Peter Clausen

I keep a wide range of "bugs" and really enjoy roaches because they are communal, have interesting behaviors and are really easy to maintain.

Just fed too-brown bananas to a few species and they're devouring them. My wife was peeling potatoes the other day and saved the peels for me. My bugs love yams at Thanksgiving! And pumpkin, actually, too! My kids leave their watermelon rinds and apple cores in plastic bags sometimes. They know these things will all be put to good use. We're Costco shoppers. Lots of mouths to feed in this house!

I keep them, but I don't sell them due to their pest status. I use them as feeders for things. It takes like 20 adults to fill a bearded dragon's stomach and even then my pair would probably keep chowing on them for another 20 worth. I agree. Too small. But one thing I have learned through keeping dragons. There is never enough food! Our male never really developed a taste for greens and neither of them will accept any of the dried pellet type food. I've purchased many kinds of dried food from the pet stores over the years and it all ends up in the roach tanks because the beardies won't even look at it.

Your roach is hung like a pimple. Check out the one in the background at the end of this video:

Fixed!

I could be convinced. Calendar photo requirements are as follows: What kind of files can I upload? JPG, PSD, PNG What size should my image files be? JPG files can be up to 10 MB, but files over 7MB in size can cause your internet connection to time out. PNG files can be up to 4 MB. (Most submissions will not be nearly as large as the maximums listed above.) All images should be EXACTLY 3375 pixels (11.25 inches) wide by 2625 pixels (8.75 inches) long, and with a DPI at 300. Photos which do not match these requirements may be disqualified. Please ask if you have questions about this. Not everybody has a camera that can meet these requirements and we find ourselves having to bend the rules a bit from year to year. I can put a calendar together with smaller photos, but it never looks as nice. Also, the calendars are more expensive to create this year. I don't make any money off of them, so they are available at the cost of production for those that would like to order them. Here is a link to last year's calendar produced by Roachforum members: http://www.lulu.com/...t-18801493.html (don't buy it...that IS last year's calendar)

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the issues we were having with the forum should now be resolved. The most troubling issue since the previous update a few weeks back was that the validation process for new members was quirky. Some members had to wait as many as 16 days to get their new accounts approved. Unfortunately, each account does have to be manually approved to ensure we don't get bots or spammers posting on the forum. Let me know if you see any other issues with the newer version of the software, and thanks!

There are always a few "bugs" when the software is updated, but we had intentionally not updated the software version in a long time because everything had been working so well. Mantidforum is updated regularly and so we have problems more regularly with the software. Keep the notices coming and we'll knock the issues down one at a time. Thanks!

Complain? I'd say you don't have enough and I'm liking the new vfox better already! ;-)

Yeah, there was unanticipated downtime on the forum today. Thanks to Nanchantress to notifying me early in the day. The forum software company fixed the issue and updated us to the latest version of the software. Consequently, there will be some changes/updates to the way the forum works. These are commonly known as "improvements", though don't always seem like so until we all get past the phase of adjusting to them.

I always say congrats when I hear that somebody got divorced. Eavesdroppers always cast a few dirty looks my way like I'm insensitive or something. Still, I'm on my second marriage and feel comfortably justified in my response. I probably wouldn't publicly defend my position. Neither wife would appreciate it much;). Welcome back!

Mine don't seem too interested in protein based foods, though they eat the fish food pellets decently. Apple is a staple for mine. I have also observed less of an appetite in this species compared with other roaches.

Definitely seems fluky to me. Maybe it was a combination of what you suspect along with another factor like they got too dry. Or maybe some tainted food, etc.

Welcome to the forum, Bryan. Good to see you here!

I second the Therea domino and question marks. I've got a mess of adult domino roaches at the moment and they are out day and night. I opened the bin today and a few males were going nuts trying to climb out. It does help to make roaches more day-visible by minimizing the places that various species have to hide in the cage. I have some branches in my skunk roach cage, for example and no egg crates. The vertical options may help some roaches molt, though I've actually seen very large skunk roach nymphs molt right off the plastic tank wall. I've got a photo to prove it, but it's buried in a folder somewhere too deep. It's pretty impressive that any roach could do this! Since this species doesn't burrow at any stage of the life cycle (discounting oothecae), they sort of count as diurnal. In similar set-ups, other non-burrowing species can be defined similarly. These include ornate velvet roaches and zebras.

I look forward to reading your results, including any non-roach items you encounter! Pre-trip planning threads with post-trip results always make for some of my favorites to read.

Happy to help you out with roach trades, Satchell! I really enjoyed all your backyard bugs too. Entertaining discussion here and nice seeing how nice your B. giganteus turned out. Who came up with that name "sexy legs"? Was that you, Zephyr? Good stuff! Satchell, maybe you can squeeze a "sexy legs" article into the next ACS Publication that Orin just hit me up for an article for!

I see the same thing with my lobster feeder colony. Without heat they aren't very big eaters compared with some others.

Mine feed well on apple and fish food pellets. The nymphs and even adults like to burrow a lot. They seem to tolerate more dryness than some other species, maybe because they are so thick bodied. I haven't seen a lot of evidence of them eating the substrate. They aren't necessarily huge feeders. I like to microwave all my substrate materials in 30 second increments of heating and cooling, five or six times. Seeing steam is a good thing.

Also, their distance in time from the last or towards the next molt can affect their color.

I love the Tegus. How long to they get? We've got a water dragon, a breeding pair of beardies and a few geckos.

We love stories like this because they are personal and you shared data. Five years is a really long time and it is a testament to the care you provided for the animal that it lived that long. It's also a demonstration that insect pets can occupy a significant portion of our lives. So many people are deterred by "short" lifespans and choose other pets that require excessive care to the point the experience of having a pet is one of responsibility, instead of a better balance of enjoyment and observation and novelty.

The video is pretty amazing! It's like a circus clown car where so much more pours out than you'd suspect. Another lingering feeling from the video... I think I prefer the method of entry through which I came into the world. Less painful...at least for me (sorry ladies).

Wow, fantastic shots! Did you observe the wasp nibbling the antennae of the cockroach?

That is a really cool website that incorporates some ideas I had wanted to build a site on, once. Between Project Noah and the EOL.org websites, I think it's all out there now. I just wish the two websites would combine into some kind of social platform...that could help to change the world!