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natebugman

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About natebugman

  • Birthday 12/13/1975

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Dallas, TX
  • Interests
    Insect rearing, tarantulas, football, basketball

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  1. I currently use rat chow as food for my colonies, but it seems to attract mites. Does anyone use grain free dog food? Any advice is appreciated.
  2. I keep several colonies of pest roach species (German, American, Oriental, Turkestan) for my job. I have alot of problems with dead roach build up, which leads to an invasion of phorid flies in my containers. I was thinking about adding lesser mealworms and warehouse beetles to my colonies, but I'm concerned that they might consume oothecae. Anyone have any experience with this or recommendations for better cleaner crews?
  3. I have not tried Teflon tape. It's fairly expensive and I'm reluctant to spend that much without some idea that it will actually work. Have you tried Teflon tape? If so, what species was it effective for? Olive oil sounds like a runny mess.
  4. For my work, I keep colonies of German cockroaches. I keep them in sterilite tubs with the foam gasket to keep them from escaping. The problem comes when I open the container to do maintenance or collect for studies. They come boiling out of the container at me. I use the Fluon liquid (Insect-a-slip) and that slows them down but some can still defeat it and it wears away fairly quickly. I've tried Fluon grease (Contain Bug Barrier) which barely slows them down, though it does seem to work well for American cockroaches and hissers. Does anyone else rear German cockroaches and have a better solution? Does anyone have ideas?
  5. I have been using hot glue to secure my screens over ventilation holes, but when I wash the containers, the glue breaks away and my screens fall off. I then have to re-glue them before I can put roaches back in. I'm looking for a more permanent glue to use. I'm using a very fine metal mesh for my vent covers on those plastic gasket tubs. Does anyone have something better than hot glue that isn't toxic to the roaches?
  6. What size container would you recommend for the German roaches? I'm not using any substrate...it seems like it would make sorting of nymphs and cleaning more difficult. What are the advantages of substrate and what kind would you recommend? As for the silicone grease, I believe that is what the Contain Bug Barrier actually is.
  7. Rearing pest roaches (American, Oriental, German) is a part of my job. I've just recently taken over the assignment and am trying to improve the set ups of our roach colonies. I am having difficulty choosing containers and barriers that will work well for these colonies. Previously all of our colonies were in 10 gallon glass aquariums covered with stockinette. I found it difficult to do maintenance in these aquariums due to the stockinette. I am in the process of moving all of our colonies to plastic storage bins, but I am having difficulties with escapes and airflow. For the American and Oriental roaches I chose Hefty 72 Qt Lidded Plastic Storage Tubs (http://www.target.com/p/hefty-hi-rise-pro-72qt-plastic-storage-container/-/A-50262280?lnk=rec|pdpipadh1|related_prods_vv|pdpipadh1|50262280|1) with two 3" holes cut in the lid and one 3" hole in each end. Each hole is then covered with aluminum mesh mosquito screen. I coated the sides of each container with Fluon. The Americans have shown little difficulty overcoming the Fluon barriers. For the German cockroaches, I have placed them in 18 Qt Lidded Plastic pails with one 3" hole in the center of the lid. The hole is covered with a piece of very fine brass screen. I've coated the upper walls with Contain Bug Barrier (www.readyreptilefeeders.com). The hole in the lid seems insufficient for airflow, as the dry food I place in the containers becomes moldy very quickly. Also, the Bug Barrier only seems to slow the roaches escape when I open the lid to do maintenance/collect individuals. Does anyone have any recommendations, tips, suggestions? Does anyone have experience with these species?
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