Alex Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Hello everyone. I would like to discuss captive husbandry of roaches smaller than a german roach per say. In my experience I have had minimal sucess in haveing kept them alive for more than a few weeks. I have used slightly ventilated cages with "seasoned substrate"(good decomposition and spring tails) with a gradient from 85 to 72 room temp. Here are pics of species I have failed to keep alive. Here is A gamma and I managed to get this spp to have ooths "but nothing ever came of them" A species I found on a mango branch has been doing well so far. Cheers everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Rousseaux Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Hi I've already tried to keep Ectobius species, and it failed... I think they need lower temperatures than other species, or something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted March 14, 2013 Author Share Posted March 14, 2013 Nicolas. What were the conditions in the container? And are they native to your area? if so have you tried keeping them outdoors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Rousseaux Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I tried to breed them in small boxes (2,5 liters) with the substrate I use in most of my tanks, so dead leaves mixed with rotting wood. I fed them with apples an pond sticks, the substrate wasn't dry, they had pieces of wood to hide. For the temperatures, it was in summer so probably something like 25-30 degrees... I think this failed because I had not enough roaches to start a colony (one or two roaches each time), maybe it was to hot as I said, and maybe bigger tanks would have been better. I tried with roaches from my area and from south of France. A few years ago, I brought Loboptera decipiens back from Greace. I had something like 10 roaches, put them in a 2,5 litters tank, breed them with a dry substrate, egg boxes to hide, and fed them with apples and pond sticks... I had loads of babies (one or two hundreds, can't remember), but the third generations failed and I lost them... A friend of mine told me about roaches in my area, looking like Loboptera decipiens, that he use to find when he looks for bugs for his collection. I'll try this summer to catch some of them with him and to breed them... Hope it will work this time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 I am surprised others haven't posted there experiences. I don't think you failed because you didn't have enough specimens, this post is actually about just keeping them alive in captivity, "not breeding them" I havent gone that far with micro blattids. Let me ask you why do you think a larger tank would have been better? Reason being I was emailing Kyle awhile back and touched the subject lightly, Kyle's finds that a smaller more controled cage has worked better for him in keeping micro blatta. But in my experience a larger cage has resulted in the longest lifespan "2 months". but my cages have a wide gradient of temps from 95 to 70. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I think container size is critical for keeping "micro-blatta". I'm currently working with small and large quantities of several small species and if I can get them to breed in my current, conservatively sized set-ups I think it will be a good step forward in terms of keeping them in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Rousseaux Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 In a bigger tank, you can control the molding and the temperaure more easily. I mean, in a little terrarium, if you're not aware, you can quickly get it totally dry, too hot or too cold... A little variation is really important, in a big tank, it take more time to change parameters. If you just meant to keep them alive, it's not so difficult, but those species don't live long. My aim in the hobby is to breed them, not just keeping them a live, that's why I said I failed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 About a month ago I received a hundred or so Cariblatta lutea. From previous experience with small Blattellids I set them up with the appropriate substrate and leaf litter but I made sure they were a little on the crowded side. Now I have hundreds of nymphs though most of the adults have died. If these nymphs continue to grow that would make this the first successful culture of less than one centimeter Blattellids that I have ever kept. The only problem I'm seeing so far is that the nymphs can climb and seem to get stuck in the Vaseline on the sides of the container, but since this container is also escape proof I just wiped off all the Vaseline. We'll see how much of a hell it is to get in there for tank maintenance but I feel that it will be worth it. I will be trying a similar set-up with hopefully as many E. pallidus in a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamboo Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Blaberidae sp. "Kenya" (Little Kenyan Roach) include as " Micro " ? I bought a colony from Kyle which are doing great !! I haven't really done anything special ... so far they are thriving. These are probably one of my favorite roaches in my collection. I'm still very new at the roach hobby so forgive me if " Kenya " doesn't include as " micro blatta " ..... thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Those are certainly the smallest roach in culture but for some reason the culture took very quickly and easily. I guess they could be considered "microblatta" but I think that term refers more to the tiny, quick Blattellids that are common in many places but have proven difficult to culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Rousseaux Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I think the problem is more about families such as Ectobiidae, that are very tiny. Blaberidae tend to be easier to breed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Great update fellas. My last few tiny blattids have died or just disintegrated into there enclosure. They are not too hard to find in low lands "soil under water" in spanish moss or native bromeliads. I have finally said too hell with it....When I get more time and resources I will try again. PS I kept that group with the bromeliad and just sat it inside the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Rousseaux Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I'll try this summer to start a colony of Ectobius or Loboptera, and share my results here. Maybe we will find a way to breed them by comparing our conditions, I really hope it will work for both of us... and for others who want to try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Its funny to think there are guys all around the world thinking "damn i cant get this tiny and absolutly useless cucaracha to breed!" For what its worth I think of them as little tiny easily dehydrated bags of water. The day its too dry they shrivel up and die. Yet I find these roaches sometimes on flowers or underside of leaves during a summer or spring day. But in winter they are nowhere to be found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Rousseaux Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 hehe... hardcore breeder! they lay ootheca before the winter, and ootheca survive under dead leaves and so on. You can see the first babies in spring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Good news! All of my "microblatta" that I have brought back from Florida (C. lutea and two unidentifed species) have successfully produced babies! Time will tell if they will grow and mature correctly in their set-ups! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannaking22 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Going to resurrect this thread just to see how things have gone? I'm sure there have been advances in knowledge in this particular area of keeping since the last posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Well a few small natives have been bred successfully, but for the most part these guys are still a huge pain to try to breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannaking22 Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Yeah I figured as much. Be nice if they were easier to keep. I've been thinking of trying a couple of these species, but would like as much info as I can get before jumping in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Well it really depends on the species, some like it dryer, some like it moist. Some may have to be kept separate as nymphs. They all have their own care needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannaking22 Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Geez, I didn't realize it could end up being that specific (other then some needing to be kept moist, others dry, etc.). The two species I was looking into getting were B. asahinai and B. nipponica, which seem to be two of the easiest to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisserdude Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Well they are Blattella, you really can't fail culturing most of those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannaking22 Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 That's what I like to hear lol. I'll be giving them a try then, so we'll see what happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cariblatta lutea Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 I'm curious if you were able to raise the specimen from the last pic to adult. I have a hunch that it's a nymph of Plectoptera poeyi but I'm not 100% sure about this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.