Doc

I use a metal mesh and melt it into the plastic with a soldering iron. They can tear through that weaker fiberglass mesh. I wouldn't trust using tape or hot glue to secure it either.

My A. insignis were very prolific. They were on par with G. portentosa. This might be different for others but my insignis have always been the fastest producing of all my hissers. I used to keep them in a 30 gallon bin and they filled it out nicely. I'd definitely recommend them. They're a very beautiful and unique species of hisser. In my experience, the Elliptorhina species reproduce slower. That along with their smaller size might make them a good choice for you.

You can also build an enclosure out of a bucket and lid. Those usually fit on very tight. Then nothing can escape.

I don't see any reason why you would try that. The cost of growing/buying cannabis for roaches doesn't make sense. There's a chance it would harm them and anything that eats the roaches. It's better to just stick with typical fruits and veggies.

Orange Heads breed faster. They multiplied faster than my dubia. They can be a little more difficult to raise due to their tendency to nibble on each other. I preferred Orange Heads. If you keep them well fed with fruits, veggies, and a high protein diet you shouldn't have too many problems with cannibalism. Posticus get slightly larger than discoidalis and they're a very chunky species too.

I create a styrofoam box inside the shipping box and place a 72hr heat pack on one side. The heat packs are safe as long as they aren't directly touching the insects' container. Just stuff some newspaper between them. I used to have cloth bags that worked very well when shipping in winter. They have great airflow and I don't have to worry about condensation. In my experience lobster roaches are hardier than turkistans. Turks didn't seem to do that great regardless of what I did. Even if using a heat pack do not ship or have something shipped if temps are below freezing. The heat pack may stop working.

Yea. I use them in nearly all my roach bins and haven't had a problem since. There's just a little bit of maintenance involved with them but it's worth it.

I give away lesser mealworms for free. All you have to do with them is leave a dish to collect extra ones as their population grows. If there's too many and not enough food, they might try snacking on freshly molted nymphs.

Yep grain mites are terrible. They're right up there with ants and gnats. I use lesser mealworms to prevent mites. Some people have also suggested predatory mites. I don't know much about those. They can apparently be bought in the garden section of some stores and kill other mites.

It's normal for hissers to have mites. Hisser mites are different from grain mites. They're beneficial and clean the roaches. I've never had a problem with the hisser mites affecting my tarantulas and I keep them right next to each other. If they aren't swarming all over the enclosure/food, then they're likely not grain mites. Can you take some pictures?

Even though they're burrowers, I use P. surinamensis for my slings. I've fed them to as small as 0.25". They can't hide very well in small deli cups or vials. They're also good for juvenile tarantulas too.

The larvae will bore through egg cartons. They don't destroy them really but they do create fluffy debris on the bottom of the enclosure. The beetles and some of the larvae will climb so they may be able to help with the dead roaches in the egg cartons.

Lesser mealworms have always done well for me. They can thrive in both humid and drier conditions.

A soldering iron.

If you're worried about them chewing through the glue you should use a metal mesh. They're more likely to chew through the regular fiberglass mesh than the hot glue. I've had lots of escapes with the regular mesh and it's just too much of a hassle. I've also had the glue wear out over time and separate from the bin. I use aluminum mesh and melt it into the plastic for all my climbing species or when the roaches can reach the ventilation. Some others have said they drill small holes in sealed containers to keep the tiny nymphs in.

It was likely security and bug fixes. Windows 10 seems to be more like a beta operating system. Lots of issues.

If you're not using windows 10 you can disable the updates.

I place shallow dishes to catch excess lessers. You don't want too many of them in your colonies. If there isn't enough food they may go after molting roaches.

I don't think that would be a good idea. It could hatch while the sling is molting. They could potentially do some damage to the sling while it's soft and exhausted. Better to just feed them as they need it. It isn't too hard to gather the tiny nymphs.

Yes, a Blue-tongued skink. I have a beautiful Northern Australian.

I have also noticed my lats climbing. Even after I added a barrier they still got out. Ended up selling/feeding off my entire colony. Too much to deal with. Freezing is a great idea for fast species like these. I occasionally give my BTS a bowl of thawed lobster roaches.

I seem to have found a single male in my colony. It has a much shorter and skinnier abdomen than the females. It also looks like it has the two small segments instead of the large one that the females have. This is the only one I've ever found like this in my colony of several thousand. I heard that these can show up rarely but are sterile. I managed to take a picture of it with a female for comparison. It's pretty terrible, though. You can't see the fine details of the abdomen. I couldn't get the camera or the roaches to cooperate. I'll try to take some better ones of the male later. It feels like I found a four leaf clover http://imgur.com/hOIXTlU Female top Male bottom

Yes, you just look at the segments. Females have one large segment and males have two smaller ones at the end. It may be hard to see these differences with nymphs smaller than medium size or in smaller species. Picture for reference:

I've tried Teflon tape and it didn't work very well. There's Fluon which is like a liquid Teflon. It's used to keep ants contained, but it's very expensive. The best option I've found is just regular petroleum jelly.

I feed my smaller ones lobster roaches. I give my large female A. insignis or lots of lobster roaches if I don't have much of those. A G. portentosa colony may be a good idea for them.