Rearing info for corydidarum magnifica/pygmea

[Kevinswither]

How would one rear them successfully? 

[Hisserdude]

They need enclosures with high humidity and high ventilation as well, they won't reproduce in a cage with stuffy, stagnant air. Fruits like apple and banana seem to be their favorite foods, you should offer a protein filled food like dog food or chick feed too, but fruits should be available at all times. For hides, smooth curved bark pieces seem to work the best, they will also bore into large chunks of rotten wood if you provide them with some, (not that they need wood in their diet though!). 

Hope this helps!

[Kevinswither]

8 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

They need enclosures with high humidity and high ventilation as well, they won't reproduce in a cage with stuffy, stagnant air. Fruits like apple and banana seem to be their favorite foods, you should offer a protein filled food like dog food or chick feed too, but fruits should be available at all times. For hides, smooth curved bark pieces seem to work the best, they will also bore into large chunks of rotten wood if you provide them with some, (not that they need wood in their diet though!). 

Hope this helps!

It does help. Doesn't the males mature way quicker than the females? 

[Hisserdude]

25 minutes ago, Kevinswither said:

It does help. Doesn't the males mature way quicker than the females? 

That's what I've heard, but my C.pygmaea all seem to mature at the same time, regardless of gender. The males do have a very short lifespan compared to females though, so you definitely want to start out with nymphs of the same age, (not SIZE, since male nymphs are much smaller than females of the same age), or adult pairs. Starting with a truly "mixed" age group could result in a bunch of unmated females.

[CockroachTV]

I can only speak for Corydidarum magnifica. 

It's almost the same as Corydidarum pygmaea. 

The males dies about 3 months after they reach adulthood. 

[mehraban]

On 09.12.2017 at 0:56 AM, Hisserdude said:

enclosures with high humidity and high ventilation as well, they won't reproduce in a cage with stuffy, stagnant air.

One of the most hard-to-make-and-maintain types of habitats in captivity, IMO. High-elevation type - cool, windy, with humid air and dry soil - is more tricky, but there're usually no roaches at 3500...5000m...

It's definitely not for small enclosures, the only way to keep it small is to put inside a large tank.

My colony of Cordidarum is thriving - very slowly increasing in number, from about a dozen mixed adults and nymphs in 2012 (WC brought from Cambodia) to slightly more than 40 adult females now. 

Usually they sit on the underside of pieces of bark, large dead leaves etc.,, but in my conditions they do not burrow. 

 

[Hisserdude]

12 hours ago, mehraban said:

One of the most hard-to-make-and-maintain types of habitats in captivity, IMO. High-elevation type - cool, windy, with humid air and dry soil - is more tricky, but there're usually no roaches at 3500...5000m...

It's definitely not for small enclosures, the only way to keep it small is to put inside a large tank.

My colony of Cordidarum is thriving - very slowly increasing in number, from about a dozen mixed adults and nymphs in 2012 (WC brought from Cambodia) to slightly more than 40 adult females now. 

Usually they sit on the underside of pieces of bark, large dead leaves etc.,, but in my conditions they do not burrow. 

Well it probably differs from species to species, my C.pygmaea are doing great being kept very humid, with a lot of ventilation. Which species of Corydidarum do you have? Would love to see some pictures, I'm obsessed with this genus, and really all genera in the Perisphaerinae!

[Kevinswither]

So what's the general care synopsis?

[Hisserdude]

High ventilation, warm temps, and lots of fruit, or a pollen substitute for some species, (like Corydidarum sp. "Yunnan").

[Kevinswither]

On 12/24/2017 at 6:42 PM, Hisserdude said:

High ventilation, warm temps, and lots of fruit, or a pollen substitute for some species, (like Corydidarum sp. "Yunnan").

For males of magnifica, I can just store them at room temp so the females can mature first right? Ditto with pygmea? 

[Hisserdude]

1 hour ago, Kevinswither said:

For males of magnifica, I can just store them at room temp so the females can mature first right? Ditto with pygmea? 

You can do that, however FYI, my C.pygmaea all seem to mature at almost the same time regardless of sex, just had another whole litter of nymphs mature this month, the males all seemed to mature a week or two before the females, but now the gals have caught up and there is a lot of breeding action going on!

