Allpet Roaches

I don't understand the question but the bottom drawing looks like Brachycola sexnotata (Thunberg) from Brazil.

I'm familiar with the adsorbtive properties of carbon but am not sure how it would ward off fungi. I don't think carbon in the substrate could harm a cockroach. I've had heater rocks in the past that were warm and could be great for certain roaches but I've also had rocks that nearly burn your hand. Have they become more consistent in recent years?

Hi Stefgot, Welcome to the Allpet Roaches forum! Do you keep roaches other than Blaberus fusca? Do you remember the invert business Cetonia from France?

Welcome aboard! Have you decided on which roaches you'll be keeping first?

My daughter would really like to see the directions on how to make the pokemon origami. I really like the hissers! Good job!

(Isn't cypress bedding supposed to have some insecticidal properties, at least according to the package?) If they look irritated they probably are. Try potting soil mixed with ground old leaves.

B. lateralis is one of the few pest species but I'm not sure that anyone has had a true infestation that wasn't quickly and easily eradicated. It isn't one of the five very common indoor pest species. What are you feeding them to? If it's something of any size you may want to go for Blaptica or Blaberus.

Hi Graham, Of course I'd suggest Paratropes or Megaloblatta but I'm sure you mean species established in the hobby. You had P. nivea but did you ever have the Panchlora sp. "giant"? They are at least worth a try. Gyna species seem to be conspicuously missing from your list. Opisthoplatia orientalis is one of the most beautiful species there is if you've never had them (adults are amazing, nymphs look like wood). On the other hand Dorylaea orini has what is possibly the most beautiful nymph there is (the adult is not impressive). As to just very neat oddities: Eurycotis floridana is a really nice big egg laying species though I don't know of anyone has extras at the moment. How about the very interesting P.americana "white-eye"? Diploptera punctata are unigue in a few ways though they may be a little harder to track down than they used to be. There are a number of other species but I'd say they mostly fall under common feeders and species of so-so interest. I'm sure I'm missing something.

My feeding is to tarantulas and chameleons primarily. One of my favorite feeders is the Lobster roach while Orange Heads or Discoids work well for big eaters and in cages where climbing is an issue (they can't climb smooth surfaces). Lobsters climb and burrow and I primarily cup feed them (a small heavy dog bowl with vaseline around the upper edges) for ease and certainty of feeding. I'd suggest trying two of the more common and inexpensive feeders. You can set them up in 1-gallon bucket cages which can be stored anywhere and you can decide which you like best (or decide having a choice and variety is helpful).

I just pin the fast moving ones to a log and photoshop out the pinhead (I'm just kidding, the death curl pose would probably look pretty unnatural). Thanks!

Great photos EffeCi It wasn't a habitat humidity issue (critter keeper lid + lack of a rigid body like arthropods).

He was talking about this colorform of E. floridana from Florida, as opposed to E. opaca from Cuba. On a related note, aren't E. opaca pretty tiny compared to E. floridana? Many species really can't be identified by photos.

Yep, Glowspots are in the subfamily Blaberinae along with Blaberus, Archimandrita, Eublaberus, Hormetica, Parahormetica, Blaptica and a few other genera.

Happy Birthday! Nice photos (how's that review coming along? )

The adults with the side margins that were depicted on the Allpet Roaches site were simply a colorform of E. floridana collected from a pier in the Florida Keys, not a different Eurycotis species.

Bad identification guestimate. GSC: What do your adult males look like?

Sitting food has to be reduced (also check your main food source, it may be infested, it should be kept in a different area than your cages). The population takes some time to build up. Your dry isn't as dry as you think it is if they are present. I know where you're coming from but I'm not sure of a better way to explain it. They need a minimum level of humidity/moisture to survive, above that doesn't help or hinder them.

Those are grain mites. The dust form is the 'mass population explosion form' while the sticking to roaches is the hypopus stage. There are many different mites you may have in your cultures but the dust/hypopus/sessile-white are the same animal (different forms of the same species).

I'm pretty sure you're talking about the insanely annoying ubiquitous grain mites. You can buy mite paper to keep all the cages on and do thorough cleanings but chances are they'll still win. The realistic way is to keep them at a low level using husbandry practices. It helps to keep the food in a dish and to not feed more than will be eaten in a few days. I've had a grain mite presence but have not had them on roaches (roach food, centipedes and grubs are a different story).

That may not work very well because of the shape of the cartons, try a log or corkbark.

That's an interesting page (some of the info seems very good but some like the male/female molt disparity seems questionable). I would have said 60 days per brood but it's possible they'd go that much faster at 86F.

This male traces his lineage back to a female caught in 1995. Due to the way the cycles work it's hard to say what generation it is.

They eat dog food, carrots and pumpkin like champs. The reference is to the leaf part of their diet.

B.giganteus have a difficult time on the final molt if they aren't provided an upright molting surface. That one looks like it died from its molting difficulty as a result of temperature, moltings surfaces, etc. but that species does also die sometimes for no reason at maturity.

This is my favorite all time rhinoceros beetle: