Matttoadman

Welcome! I found hissers to be rather tough critters. With their sticky pads on their feet you will find them (and most other species) to be rather difficult to flip off your hand. They are very resilient.

I haven’t seen any evidence of premature death so hopefully it’s not that. I did a partial substrate change (1/3) cause I realized it has been a while since I added any. I also moisturized all the substrate and removed any debris. I found a lot of peach and cherry pits, pumpkin stems etc. my wife reminded me we were feeding three leopard geckos and a bearded dragon and added three more leopard geckos. So have a feeling I have been feeding from it more than I realize. I looked through it last night and I found several newly matured adults. I also got a start of Eublaberus “ivory” to get a second colony going.

So I have had a colony of Eublaberus serranus since 2016. I have kept them in a 10 gallon fish tank with around 6 inches of coconut fiber , bark pieces and stick for the adults to rest on. I usually see around 30 adults with several dozen nymphs of various sizes. I keep the substrate mostly damp and mist weekly, feed oats a couple times a week, and add fruit and veggie scraps almost daily. I feed cat food sporadically. The temp is 75-80. The numbers are with me removing some for feeding my lizards. But that was usually 12-24 nymphs a week and maybe 2 males a week. But my numbers held. The past several months my numbers have dropped. I have maybe had 6-12 adults and a couple dozen almost ready to mature and a couple dozen fresh nymphs. I stopped pulling out any to feed. When I add food it used to disappear with in seconds. Now I see oats and fruit on the surface for days. I have had to remove it to keep out flies. No dead found. Do colonies start to fizzle over time? Do I need to add some fresh blood? The substrate looks the same as always(smells like fresh garden soil) but maybe I need to refresh the substrate or add to it? Any other tips for maintaining a colony long term?

So what I wonder is if perhaps a diet that would be similar to what that species of aunt would eat might be helpful or even necessary? I would definitely research that ant , Because it would appear to me that there’s something about the ant colony that is necessary for rearing. Ants in general Feed on a lot of sugary items. They also have a period where they switch over to protein-based food. I wouldn’t even go as far as to collect some of those ants and kill them and feed them to the roaches. You never know there could be something in the gut of that ant that is necessary. Speculation of course

I have been fascinated with the species of cockroaches that are found living in caves for a very long time. I currently have Eublaberus serranus and E. “Ivory”(in the mail). I am curious if anyone has any information or can direct me to where information can be read and researched about this particular environment for cockroaches. I am not referring to the species of cockroaches that live deep into the caves where they have evolved into eyeless and pigmentless creatures. How deep are they usually found in the caves? Are they always found in association with bats? Are they dependent on life in the cave or can also be found in the areas around the exterior of the cave? It may be that These questions are different depending on the species. What species are known to truly inhabit caves?

I have had Eublaberus Serranus since 2016. As well as several other species. But now only the pantanals. In the end the Eublaberus will win. Which species? I have tried adding isopods of various species, millipedes. There have been accidental “temporary” roach additions. Little Kenyans and red runners. Eublaberus appear to be voracious eaters and the others dont survive. Once the population gets high enough nothing not even fungus gnats survive. I think they like to taste everything. And Of course if enough taste something alive it’s going to die. They eat there own dead. Adult Dubai and E. serranus do not actually look alike. The E. serranus are substantially larger and bulkier. The question is will the ivory outcompete the pantanals? I have noticed my pantanal slow during the winter. It maybe that I don’t supply enough supplemental heat and the humidity drops severely here in the winter.

So have you thought of trying to start an ant colony to put them in with? Since they were found with a Campontus species you might could try one native to where you live? Camponotus pennsylvanica (the carpenter ant) is fairly common.

If I did anything to stir up the substrate (dubia, B. Lateralis, N. cinarea, B fusca ) my eyes would water, nose run, sinus swell, sneeze, cough etc. My assumption it was to the dry frass and exoskeletons. The Eublaberus seem to eat and compost the above. Pycnoscelus Species are cool. I will research them. Thanks.

