadonme
  17. i know this is an old thread but its so cute amd reminds me a lot of myself. prepare for long post bc im feeling sentimental today lol. a big part of this hobby for me is personifying them. whether thats: -assigning them certain personality traits (one walks around a lot? adventurer. one hisses a lot? short tempered and easily annoyed. one always walks on others but another sits in the same spot? extrovert and introvert) -assigning them a favorite food (one goes to one kind of food more than the other, this food was eaten quickly while the other one is almost completely untouched.) -giving the pet ones names, duh -observing their behavior in a more human social context. (they are fighting a lot? neighbors who bickering over petty stuff. they arent very active? they prefer to stay home and gossip. they all eat together? family dinner time is important. antennae going all over the place? very excited/curious) -props. i buy those little fairy garden/christmas village statue things or even sometimes doll accessories to take picture of with them (no glitter, no paint that can be removed, has to be water resistant, doesnt stay in too long unless its seasonal decoration) and make up little things about how they interact with the props. my favorite is for christmas i put in a teeny tiny nativity scene. im not religious so i thought itd be a great edgy joke. one of my past roaches, walnut, would drink water off the statue when i misted them and the water would eventually collect in the little baby basket. i decided he was a dedicated christian and on sundays id ask him how church went. one of my newer ones, corduroy, went over to look at it then ran to hide and just didnt go to that side until i took it away. i decided hes an agnostic atheist who doesnt believe in god but hes nervous his sinful lifestyle (he instigates a lot of the fights ive watched lol) will get him in trouble if hes wrong. stuff like that is great. -talking to them -sharing food with them (not like eating what they ate but when i would cut it up id eat the pieces that would just be too big to finish in a week then give it to them, if i had food scraps from cooking, or if i gave them a certain kind of fruit id go get another one for myself.) -calling it an enclosure/room/house instead of a cage (the enclosure is lovingly nicknamed The Box) just because they dont have the capacity to feel emotions or think doesnt mean that bond isnt real. its real to you. sure, scientifically speaking he is just learning that the sensation isnt a predator or rival roach and since it doesnt hurt him, he doesnt react. i might be wrong, but dont 'pest' roaches learn how to avoid certain poisons by habitually being exposed to other roaches that have died from it and they start avoiding bug poison traps? they arent problem solving in the way that we or other animals do, but they are learning. a lot of people in the hobby from what i know prefer to think of them as they are known to be rather than trying to connect with 10000000+ roaches individually. especially people who use them for feeders and research. everyone has their own way of doing things in hobbies like this and theres no wrong way to feel connected to them if thats what you want. when one of my first few hissers, died i was absolutely devastated. i cried for weeks anytime i thought about him. when i first got them as adults, i didnt understand the signs of aging but over time it became more apparent. some of this was probably not signs of aging bc they were in rough shape when i got them but they were completely fine for a long while. i knew it was coming but it hurt really bad still. he couldnt walk on substrate without falling over most of the time. i put him in a smaller enclosure with paper towels instead of substrate and used a plastic cup cut in half as a hide so he wouldnt climb on top and fall off but he still 'felt' safe. i would find leg pieces all the time so i knew he wasnt eating them. he stopped being able to eat solid foods as well and was becoming more lethargic so i started giving him mashed up fruits/vegetables with some fish flakes and water mixed in. hed gain weight back but bc it was mashed it went gross faster and if i didnt change it every day he would lose mass again. i was seriously having a hard time decided if i should let him take the ol long freezer nap but it was a really hard thing to think about for me. he stopped being able to hiss. hed be 'sleeping' more and more until it was all day everyday and id touch him to see if he was alive. sometimes he would respond so slow id start crying and then suddenly hed start trying to walk toward the hand with his senior meal. when i found him dead i couldnt believe it until his leg just fell completely off and i could smell the rotting of all the squishy parts. i buried him and had a little service bc it was very upsetting to me. when another one died then a long time after that the other two died, i did the same thing. i actually was very depressed about it for awhile, it still makes me sad sometimes. am i wrong for feeling like this because they were just very