ArtBug

Wow! Your colony is impressive! GREAT photos

For me, it depends on the tank. Everybody seems to like oranges. Big surprise - they prefer that white stuff on the peels to the actual fruit. They all like apples to some degree. I had some ancient rodent lab pellets that someone gave me. The Redheads and Peppered roaches thrive on those. Nobody else likes the pellets - just something more to crawl on. I've seen Dubias get into fights over ferret food! - I hear that high protein isn't good for Dubias - so ferret food is a rare snack. The green banana roaches like Romaine Lettuce. Everybody gets fed once a week and misted daily. Most of my roaches crawl up on the food to eat it. The banana roaches eat their food from underneath!

This topic might stir up a firestorm of opposing opinions - but here goes. . .! I'll start with MY opinion (Seems REALLY cruel to me) - but would love to hear other roach folk's reactions. These guys have invented a remote control device that seems to work by pinning the roach's antennae to it's back underneath the "engine" that runs the roach. . . See link: https://backyardbrains.com/products/roboroach

I keep my house around 65 degrees in the winter so all of my roaches slow WAY down! Cold Vaseline isn't as slippery as hot Vaseline - so some of my Redheads have been able to crawl up it. I have my Redheads in a regular 10 gallon tank. I put foam tape around the interior edge of the screen lid. I set a piece of cloth on top of the tank, and then the lid on top of the cloth. Overall that seems to work. If the Redheads get past the vaseline they can't get the rest of the way out. I still have to look for them playing on the cloth or sneaking around the rim of the tank - but it's rare that I find them up on top. As for the cold temps - they're doing okay. Their numbers increased steadily over the summer but they'll probably slow down now that it's colder.

Fantastic shots - really great looking roaches!

That's a beauty! Thanks for sharing

Just a quick FYI - I got a free organic zucchini from a friend and fed it to all my roaches last night. They all enjoyed it and there seems to have been no ill effects. Since this is "Free Zucchini" season - I thought I would share

These are my favorite roaches! They are SO dang cute! I had trouble with mine escaping over a thick layer of vaseline. Now I have a 2 inch THIN coating of vaseline around the top of a ten gallon aquarium and they aren't able to navigate over the thin coating. Just in case I also have a fabric cover under the metal aquarium lid. I also put foam tape all the way around the inside of the lid. So far, so good. When it gets cold I might have more issues but the fabric covering will still keep them from getting all the way out. I held one once for a few seconds. It was cool til he realized "Oh crap this thing is alive" and he panicked and jumped off I just get a big kick out of their busy, busy days in the tank. . .

I bought Ferret Pellets for my roaches and give them as an occasional treat. Depends on the species who eats them - the Dubias LOVE them and fight over them. Some of my other roaches ignore the pellets completely. I also give my roaches dog food to munch on - but they're less excited about that. I've read conflicting posts on roaches and protein. Some posts say "Never" - too toxic, and some posts say to give them SOME protein or they'll nibble on each other! I'm sure this info depends on what species one has. I just reason that "less is more" and only rarely give them protein. All of them seem to thrive on apples and oranges!

Keith - thank you for this info! I had 3 males and 2 females in my Hisser tank - so I removed two of the males and put them together in a separate container. I may go ahead and remove the last male and let the girls live in peace!I LOVE that you can do that with Dubias. I'm going to sift through my colony and get them as separated as possible before I have an explosion on my hands. I have yet to capture the "extra" Glowspot boy - but will be able to get to him when I have another habitat to move him to. Thanks again! Great info

Wow! Fabulous photo - beautiful roach

Well, there's a LOT to consider! I love the vinegar/soap idea - however the gnats live inside the tank and rarely get out. I have a cloth cover and then the lid. I love the double-stick tape idea and can use that if any of my other tanks get gnat-ed! The Vaseline barrier I have at the top is catching a few gnats - but not enough to get excited about. The roaches are super-fast AND climbers (Red heads) - so I'm going to try the vinegar/soap solution during the day (under supervision!) and see if I can't catch a boat-load of gnats that way. I don't see that the mites are living on the roaches - they're more interested in the fruit I put in there. I think my best case scenario might be to start capturing these guys and move them to a sterile tank.

One of my roach tanks is also a gnat and mite tank Any ideas on how to get rid of these extra inhabitants is greatly appreciated!

Since my nymphs have all molted into adults I've got two tanks with more males than females: G grandidieri (Black) and L verrucosa. The males are going to battle so I either need to acquire more females or separate out the males. So here are some questions: Should I leave well-enough alone and let them "deal?" Can male cockroaches live peacefully together if NO females are present? Can a cockroach thrive living alone? While I'm sure a cockroach can live in solitary - I wonder if they would thrive in that situation without the support of a colony. . . ?