Oxyhaloa duesta - a really fun roach!!

[ArtBug]

Oxyhaloa duesta's have rapidly become some of my favorites. They spend time above ground, run around a lot, climb their habitat decor, and tell each other jokes. It seems as they get more used to their surroundings they tend to be out quite often during the day. This is good because mostly my kitchen looks like I have a really great collection of dirt!

They are clever climbers and a THIN coat of Vaseline has kept them from getting out. (One went to Dennys with me in my purse one day! Oops. . .)

I just LOVE these little guys

[windward]

They are neat looking. The fast breeding and not knowing what I would do with eventual large numbers of them keeps me from getting any.

If anyone had see your roach at Denny's you could have pretended it was not yours and see if you could get a free meal. lol

[ArtBug]

They are SO small! The roach that was in my purse was a nymph about the size of a ladybug. They don't even look like roaches to the "untrained" eye! The nymphs are little roundy black things with red heads.

It got out of my purse and crawled up my arm before I could grab it. So I sat there quietly in Denny's while my little bug crawled all over me! I finally trapped it in my aluminum wallet and got it home safely.

[windward]

I typically carry a little plastic vial for random collecting opportunities. Handy, but then I'm a bit odd.

Years ago I was with someone else who was eating at a local KFC. I had brought in different food of my own. While sitting there a male german roach creeped out of hiding and slowly made his way towards me. Apparently my food smelled delicious (veggies, maybe?). I was tempted to share.. eating KFC everyday would be gross. Everyone around us did see the roach - people got up and left.

That's amusing, and good, that you were able to catch the tiny nymph in the end. I wonder if Denny's smelled so good that it just couldn't stay in a nice dark purse?

[nirotorin]

I plan on getting some O. duesta later this year. It's such a cool looking species. Plus I hear they make great feeders.

And yeah you totally could have gotten a free meal at Denny's. I wouldn't have attempted it, but it would definitely work.lol

[Bamboo]

I wish I could get rid of mine , LOL .... no matter how tight of a container I have them in , babies always get out and I find them on or in almost all my other roach containers .... I guess I just like all the medium to large Blaberus species.

[windward]

Well there weren't any (alive) in with the orange heads. EIther the ravenous little beasts ate them or the O. duesta didn't try to stay in that bin. Honestly, seeing them go everywhere on Bamboo discouraged me from this species, for now.

[Guest]

I've been thinking about starting up a colony of these. They seem easy enough and would be a great addition. I'm curious as to how other people keep theirs.

[thesavageprojects]

I had these. I prefer non-climbing. But if they do climb that they be larger as I us my roachs for feeders. And my rack systems are not secure enough for these guys. While I had them I enjoyed them immensly and found their appearance enchanting.

[ArtBug]

Mine are in a 10 gallon aquarium. There is a 2-inch, thin spread of Vaseline all around the top. I also have a piece of sheer curtain on the top weighted down by a regular tank lid. The lid has foam tape all the way around the inside that seals off all of the gaps.

There are some great videos of these guys on Youtube. They are day-active, stay above ground, and are endlessly entertaining! They like to hide - but I always see a few of them hanging out in the open. I haven't landed on their favorite food yet - but I haven't killed them - so they must be eating whatever I throw in there!