JohananV

The thing with A. Fusca is, it's considered a heritage species... And, in the Western Cape you can't legally keep any invertebrates. Hostilia are extremely interesting!!! The females shelter their young in a concavity in their abdomens. Amazing species.

I have Oxyhaloa deusta, and Pycnoscelus sp. "South Africa", and I used to have a species of Hostilia. There are some major legal restrictions on A. Fusca... Nice species though. There are a few species I am looking into though.

Hi, I am looking at buying about 10-20. Thank you so much for your brilliant offer, I truly appreciate it!!! Please let me know about pricing.

Hi there, I am looking to get some E. Javanica. But I reside in South Africa. Does anyone know if there are some available(I found nothing yet) or of someone who will be willing to ship to S.A.(without a large minimum order, I'm only looking for the javanica)? Please bear in mind that one USD = +-14.5 ZAR. Sorry about all the conditions. Thank you in advance for the help!

Hi Nicolas and Alex. Thank you for the replies. Alex- we do not have harsh winters. We have wet winters, although we're in a summer rainfall area, with a minimum temperature of about five degrees Celcius. But our average winter temperature, on a cold day, is about 12-16 degrees Celcius. Nicolas- I would gladly have exchanged with you, but South Africa has very strict laws on exporting invertebrates, and one requires a permit for every species. Permits are, sadly, very hard to come by. Also, due to time constraints, I had to release them back into the wild. Thank you again for looking at the photos. Please feel free to ask more questions... Stimulating discussion is always welcome.

Hello Everyone, I had promised to post some photos of the native roaches I found, but I hadn't made the time. Well, here they are. I've shared some of them before, but most are new. A species of Pycnoscelus, Adult. Juvenile Unidentified, but a great looking roach. This species lives in sand, and gives live birth. Also Unidentified, and very hard to keep. I lost two of the three specimens I found. This species lives in leaf litter, breeding unknown. Possibly two different species. I hope everyone enjoys them. Joh

Haha. Will do. Thank you so much for all the information.

Thank you very much. That is very good to know. I will be sure to tell my friend that. I wil be giving her a colony of P. australasiae and P. americana. Thanks again for the help.

Hello Everyone, How are you doing? A friend of mine is wanting to start a colony of Periplaneta as a food source for her pet Monitor. I have been trapping roaches in my home, and am hoping to give them to her as a starter colony. I am slightly concerned, however, about toxicity resistance in th roaches I have captured. If one were to breed the roaches, and then use the resulting generation's offspring as feeders, would that be enough of a buffer to ensure that there are no toxins in the fedder roaches' systems? Thank you in advance, JV

Hi Bamboo, These are a terrific species, but I would agree that they are terrible escape artists. Don't tell my grandmother, but I still have some stowaways in my room. They seemed to escape less when they had plenty of hiding places. I kept them on the pet bedding, that you use for rodents, and they seemed to be just fine with that. they would hide in it, and come out to eat. The only way, in my experience, to keep all of them in their enclosure, is to get a enclosure that seals, and make a lot of pin-sized holes for aeration. Hope this helps, JV

I'm very sorry. Things have been so busy on this side, I've actually had to downscale. I currently do not own any invertebrates. I think I have some photos on the computer, though. I will see if I can find them.

Thank you for the ideas, and tips. Sadly, I lost one of these cockroaches, and I had to release the other one because it wasn't eating. I have, however, found another very interesting species. I will post photos soon.

Thank you so much for all the help. It turns out that this species is very susceptible to the heat here(we have an average of about 30 degrees Celcius). So, it takes a lot of work to keep them cool. I have, however, managed to find a substrate that works for them. I tried out the wood shavings that one uses for rodents and it seems to work like a dream. It is easy to remove if it begins to mold(a very, very serious problem here), and it is easy to separate the roaches from the substrate. Since I last posted, one of my females also treated me to a brood of 13 nymphs! I will post photos when they are a little bit larger.

Will Do!

Sorry that I'm late, but Merry Christmas. I hope that everyone had a wonderful day!

And, I just made the time to clean their tank, and to count them. A little less than two weeks ago, I caught 5 adults and, in that time, they have produced 48 offspring! They really are prolific!

Wow, Thanks for the ID! I would never have imagined that the species was related to the Suriname Cockroach. It is a beautiful species, and I am definitely going to try and breed it. Any advice? I am also switching them back to a sand substrate, it seems to suit them better than the leaves. I will keep you updated about my progress, JV

Okay, here's a photo of what I found. I found several of these under some rocks and flowerpots. I am almost certain that they are the same species as the above mentioned one.

I believe that I have found winged adults of this species! I will post photos soon.

Thank you so much for the information! I agree, it is a lovely easy-to-breed species that is very prolific. If mine keep on breeding in this way, I can hopefully swap with some other South African enthusiasts soon.....

Thank you, truth be told, i just haven't managed to keep the cockroaches upside down long enough so I can take pictures, and they don't climb the glass. Any suggestions for getting good pictures of their undersides? oh, and if I place them in the fridge for a few minutes so they fall asleep long enough for me to take photos of their undersides will that have any negative side effects? Thank you so much for your interest, and for helping me so much.

Thank you for the welcome, this far I have greatly enjoyed being part of the forum. I hope that you will enjoy my experiences with the roaches. You should get to see some South African species :-)

Greetings, I have a small colony of Oxyhaloa deusta, that is really just getting started. However, I had a wonderful surprise this morning, and found many, many nymphs amongst the leaf litter which covers their substrate. My setup is as follows; Substrate:sand(about a centimeter deep); hiding places: Large snail shell, and mango leaves; Food: carrot, moist dog food, lettuce, and cucumber; Climbing: a large dry leaf base of Strelitzia nicolai. This far it seems to be working very well. I mist the tank once a day, and replace their food every second day. Other than that I pretty much leave them to themselves. But, I was thinking that I could possibly glean some extra information from those experienced in the species. So, what does everyone else do with theirs to get the greatest yields? Substrate types, cage size, foods, the works. What works best for you, and how well do they breed? Sincerely, JV

No idea about the species yet, but they eat a wide variety of foods. They eat the pieces of vegetable that I give them. But, they have a particular predilection for moist dog food. They are currently sharing a tank with my two other unidentified specimens.

I'm very sorry that I haven't gotten around to taking photos yet. Things suddenly became very busy around here. But, I am quite certain that I do have a pair. The one is lighter than the other, and earlier the one was stroking the other with its antennae. Possibly, I think, courting behavior. I am also happy to report that my Oxyhaloa deusta have begun breeding. JV