Andee

So i had a massive die off adult peppered roached which is kind of normal, these adults were older. My nymphs are doing okay, but i will likely end up buying more to pad out later. However, just found a molted adult who had been cannibalized. Pieces of leg, carapace and wings all eaten. Poor thing. Anyone have any advice? I have never noticed them doing this before but that doesnt mean much. Sometimes i just dont see things like this i just assume its a vad molt since these guys can be fussy occasionally. But now im worried i have someone eating molters.

Ive been gone for ages, think its been about... 3-4 years. I had a big problem with my inverts due to location movement, unstable temps and ant invasions and i just couldnt bounce back from losing all my colonies and pets. But im back and ready to dive on in. Nice to be here again!

lol if I could afford them right now and trusted my current set up I would. Right now I have just set up my old GBR with a cleaner crew who will hopefully destroy any mold problems. I have been having too much of it lately.

Alright cool, will have to grab some soon! Thanks so much guys ^^

Thanks! that is great to see all the sizes together like that. I have been trying to decide which to get as a feeder so it's been annoying trying to decide between color or size... would you say (since I know pictures screw up colors so bad) that the speckled strain is relatively green compared to the whites? And don't worry my feeders and etc, are spoiled to the high heavens. They may be fed off in the end but they are all living creatures <3

Do you have a good idea on how large these guys are? Closer to the P. Niv (giants?) or P.Nivea

I view anything with animal protein (fish food, dog food, cat food, etc.) not good for most species of roaches. Most tropical species of roaches are naturally frugovirous (can never spell that right) and should eat plant matter mostly. High amounts of animal protein on a regular basis cause uric acid to build up regularly in their system. They are meant to do that when they eat animal protein, so in the wild they rarely run across it and only eat a little bit at a time. When they are fed it on a regular basis it causes something akin to liver damage and kidney damage from the amount of fat that builds up in the in what would be their liver and the crystals that would build up in what is equal to their kidney. In other words they live shorter lives when on a diet of high protein. I make my own plant based roach chow, and feed fruits/veggies for water. Though most species of my roaches are feeders, I feed all of my roaches a healthy diet because I believe making everything I keep healthy and happy until the end of it's life. And it's not hard to provide a high protein diet with just plant material. I have a complete protein in my roach chow that is just grain based.

lecole4: I do love my BTS a lot, though right now he has mites, we think he came with them since he had the signs early on I just didn't recognize them for what they were at the time. So he's undergoing treatment (has been to the vet and stuff) and is iso'd from everyone else .___. poor guy. He is my little puppy dog in lizard form, he's grown from 64 grams to 95 in a month. He's getting so big <3

I feed a lot, I feed two leopard geckos, one panther cham, 30 hermit crabs, one blue tongue skink and occasionally feed my friends salamander when I am watching him... since he never gets roaches otherwise XD

As in use oak or some other roach friendly type of wood (I always use oak) and then sanitize it by putting it in hot water soaking it for a while, then baking it in the oven at 200-225* F for like 30-40 minutes.

I wouldn't be surprised, they do best at 80-90 degree temps, though this is a very broad range because I can't remember the exact number at the moment. But the thing is with that much body heat from the roaches and decomposing frass and such, it probably was adding heat issues. Do you have screening in the lids or sides?

Ok I will add a weekly misting to the fruit intake just in case. Just to be on the safe side. Thanks guys ^^

With all my other roaches, I just give them fruits like oranges and they get enough water from it. But with hissers (which I have just gotten three of) I am unsure as a lot of sources say to give them a small water bowl? Do I need to give them extra water, like water crystals or something?

Do you have enough ventilation in their enclosure? THat's what was wrong with mine, and I noticed when it started getting hot that they died rather quickly.