New Pets and Questions! (G. portentosa)

[KitKatie]

Hello! I am super new to the hobby, just got my first culture(?) going and wanted to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Temperature: 70-90

Humidity: 50-82% (Its hard to keep it consistent in the desert, but I mist twice a day)

Food: Crushed up cat food and fruits and veggies, and they seem to eat the wood in the substrate

I do hear a lot of scrapping going on over the toilet paper rolls, should I put more in there or is that normal dominance stuff? Also, when they raise the end of their bodies in the air is that kind of a warning, like a get out of my space I don't like you type of thing?

(I keep the tank dark for the most part, my flash is very bright)

[Ralph]

Hi Katie! Your roaches look great, as does the enclosure. Food sounds fine, as do the temp. and humidity. The males will fight regularly, it's fun to watch and they are usually uninjured. The abdomen raising is either a threat or a mating invitation depending on who it's aimed at and the little details of the gesture.

[KitKatie]

That's totally interesting. I have one more question if you don't mind, but how often should I re-vaseline the top of the tank to prevent escapees?

[Ralph]

I don't think you'd ever have to re-vaseline it, assuming the first coat stays undamaged. There is a lid, right?

[KitKatie]

I don't think you'd ever have to re-vaseline it, assuming the first coat stays undamaged. There is a lid, right?

Yep, there is a lid. One of my roaches molted today but I don't think it survived, I'm going to give it a bit before I check on it but it isn't moving at all and it looks like its legs aren't holding it up, its just laying there. I hope its just being stealthy because its soft.

Edit: Its alive!

[Ralph]

They don't move much right after molting. A post-shed roach is surprisngly sturdy, I've had one who molted on a tall branch, fell off afterward, and turned out fine. But they do try to lay low and not get eaten or anything. It's a great process to watch!

[KitKatie]

I wish I could catch it, at least one other roach molted while I was sleeping! I have a water dish in there because the humidity isn't really that stable, it never falls below 50% though and I mist twice a day, is the water dish necessary? I've only seen one of them using it.

[Zephyr]

Generally speaking, it's very difficult to incorrectly house G. portentosa. The only problem I've ever had with the variety of containers I've kept them in is odor, and this comes from frass from a grain-based diet (especially dog food) accumulating on the floor of the enclosure and creating odor. The remedy is to remove frass weekly or feed an all fruit/veggie diet.

[KitKatie]

Is there an easy way to remove the frass? It seems like I would have to pull everything out of the tank and that would just be a pain.

[Ralph]

No real easy way, you just have to take everybody out and manually remove it. It's a good time to remodel the container though! My hissers never have much of a smell, but their main diet isn't dog food so idk.

[Zephyr]

You could keep them without a substrate. It's not all that necessary unless you like it for aesthetic reasons. It's harder to keep larger colonies maintained with substrate, though.

[KitKatie]

Yeah, this is a hobby tank so I like it to look pretty, haha, but I'll do whatever it takes for my roaches to be happy/healthy/not stinky. Plus, I love remodeling things! Since yesterday 3 more roaches have molted, very cool.

[KitKatie]

Oh no! It seems I have a mold outbreak after only 2 weeks! Unfortunately I can't handle this until the morning, but how do I prevent this from happening again? Just keep the tank less humid? I'm considering just ditching the substrate, but I like it, its all naturalistic and stuff!

[Zephyr]

Oh no! It seems I have a mold outbreak after only 2 weeks! Unfortunately I can't handle this until the morning, but how do I prevent this from happening again? Just keep the tank less humid? I'm considering just ditching the substrate, but I like it, its all naturalistic and stuff!

It's probably due to the citrus. The rind can mold over even if its stripped clean of fruit. Sometimes the frass will also mold if the environment is cool and moist.

[Roachman26]

G. portentosa will do just fine with dry conditions too. I've been keeping them in a room with very little humidity for 18 years. You can keep your substrate and just let it dry out a bit.

[Psydeus565]

I've found dropping about a half cup of water in a different corner every 3-5 days keeps the humidity just fine. As stated previously, they do just fine with dry conditions. My normal humidity is around 50-60. Also, what do you consider a mold outbreak? I've had some white fuzz show up on the frass after moistening the area around it, but it seems to do nothing and usually dries out fast.

[KitKatie]

It was definitely all over the frass, and I had to take out most of the substrate anyway because the mold went all the way down to the bottom (blue and white fuzz thick enough to hold the substrate together). I will definitely knock down the humidity a little bit because things mold here REALLY fast in general. Thanks for all the help guys!