If kept under the right conditions, I assume the same should happen to any C.magnifica nymphs you get, if they come from the same litter. If you get a "mixed" group though, with nymphs from different litters, I'd employ that trick of keeping the males cool until the females mature.

[stanislas]

Interesting info! 
I bought myself 10 Corydidarum magnifica nymphs yesterday. I keep them in an enclosure with moist coco peat and sterilized forest soil. I have provided pieces of bark.
For food I've put in some pieces of apple, some fish food and a mixture of fish food + oak leaves + grass hoppers (all powdered, whetted to a paste and smeared on a piece of bark). They prefer eating the latter stuff (paste on bark) and the apple pieces. 
Temperature is 72 to 77F (22-25C). Air is humid, but with adequate circulation. 
First observations: they mostly reside on the bark and are not inclined to walk over the soil. The first activity data that I have (motion detection) suggest that they are also active during the day? 
Any suggestions are welcome! And I'll share my experiences if anyone is interested! 

[Hisserdude]

13 hours ago, stanislas said:

Interesting info! 
I bought myself 10 Corydidarum magnifica nymphs yesterday. I keep them in an enclosure with moist coco peat and sterilized forest soil. I have provided pieces of bark.
For food I've put in some pieces of apple, some fish food and a mixture of fish food + oak leaves + grass hoppers (all powdered, whetted to a paste and smeared on a piece of bark). They prefer eating the latter stuff (paste on bark) and the apple pieces. 
Temperature is 72 to 77F (22-25C). Air is humid, but with adequate circulation. 
First observations: they mostly reside on the bark and are not inclined to walk over the soil. The first activity data that I have (motion detection) suggest that they are also active during the day? 
Any suggestions are welcome! And I'll share my experiences if anyone is interested! 

Nice, sounds like a good setup! I can't really stress enough how important high ventilation is for good growth, honestly a completely screened top might be best for them. 

Got any pictures of the beauties? 

[stanislas]

6 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

Nice, sounds like a good setup! I can't really stress enough how important high ventilation is for good growth, honestly a completely screened top might be best for them. 

Got any pictures of the beauties? 

Half of the top of the enclosure is screened, so I suppose that will provide enough fresh air. There is no condensation and if i wet things, they dry slowly, but steadily. 

Unfortunately no pictures yet (although their shiny looks 'begs' for taking pictures)

How fast do they grow and reproduce? 

[Test Account]

19 hours ago, stanislas said:

Half of the top of the enclosure is screened, so I suppose that will provide enough fresh air. There is no condensation and if i wet things, they dry slowly, but steadily. 

Unfortunately no pictures yet (although their shiny looks 'begs' for taking pictures)

How fast do they grow and reproduce? 

Hisserdude: “Just read in Orin's book that the females can give birth two to three times a year, and that they often will not give birth until six months to a year after all the males have died off.  Looks like I got a long wait ahead of me lol, at least I know they aren't giving birth because of bad husbandry on my part.”

[Hisserdude]

20 hours ago, stanislas said:

Half of the top of the enclosure is screened, so I suppose that will provide enough fresh air. There is no condensation and if i wet things, they dry slowly, but steadily. 

Unfortunately no pictures yet (although their shiny looks 'begs' for taking pictures)

How fast do they grow and reproduce? 

That should probably be enough ventilation then.

Well be sure to post pics as soon as you can take them, there's no such thing as too many Corydidarum pictures!

No idea how long this particular species takes to grow and breed, haven't bred them myself yet. I assume the rates will be comparable to that of C.pygmaea though. 

1 hour ago, Test Account said:

Hisserdude: “Just read in Orin's book that the females can give birth two to three times a year, and that they often will not give birth until six months to a year after all the males have died off.  Looks like I got a long wait ahead of me lol, at least I know they aren't giving birth because of bad husbandry on my part.”

Actually I've found that by increasing the ventilation greatly, I could cut down the gestation period to 3-4 months, which is apparently the natural time frame for this species, as I spoke to someone who lives in their native habitat, and he said they go through two generations a year. The lack of adequate ventilation was probably the reason mine were taking so long to give birth originally. Also they REALLY like boring into the rotten log and large wood chunks I gave them, which could be contributing to their faster development rates.