Old craniifer Enclosure

[Roachman26]

When I moved my Blaberus craniifer colony into their new tub I found a bunch of these in the old tub. Are they aborted ootheca or does this species leave the empties laying around after the babies are born? I don't see these in my dubia or hisser cultures, but I though that might be because they eat them. The craniifer haven't been producing much and I wondered what they were doing in there. The adults all seem healthy and I've had a few nymphs mature into males ( I had all adult females for a while. ). There would be occasional babies, but few survived or grew. Hopefully, the new set up will alleviate this problem.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roachman26/4229207079/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roachman26/4229204037/

[Matt K]

Those are aborted ootheca that never fertilized or never retained until hatching. That happens when the roaches are under stress from too little or too much of something- food, water, air circulation, too dry too often, too hot or cold, etc.

[Roachman26]

Those are aborted ootheca that never fertilized or never retained until hatching. That happens when the roaches are under stress from too little or too much of something- food, water, air circulation, too dry too often, too hot or cold, etc.

I'd really like to know what the problem was. Here are the parameters: They had no substrate, but they haven't had any for the last 15 years in their original colony either.

Temp is 78-80 at night and I let it creep up to 85 on a warm day.

Food is a premium chicken and rice based dog food constantly available, floating turtle sticks( dry, in a little lid ), and at least one fruit or veggie (usually carrot, yam, orange or apple) at all times. Plus occasional bell pepper, banana, wheat bread, romaine, monkey chow and other stuff like that.

Clean water crystals at all times.

I also mist them once a day or twice if its really hot and dry. I spray the lid heavily and then the sides and lightly on the six egg flats. The droplets are mostly gone within 3-4 hours.

This is the same routine for all of my species and all the others seem to be doing great. Blaberus fusca and discoidalis, Blaptica dubia, Blatta lateralis, G. portentosa, E. posticus, and A. tesselata. My giganteus are just nymphs, but seem healthy to me. The giganteus and tesselata are on the same substrate that I just moved the craniifer to. Everything else has no substrate. I'm planning on moving the fusca to substrate soon.

Maybe I just mess with them too much. I crack open the lid to check the water crystals and food every two or three days. These craniifer seem really flighty and nervous. More so than my other species. I peel apart the flats to check baby status every 7-10 days. My roach room gets minimal foot traffic. The door probably gets opened 3 or 4 times a day except when I'm doing a project in there. (Like building new shelves or setting up new tubs)

I know its impossible to tell for sure over the internet, but any insight will be greatly appreciated. Sometimes, it seems, the tiniest little tweaks can make a big difference. There were about 30 of those aborted ootheca and it just kills me to think of how many babies that could have been.

[Matt K]

I'd really like to know what the problem was. Here are the parameters: They had no substrate, but they haven't had any for the last 15 years in their original colony either.

Temp is 78-80 at night and I let it creep up to 85 on a warm day.

Food is a premium chicken and rice based dog food constantly available, floating turtle sticks( dry, in a little lid ), and at least one fruit or veggie (usually carrot, yam, orange or apple) at all times. Plus occasional bell pepper, banana, wheat bread, romaine, monkey chow and other stuff like that.

Clean water crystals at all times.

I also mist them once a day or twice if its really hot and dry. I spray the lid heavily and then the sides and lightly on the six egg flats. The droplets are mostly gone within 3-4 hours.

This is the same routine for all of my species and all the others seem to be doing great. Blaberus fusca and discoidalis, Blaptica dubia, Blatta lateralis, G. portentosa, E. posticus, and A. tesselata. My giganteus are just nymphs, but seem healthy to me. The giganteus and tesselata are on the same substrate that I just moved the craniifer to. Everything else has no substrate. I'm planning on moving the fusca to substrate soon.

Maybe I just mess with them too much. I crack open the lid to check the water crystals and food every two or three days. These craniifer seem really flighty and nervous. More so than my other species. I peel apart the flats to check baby status every 7-10 days. My roach room gets minimal foot traffic. The door probably gets opened 3 or 4 times a day except when I'm doing a project in there. (Like building new shelves or setting up new tubs)

I know its impossible to tell for sure over the internet, but any insight will be greatly appreciated. Sometimes, it seems, the tiniest little tweaks can make a big difference. There were about 30 of those aborted ootheca and it just kills me to think of how many babies that could have been.

Based on your description of thier conditions its hard to tell what the problem was- were they too crowded maybe? I only move/open my bin of them once a week, but walk by them every day a couple times a day. I would agree that they are more skittish than other Blaberus sp., at least for me, so I would think that is normal for them.

Maybe I need more coffee and to think about it a bit. Nothing seems out of whack though.

[Roachman26]

Based on your description of thier conditions its hard to tell what the problem was- were they too crowded maybe? I only move/open my bin of them once a week, but walk by them every day a couple times a day. I would agree that they are more skittish than other Blaberus sp., at least for me, so I would think that is normal for them.

Maybe I need more coffee and to think about it a bit. Nothing seems out of whack though.

There are/were about 25 adults and 12 little babies in an 18 gallon tub. Let me know if anything occurs to you after some more coffee.

[Zephyr]

Humidity maybe?

Substrates are great buffers for humidity extremes.

[Matt K]

???

Maybe as you stated you "mess with them too much".... I have been guilty of that from time to time- they are like watching/waiting for water to come to a boil imo. Personally I have never had good results if I use no substrate at all....so I require it in all of my bins. But as I have told others before, husbandry techniques will vary somewhat from one region to another and from one household to another. In the end all you can do is ask questions until you run out, read what everyone else does, and draw a reasonable conclusion. After reading your posts on this forum I am confident you will solve the mystery soon... and hopefully post it so we all learn from what you find.

[Roachman26]

Humidity maybe?

Substrates are great buffers for humidity extremes.

They are on substrate now. What I'm wondering is; how will I know if this has solved the problem? Any babies that survive and thrive now will be hidden under the substrate. In six to nine months, I'll have a pretty good idea.