Simandoa cave roach care

[Twilightroach]

Hello, so I was thinking of getting some simandoa cave roaches,Simandoa conserfariam, sometime soon but I don't know their care requirements. Are they similar to madagascar hissing cockroaches? Do they require a substrate? high or low humidity? what about temperatures? Anything in particular I should know about them? Are they hard to keep? how long do they live?

Thanks.

[Axolotl]

I've been rearing mine in a mix of coco fiber and decaying hardwood leaves. I added a bit of sphagnum moss to help retain some moisture. I let their enclosure go pretty dry, then spray with water until the soil is damp through all the layers. So far, so good. They do seem to enjoy small, tight hiding spots. Mine love to pack themselves together in a 1" wide birch bark coil. It's absolutely crammed in there. I feed them the same as hissers. They're not really picky. I keep them at 78-85F in a well ventilated plastic storage container.

Oh and I should mention that they are hella fast. You'll definitely need bug barrier! They are incredibly gorgeous, so well worth the work. Hope this helps! 

[Hisserdude]

They do seem to need a substrate, coconut fiber works fine, and they like things humid, not necessarily moist, just humid will work, (they aren't all that picky though). They like a somewhat roomy enclosure with lots of hides, if they get too crowded they start nipping each other's antennae a lot. Other than that, care is similar to hissers, the same diet will work for them, they breed at the same temperatures, they can climb so airtight lids are preferable, etc.

[Twilightroach]

On 9/15/2017 at 11:18 AM, Axolotl said:

I've been rearing mine in a mix of coco fiber and decaying hardwood leaves. I added a bit of sphagnum moss to help retain some moisture. I let their enclosure go pretty dry, then spray with water until the soil is damp through all the layers. So far, so good. They do seem to enjoy small, tight hiding spots. Mine love to pack themselves together in a 1" wide birch bark coil. It's absolutely crammed in there. I feed them the same as hissers. They're not really picky. I keep them at 78-85F in a well ventilated plastic storage container.

Oh and I should mention that they are hella fast. You'll definitely need bug barrier! They are incredibly gorgeous, so well worth the work. Hope this helps! 

 

On 9/15/2017 at 4:29 PM, Hisserdude said:

They do seem to need a substrate, coconut fiber works fine, and they like things humid, not necessarily moist, just humid will work, (they aren't all that picky though). They like a somewhat roomy enclosure with lots of hides, if they get too crowded they start nipping each other's antennae a lot. Other than that, care is similar to hissers, the same diet will work for them, they breed at the same temperatures, they can climb so airtight lids are preferable, etc.

What kind of habitat would be good for them? as in what kind of cage, that is secure enough to not let them escape? What kind of bug barrier would work?

Would a large plastic critter keeper type cage be sufficient? with egg crates and substrate?

[Hisserdude]

53 minutes ago, Twilightroach said:

What kind of habitat would be good for them? as in what kind of cage, that is secure enough to not let them escape? What kind of bug barrier would work?

Would a large plastic critter keeper type cage be sufficient? with egg crates and substrate?

You're gonna want something like this for them, with small holes or screen mesh added for ventilation. The nymphs could easily get out from a kritter keeper type enclosure, the holes are too big.

[All About Arthropods]

1 hour ago, Twilightroach said:

 

What kind of habitat would be good for them? as in what kind of cage, that is secure enough to not let them escape? What kind of bug barrier would work?

Would a large plastic critter keeper type cage be sufficient? with egg crates and substrate?

These are the cheapest containers I've found for the size and type. With these  you don't ever have to worry about the possibility of escapees......as long as the foam seal doesn't get chewed up. I would still recommend applying a thin layer of Vaseline around the top of the lid to prevent this chewing behavior from taking place along with eliminating the chance of any roaches escaping when the container is open.

Another escape problem that I believe to have found with one closely related species (Nauphoeta cinerea) is the ability to squeeze through standard mesh in first instar nymphs. I keep finding escaped lobsters in the room where they are kept in and, on multiple occasions, they have been sitting right on the outside of the mesh......so you can say that I'm 99.9% certain that this is their method of escaping. Not completely sure that S.conserfariam has the same ability, but their flexible body-makeup is certainly shared so unless the first instars are considerably larger, I wouldn't rule out the possibility.

[emmett]

just found out about these beauties, picking some up soon! thanks to everyone who answered twilightroach's questions!

[TheInv4sion]

3 year old thread 

On 11/24/2020 at 3:05 AM, emmett said:

just found out about these beauties, picking some up soon! thanks to everyone who answered twilightroach's questions!

 

[emmett]

2 hours ago, TheInv4sion said:

3 year old thread 

 

just trying to be nice :^/