simple animals who knew nothing more than their own instincts? is the bond i felt with them not real because they dont have the ability to feel those things? is it ridiculous to have cockroach funerals? is it excessive to be giving them as much attention as i did? no. their natural social behavior isnt aligned with ours, but our social behaviors are to be interactive and caring with each other. we take care of dogs like we do kids, hell theres some dogs who live better lives than most of the kids in the world. a dog has a lot more capacity for these behaviors than a roach does, but isnt it weird we do all these things for dogs? why cant i feel that way about a roach? those roomba vacuums are a better example. its just a machine that bumps around then turns off but people love to personify them. my roaches helped me feel like i had a purpose and i was accomplishing goals when i was dealing with some really hard health stuff. i dont care if its dumb or not scientific, they needed me to be alive and i needed them as a reason to try at that point in my life. people say stuff like "facts dont care about your feelings" and forget that its a FACT we as animals are heavily influenced by emotions and this need to socially engaged in some way for our mental health. in some situations being emotional is a really bad thing, but in others its either not harmful at all or simply relevant but shouldnt be overpowering. science and emotion can exist together. but at the same time, people who dont want to be a crazy person like me, they arent wrong either. people who have no issue euthanizing their roaches because they know there is no pain or suffering as we understand it, are just as good owners as the emotional people are. they can still have respect for the animal without treating it like a person. i know this is long and on an old post, i apologize lol, but if you want to keep thinking they like to be pet or they have a bond with you? go for it. embrace it. one of my all time favorite twilight zone episodes is season 2 episode 8. after i got my roaches it started making me think of them. i wont give spoilers incase youve never watched/read it but a main character has a breakdown realizing they arent who they think they are. they learn they have no emotions or pain but they are screaming and crying like they do. its just how they are made to react like that. one of the other main characters is having an emotional response too but he knows that reaction is on purpose for him to feel closure in saying goodbye to their bond. while the person freaks out, you realize that they really dont have emotions and its really just a premade response to the situation, and its chilling. no matter what you think, relate to, or appreciate about the characters personality matters bc its not a real personality. the crying and screaming is just not real because they cant have those reactions without being made to. you still feel sad for the character, so does the second person, but it cant change the facts. the emotions are still real to the people besides that character including the audience, but its surface level. you can still appreciate the given personality while knowing it isnt a "human" response. sorry for the novel šŸ’€šŸ’€šŸ’€ nobody i know even gives half a shit about how much these animals mean to me and it embarrassed me for awhile that i was so invested. trust me, it feels better to just let it flow naturally if thats how you feel. your bond is real and perfectly okay.
  18. if you suspect a roach is pregnant, i say take her out of the nice set up/display enclosure (if thats what you have her in) now and put her somewhere thats nymph escape proof, then just dont mess with her. (handling and stuff that isnt necessary) make sure the conditions are optimal and just wait to see what happens for awhile. if you got her when she was already an adult or you have her in an enclosure with males, she probably didnt wait til marriage if you know what im saying lmao. if she is gravid then youre in for a fun time, the nymphs are so cute and funny to watch. but, to apply a quote from smash mouth, the nymphs "start coming and they dont stop coming". in that case, id say put that display enclosure to use with a male hisser since he wont be launching little walking tictacs everywhere. maybe make some friends with pets who have insectivore dining habits. before i joined this forum i got this golden piece of advice, if you want a nice enclosure for one or two and dont want any nymphs (or arent going to want to pick them all up yourself to move into a colony bin) then you should just get males. they fight sometimes if you have more than one (especially depending on the size of the space and amount of hides etc) but its pretty funny to watch the dorks act all big and tough over an egg carton. i am nowhere as experienced, not even a fraction of a fraction, as the two mad lads who already responded so take their word over mine. well wishes to you and long john
  19. i know this is super old but sorry for your losses. when my hissers died i was a mess lol. is the third one still around?
