lecole4

Second time this year I've ended up with only adult females in my colony and not a male in sight. Any one else have this problem with their Turkistan roaches?

Wow, wcbpolish, thank you for the incredible share! They are definitely similar to what I'm getting, although my nymphs aren't nearly as stunning! Mine also have the clear protonums and wings. Might have to contact the owner of these and find out if he has any specifics about them. Little update in the meantime! Thought this was quite a nice looking male, so I'm sharing him

@Keith Thanks, Keith! You totally should; I'd love to see what you'd take. @Forcep No flash! :3 I actually have a light box set up for photography and a small lamp with a bright halogen bulb and the ability to aim the light. It's something I use when take photos of items or insects anyway. It just happens to make for great gecko photos as well! @Acro I definitely will when I take them! I don't really handle Kirk unless he specifically asks to be picked up, which is rare. I did get a couple photos of his tongue out, but it's blurry! I will try to get a good one where you can see it, though. This is an older photo which isn't macro, but he is licking his nose! https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10574348_10205060118170368_4559435700520049577_n.jpg?oh=dd504cfd8373bb6d040b21fd3f7b019a&oe=55CC2F85

There are some exciting newts that stay quite bright. Fire bellies come to mind. Axolotls are also a ton of fun if you have a flair for the exotic. Captive bred newts are pricier, but worth it for sure if you can find them!

Aww, varnon, I bet they're adorable, though! Such an interesting species. Do you enjoy them?

He's cute, isn't he? We have v. viridescens around here, which I think are especially adorable. He almost doesn't look real!

I've been playing around with a new lens. Got some nice photos of my leopard gecko, Kirk! Would be excited to see photos of your geckos as well, if you have any to share.

Gotta love spring time! West Virginia is rich with amphibians in particular, so here are a few of my encounters this season: Rana clamitans melanota Juvenile Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens Juvenile Plestiodon fasciatus (Two different encounters, probably same animal? Unfortunately he did not have his beautiful blue tail. Have seen adults around but they are much more wily. May put out a bucket with an inch of water and see what I get!)

Beautiful! They are such a great-looking species. So excited for you, Cariblatta!

Pictures would be helpful. Grain mite eggs are pretty ubiquitous in all grain-based foods. Nasty little things! What foods have you used, and what do you avoid now? A great trick for preventing the eggs from hatching is freezing any grain-based foods for 24 hours before use. If you're going to consider using lessers, like Doc suggested, be cautious. It is a good suggestion and they are a popular colony cleaner, but if you keep any kinds of birds or intend to use your roaches as a feeder for poultry, they carry a whole lot of diseases, particularly avian diseases. Just something to be aware of.

I have a few fun species I've picked up just for the expo! Showing them off here. Don't mind the logo- some of these are official photos for my business Therea olegrandjeani Lucihormetica verrucosa Gyna centurio

Thanks, Hisserdude! Maybe it will ultimately come to nothing, but I'm having fun in the meantime.

Oooh. I quite like the striped look on your adult females.

Oh yeah, they were quite a surprise! What do your adults look like? Are they quite yellow?

XD It's okay, Salmonsaladsandwich! I believe the brown in the legs and on the wings is due to light concentrations of melanin. On a normal dubia roach those areas appear black, which I think is due to the addition of the yellow pigment. Nix that, and you just get a crummy brown.

Awesome! So glad people are helping out the forum. I plan on ponying up a little later in the year.

Congrats on the nice collect, Salmonsaladsandwich! You had two species in there afterall

So for those of you who've read my "yellow" dubia experiment thread, you may have noticed this photo of a "clear" or what is maybe "axanthic" male that I found in my colony, which I thought was a fluke: https://dl.dropboxus... 3 28 24 PM.jpg Since finding him, I've been keeping my eyes out for particularly light or more grey nymphs, and I'm happy to show off this collection of "clear" or "axanthic" (since they seem to have no yellow or orange, only the black melanin) adults. They have all had the same access to the same foods as my other roaches, and that includes carrots. No, they are not freshly molted, and have held this coloration and clear wings for a good while. I wanted to make sure before I shared! Male that I'm crazy about: Adult females, of which I have two, who both look pretty much identical: Another male who's a little less flashy, but still nice: What do you guys think? I'm really interested to see what you say! I will say that the original male has darkened up a touch over the past month or so, but his protonum and wings are still clear.

No problem, Salmonsaladsandwich! My adults are really quite dark with no patterning. That's partly why these yellow ones have been such a surprise. "Normal" adult female from my colony https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19706466/Dubia/Photo%20Apr%2030%2C%2011%2042%2035%20PM.jpg "Normal" adult male from my colony https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19706466/Dubia/Photo%20Apr%2030%2C%2011%2042%2008%20PM.jpg Bonus, new calico nymph https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19706466/Dubia/Photo%20Apr%2030%2C%2011%2043%2015%20PM.jpg

Welcome, Themis_P! Sounds like you're already on your way.

What a cool job! Welcome to the forum.

I use nylon or polyester mesh utility fabric. Doesn't rust, easy to cut, hot glues super well, and it's really cheap. You can pick it up from fabric supplies like JoAnn's. I don't know about the hole size measurement, but I can tell you it's just barely big enough to let a human hair through.

Thanks, Pierre! It's just another word for line breeding. Basically when you separate out animals or plants for selective breeding, you can end up with a "line." Although it's usually used for plants, I like the portmanteau "cultivar," which just stands for "cultivated variety." Been extra busy the past couple of days, but I wanted to show off some more weirdos coming out of my bins! I had to watch all three of these for a few days to make sure it wasn't just an issue of hardening up after a molt. Very light male nymph. Was really surprised at how light yellow he is compared to the gold of most of the others https://dl.dropboxus... 6 09 27 PM.jpg Really bizarre female nymph with a harlequin look; did a double take when I found this one https://dl.dropboxus... 8 33 36 AM.jpg Adult male with a bad molt. He's very short and his wings never fully unfurled, leaving him with curly wings https://dl.dropboxus... 4 59 21 PM.jpg

dubiadudes, it turned out my UTH was malfunctioning and peaking around 100 degrees F. I just nixed the heat altogether for now. They're back to a cozy 75 degree room temp. Problem solved!

Husker, I'm sorry you think I'm disagreeing with you, when I am clearly not. We both agree you are having problems with pesticides, and I've tried to give you tactics to avoid those problems. Glad at least you seem to have found some kind of solution. Roman, I'm really surprised to hear that about the banana! I have fed lots of bananas with no issues, but it can depend on the source. Gotta love chicken feed and baby carrots, though; they're staples for me! Have you tried baby cereal? My colonies vacuum that up.