Matt K

Could be avariety of reasons that are all normal. Just fed vs. not fed in a while. Gravid vs. not. Close to a molt vs. not (thought not in this case), excess fluid retention, to name a few. It would be most helpful if you cited the conditions in which the roach lives and when it was last watered/fed/etc.

The best way to keep up a colonies momentum is to cull, cull, and cull some more. Every handfull you take out will be replaced by another in no time.

It could possibly be diet related.

Being black is not a problem, it is probably just an occurance of the recessive 'black morph' gene. Historically some people have isolated the all black ones to form a colony of G.portentosa 'black'. When you have a colony of black ones, then you will see 'normal' colored ones pop up from time to time that need to be removed.

Cool. Porcellio "ivory" ? Pretty neat-o.

As I stated on "another forum".... looks to me like a craniifer/fusca hybrid, which there have been quite a few around lately.... Many of you know me: Damn the Hybrids! rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble.....

It would be really cool if they were developed into a black form germanica. But I hate those as well, along with N.cinerea and Periplaneta americana and P.fuliginosa.

I don't apply it thick enough to be able to do that- to me that sounds like you are using too much. To help your problem, get some sand paper and scratch the area where the Vaseline goes just a couple of times- no need to actually sand it- just enough to make it slightly rough. This will help the Vaseline stay- though it may give a foothold for larger roaches. Use #60 or #40 sandpaper.

This is awesome that someone timed the hatch out of a species that lays ootheca. Helpful information for many- feel free to do it for other species!

Looks really good for making a huge number of E.decipiens. You may have to play with how much water goes onto the substrate. I would keep one end a little damp/wet, but if the egg cartons start to mold let it go dry with only misting and then resume a less-wet regimen. Really humid, not quite damp-almost-kinda-dry-ish.... my substrate looks dry on top but is otherwise obviously still retaining moisture below the top half inch. All you need to do now is wait, really. Good set up, good temps, everything in order. Soon you will see little black flat ovals cruising all around the place (new nymphs). The nymphs get banded pretty quick, and they are very attractive as they grow and get closer to maturity. ***Note: By the way, when you get that bin starting to fill with decipiens, that little orage wedge will need to be a quarter of a cantelope melon, or three carrots and an apple, or something to that effect.

From what I know, if you have more than one, you will have a thousand before you know it....

That one is mislabelled. It is actually Archiblatta hoeveni (all females in the video). They come from Malaysia and are hard to come by.

I keep getting asked how I have things set up and what substrate I use, so I will repost these all together to help resolve that... the photos woudl not all load without getting timed out so I had to divide it into 3 or 4 parts:

One reason I have lids on all my bins, even non-climbers: Small 1.5 gallon container: One of several Pseudomops septentrionalis containers: inside:

A few from my colony: (and yes, they eat ALOT of roaches) There in here, but they stay under the bromiliads quite a bit (about half the day, and all night):

Anolis baracoae 'blue phase' - very, very rare. Breeding pair and they have been layng eggs already for this season. Abronia- I have a colony of them. Also have some Abronia deppei.

Abronia graminea.

Or some Barry White, oysters, and candles.... They should be reproducing... maybe Orin can answer this question. He is the one I would ask about it.....

Once every 33.721 days at 600 feet above sea level, assuming they are each consuming at least 5.94 grams of fruit and vegetables and the temperature is stable. Seriously, I see questions regularly on "how often does this or that roach lay eggs at whatever temperature", "how fast do they grow", "etc." and it makes me koo koo! Roach keeping is a hobby, not an exact science. There are alot of variables in everyones home and husbandry habits that throw off- sometimes way off- whatever cycle a roach may "normally" have. For some people its frequent, and others not so much- its all relative. Let me repeat that in other threads too- Its All Relative. There is not really any study of a single male and female roach in a clear featureless container that studies (times) when a female lays an ootheca to the time it hatches, or when she lays another. In my bin, there are numerous roaches in alot of egg cartons with hiding places, and I don't watch them all day and night, nor do I go in and count how many ootheca there are every day to compare numbers and get an estimate on a rate, so I could not directly answer that question with anything other than "more frequently than other roaches I have". My chickens, for example, may lay one egg each per day, maybe none, maybe three. In the winter its more likely to be one every other day and in the summer more likely to be two a day, but no one knows for sure depending on what I feed, how often I feed, and if they free range lately or not, and more importantly- not until an egg is actually laid. So the moral is roaches are not predictable machines of nature- you may get one ootheca for E.decipiens every 3 months, you may get 4 or 5 every three weeks, all things depending. So to answer the question finally- How many are you getting from your roaches? That is the rate they lay ootheca.

So they were in a setup exactly like what I have only smaller it sounds like, and now they are in something different. Hmm... remember things can look dry and still be humid... How lone were they in the other setup befoer you changed it?

6 months !?!? I would have given them 60-120 days (if they were adults). Less after they get comfortable. You sure they are all mature, both sexes, etc. ? Maybe they are over-maintained? That or bump up the temp 5 degrees or so and see if that means anything to them. ??

I will post more photos when I can discover where my 2 year old put my camera....

Photos #2 _______________