  20. yeaaaahhhh most people wouldnt mind if the room scents killed the roaches in their houses lmao. the old fashion hairspray technique fails many who try. i personally just dont spray room spray or cologes/deodorants in my room (for other reasons than the roaches but still) but im pretty well known for my paranoid tendencies. if i do spray something, i move my hissers and their enclosure out of the room. some may say thats overkill, i say i dont need another dead roach induced depressive episode rn lmao. i didnt burn candles or use wax melts in my room for a long time for this same reason. sometimes i burn those little unscented tea light candles bc candlelight is easier on my eyes but i still dont like to. the roaches are on the far side of my room and the wax melter is all the way on the other side. it doubles as a lamp so sometimes i just have it on for an hour or two and sometimes its on all night. i havent noticed any changes in their behaviors or activities with or without the wax melts. i dont typically do my nightly pain relief in my room anyway, but i used to sit by one of the windows that is where ive kept my roaches. i just dont smoke in my room at all bc i dont want everything in it to reak but i dont want them around smoke. plenty of my friends have hotboxed their apartment bathrooms just to find tons of american roaches dead on the floor the next time they go to clean it. i think of it just like for all pets, no matter what kind of animal, they shouldnt be breathing in random crap. us too, but humans gonna human. if you have a colony or multiple colonies, you might need to make some sacrifices for the greater good and test it out by having some in the space while you out the rest somewhere else (or put the few somewhere else with the air freshener). id test it with the door open for awhile first, then maybe try it with the door closed too. if they are your pets id honestly keep looking for alternatives before i take a leap of faith and try it with them. maybe try one of those carbon air filter thingys, i know they help with smell a lot on a smaller scale. dont know what kind of smells you dont want to be smelling, but small ones work for smoke smells and i know someone who puts little ones in his shoes to remove the gym smell, so maybe a big one would help? even if its roach related smells, it could help. im in a talkative mood today (if you cant tell lmao) so i hope any of this was helpful
  21. anyone else always on the look out for roach related items? i dont care im a grown man...where is my roach teddy bear?! where are the epic graphic tshirts with roach jokes on them in obnoxious fonts?! where are the pins, patches, and stickers?! other than etsy sometimes and the bronx zoo doing their name a roach event annually, if you find anything relating to roaches its usually american roaches. there are so many different beautiful species, and while it isnt the most common hobby i think its big enough where we probably have some creatives! the name a roach thing is cute, but as much as i love the 2020 events roach socks i really dont want to drop 30 bucks on some socks ill never wear bc i dont even like socks lol. i usually just do the name thing and have the little card sent to a friend with a meme or inside joke as the name, but last year i got an adorable enamel pin. that one was worth it lol im not really a 'stuff' kind of guy but still. imagine if there were all different roach kinds of knickknacks like there are for dogs or butterflies...omg. ive been playing around with the making of roach related cross stitch and embroidery patterns but i dont think ill ever get around to making them sellable (maybe the patterns some day) but i wonder if anyone else is in the business of roach related merchandise!
  22. ugh i wish i could give more reactions, lots of šŸ’™ to go around on this post! welcome back, today i finally remembered my password after a few months lmao. glad to see there are still quality jokes being thrown around. really cool that your fish love roaches too, probably more than us wonder if theres a roachforum.fish out there somewhere...if you find your phone or computer soaked one day theyre definitely blogging about the roaches!
  23. long time, no post! anyway, today i heard that roaches wont eat cucumbers which has been a little surprising to me. ive had four hissers in the past, making a grand total of six g.portentosa roaches under my care. i also had some dubia roaches 'gifted' to me with the best intentions which turned into a colony i had for several months until i had to sell the entire colony. not the most experience by far (although im hoping to keep working towards more advanced husbandry with more 'difficult' roaches over time) but i wouldve never thought they didnt like cucumbers since all mine ate them. since mine are pets, i like to feed them whatever is being used in my own cooking/snacking. its fun for me to personify them and sitting on my bed eating 3/4 of an apple while the boys lose their minds over the 1/4 piece i gave them just makes me feel really happy. the roaches get a 'big' fresh food item and i occassionally throw in some of the 'good' scraps before i toss the rest out back if its something they usually like. i eat a ton of cucumbers and they always get at least a little piece. my other four hissers werent really crazy about them but as all my fellow roach enthusiasts know, they will eat them anyway lol. the dubia colony complex or almost completely devoured everything i put in there. my two hissers ive had since october, velveteen and corduroy, are obsessed at this point. i put down an orange slice and a cucumber slice, they fight over who is standing in the cucumber. i went away for a four day trip leaving them a cucumber slice before i left, and when i got back it was completely gone from the little plastic cup. my brother, who was supposed to mist them and check the heating pad, of course didnt so he swears he didnt take it out. these two definitely eat more than any of my others did (if you dont count the dube's colony as a whole) is it just the skins? when i was searching around everything kept mentioning skins as an american/german roach repellent but i cant tell if they are referring to exclusively the skins or not. is it like oranges where theyll eat up to the peel and then stop? (i peel the cucumbers anyway bc i like the skin lol) clearly all my roaches are/were fine with them so its not really going to stop me but it was really interesting!
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