In 2016, I got into roaches. I greatly enjoy them. However, 8 species later and I began to have some allergy problem. Sifting through the dry frass would mess me up for days. Hissers literally gave me hives. So I started to cut away the species. But with each species reduction only pantanal roaches don’t bother me. My guess is pantanals are kept in damp coco fiber and the “composting” ability keeps the dust and frass down, plus they eat all the body parts of the dead. So other than other Eublaberus species, does anyone have any other suggestions? I do use them as feeders for my leopard geckos so they do need to produce decently and steadily. The pantanals seem to be “seasonal” and slow down to a crawl during the winter.

Basically once a roach shows a resistance to a chemical, increasing the potency merely speeds up the resistance over time. The resistance begins because they get sublethal doses. It’s sort of like what we are seeing with antibiotics. Most chemicals on the market, especially over the counter are derived from a species of chrysanthemum. They contain a natural insecticide the plant uses for protection. The labs have just created their own version of them. Roaches are just about immune to it though. They have tried looking at other plant created insecticides. For example nicotine in tobacco. They however have been banned almost. They seemed to potent on bees.

Well I don’t think it’s about creating something more toxic. They usually look for another family of chemicals or a new mode of action. The problem is the companies selling over the counter. The problem is untrained individuals use chemical incorrectly and lead to the resistance. It’s all about following the label and knowing where and what to do with it. In my own observations I have found that the tiniest amount of pesticide placed in a perfect spot can crash the population. Most people have a more is better approach and make it worse. I have a saying. You can take a machine gun squirrel hunting but you still end up with a dead squirrel.

I had the opportunity to listen to a talk from the New Entomologist at the University of Ky. This will give you an idea of just how tough German cockroaches are. They went into several low income apartments and collected roaches. They separated out the males. Back in the apartments Kitchen floor they placed two dishes, one with wild collected males and another with males of a lab strain. Between the dishes they set off insecticide “foggers” or “bug bombs”. As expected the lab strain all died. Very few of the wild collected died. This blows my mind. They also found that the kitchen counter tops and floors after a month had the same level of insecticide as Pre fogging. So these roaches appear to be living in an atmosphere completely contaminated with insecticide long after spraying. The study was actually to see how effective total release foggers actually were....useless as all us exterminators already knew

Some of my observations from the “wild”. German cockroach infestations seem to appear in most instances from a few specimens or a single egg case. It’s actually quite insane to see what that can turn into.

How large were they? I have found that no species of roach lives too long after they reach their final molt. Anywhere 3 months to maybe a year for some species. And males lifespans are shorter than females.

On an opposite note, I remember when I use to provide pest control for a penitentiary. The basement of the facility was where al the access to the plumbing and electrical areas were. It was a constant 90 degrees and the humidity was equally as high. There were massive colonies of American roaches living there. The building was supported by concrete pillars and they would hang on these like herds of sheep. Moving as a group (not scattering)if you shown a flash light on them. The interesting thing is this area was lit 24/7. The did not hang out in the dim areas. We sprayed once a week and there were never in dead to be found. I almost think they lived solely off the dead we created. So it appears once roaches get used to a particular light cycle it is of little matter to them.

So a year ago I gave away my colony of red runners. I had noticed for awhile there was one nymph hiding out in my Blaberus fusca tank. This roach eventually mature in to a massive female. I saw her last alive in November. It would appear that a virgin female lives much longer than productive females. It seemed like they only lived a few months.

i did discover that roaches make excellent feeders for fish. I have been feeding a flowerhorn several nymphs weekly. He was 2 inches in June and is over 6 now with a massive head. I am trying to remember how to make pictures fit on here

I guess we are good until our individual states start banning them.

I ventured back into the fish hobby and let my inverts simmer. Nothing new except some pantanal nymphs appeared in my Cyriocosmus elegans adult females container and ate her

Hmmm I wonder how much is true lol

I’ve been gone for a while. Did I miss anything?

Oh wow I missed it! Awesome

I’m pretty sure your pycnoscelus are trying to spell something out for you in the substrate....but it appears to be in Thai letters lol

Wow that’s a unsolicited commercial. We get the link and all.