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Bantua robusta "Namibia"


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Finally got some of these beauties, one of the first to keep them in the US, fingers crossed they'll breed for me! :D Here are some pictures of a couple nymphs! 

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20 hours ago, NitroHydroRay said:

👍 Awesome

Thanks, I certainly think so! :D

17 hours ago, Dubia4Life said:

Excited to see some adults! Those look great!

Me too, hopefully should have some adults within a month or so, not actually sure how long these take to mature... 

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  • 2 weeks later...

One of the nymphs matured, it's a female! :D

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A true beauty! :D Turns out the nymphs produce a waxy substance all over their exoskeletons, similar to Porcellionides isopods and several desert Tenebrionids, which aids in preventing dehydration! These are the only roaches I know of that produce this substance, even the adults have a thin layer of it! There really isn't anything like these in Blatticulture, they are so unique, really glad to be working with them! 

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  • 4 weeks later...
6 hours ago, Auz said:

neat! I never heard of these, it's very interesting that they produce a waxy substance to keep them from dehydrating much like a blue death feigning beetle I assume? 

Yeah, they are a relatively new arrival to the hobby, and an obscure one at that. Yes, much like BDFBs and some other Tenebrionids, I believe the waxy coating aids in preventing dehydration, since they come from a very arid habitat. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Here's one of my super plump and probably gravid females, fingers crossed I get babies from her soon! :D

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  • 3 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

Here's a couple pics of a subadult male, you can really see the waxy coating well here:

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Very, VERY beautiful, I love that unique, waxy look they have. Are they friendly? I can't wait to see how they grow and develop over time. :)

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3 hours ago, Shon2 said:

Very, VERY beautiful, I love that unique, waxy look they have. Are they friendly? I can't wait to see how they grow and develop over time. :)

Thanks, me too, definitely one of the more unique species to enter the hobby in a while. :) I don't know exactly what you mean by "friendly" lol, if you mean to ask if they are calm, then not especially, they usually scurry away pretty quickly when disturbed. Thanks, hoping for babies here pretty soon! 😄

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9 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

Thanks, me too, definitely one of the more unique species to enter the hobby in a while. :) I don't know exactly what you mean by "friendly" lol, if you mean to ask if they are calm, then not especially, they usually scurry away pretty quickly when disturbed. Thanks, hoping for babies here pretty soon! 😄

Haha, I meant exactly what I said! :D

Some of the roaches I've helped care for at the Aquarium / the ones I keep myself seem to have little personalities... They come up for food and greet your hands when you lower them into the enclosure. Some will even groom your or eat from your hand instead of just grabbing the food and running. That being said... I don't have much experience with roaches as a whole and I wasn't sure if there were other species that acted like this, or if ours were just oddballs that are too used to people's interactions! 😂 Whatever the case, your new species is lovely and maybe they'll learn to calm down for you / any other visitors that might come take a peek. :D

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5 hours ago, Shon2 said:

Haha, I meant exactly what I said! :D

Some of the roaches I've helped care for at the Aquarium / the ones I keep myself seem to have little personalities... They come up for food and greet your hands when you lower them into the enclosure. Some will even groom your or eat from your hand instead of just grabbing the food and running. That being said... I don't have much experience with roaches as a whole and I wasn't sure if there were other species that acted like this, or if ours were just oddballs that are too used to people's interactions! 😂 Whatever the case, your new species is lovely and maybe they'll learn to calm down for you / any other visitors that might come take a peek. :D

Yeeeeaaahh I've never had any roach species that was actually friendly, what you are describing are hungry roaches that are very used to human interactions, and have learned said humans are what feeds them. 😂 I've had some species like Deropeltis sp. "Jinka" eat food while being handled, and several have tried taking nibbles out of me, especially when my hands smell like food, those are just calm, bold species and/or individuals that are accustomed to handling... Bantua sp. "Namibia" probably isn't going to be one of those species, while they aren't extremely skittish, their first instincts are definitely to bolt when touched or disturbed. 😅 I did have one female give me a nibble while I was holding her for a bit though.

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3 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

Yeeeeaaahh I've never had any roach species that was actually friendly, what you are describing are hungry roaches that are very used to human interactions, and have learned said humans are what feeds them. 😂 I've had some species like Deropeltis sp. "Jinka" eat food while being handled, and several have tried taking nibbles out of me, especially when my hands smell like food, those are just calm, bold species and/or individuals that are accustomed to handling... Bantua sp. "Namibia" probably isn't going to be one of those species, while they aren't extremely skittish, their first instincts are definitely to bolt when touched or disturbed. 😅 I did have one female give me a nibble while I was holding her for a bit though.

I guess my phrasing did push out a bit more anthropomorphism that I meant it to! 😂 At any rate, your collection is amazing. Also, sorry if I'm asking a lot of beginner questions (here or elsewhere), you just seem so knowledgeable and I'd rather ask than wonder. :)

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31 minutes ago, Shon2 said:

I guess my phrasing did push out a bit more anthropomorphism that I meant it to! 😂 At any rate, your collection is amazing. Also, sorry if I'm asking a lot of beginner questions (here or elsewhere), you just seem so knowledgeable and I'd rather ask than wonder. :)

Just a little bit lol, though there has actually been at least one study showing individual roaches do have varying personalities and tendencies... 😅 Thanks, I may be down to two species right now, but I think they're two pretty awesome ones! :wub:  And no problem, I'm happy to help! ;)

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30 minutes ago, Cariblatta lutea said:

Fingers crossed you get babies! 

Thanks man, hoping the females will start popping any day now! :D

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  • 1 month later...

Well I've gotten one small litter from one female, it appears I didn't provide enough ventilation for them to gestate properly, a common problem with Perisphaerinae... I've added MUCH more ventilation recently, so fingers crossed I get some normal, bigger litters soon! 😁

Anyways, here are some pics of the cuties, (who have since molted once):

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  • 2 weeks later...

Still no new litters, but things do appear to be moving in the right direction with the added ventilation, more females plumping up. :) Here's one of the males, there are still a couple in there that are alive and well:

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  • 1 month later...

My first clutch of six nymphs are all growing very well, they are all half grown already!!! :D Here's some pics of them:

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  • 1 month later...

The offspring from that first, small litter have started maturing, took them only about 3 months and a week... :o Here's one of the new adult females:

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At least five babies were born a few days ago, (the 10th to be exact), apparently smaller brood sizes of half a dozen are normal for the females' first litters, their subsequent litters are normally in the 10-15 range, (this based off data collected from four other breeders of this species).

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Fingers crossed more litters are on their way! 🤞😁

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  • Hisserdude changed the title to Bantua robusta "Namibia"

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