Zephyr's Amazingly Awesome Roach Thread

[Zephyr]

But I'm afraid I'm going to squoosh them! It's ok to put a bit of pressure on their sides to hold them? If I end up with roach guts on me I'm comin' after you!! lol

My advice is to grab them right between the pronotum *head shield* and the wings with your thumb and pointer finger, then simply turn the over under a light and look to see if the last abdomen segment is large or small.

[Lori P]

Male??



Female?? (She peed on me, Kyle... ewww lol)

[Zephyr]

Yep, male up top and female down below.
Just make sure you don't confuse a stripe of color, like on the second pic, with a separation in the segments.
You'll get used to it.
You'll be good enough to eventually just pluck them right up, flip'em over, and feed'em off, minus the "pee." :P

[reptileparadise]

I'm currently 'experimenting' with new 'roach / chicken' food.
Small pellets, meant for chickens. It should stimulate egg-laying in chickens but its without hormones (I'll have a look at the bagg later...)
I moisture the pellets, so that I can role a little ball of the stuf. Moisture and food, all in once...And the roaches love it!



This is within a minute...Everything was gone within 24 hours! So no mold, unwanted odors or mites
I've got mealworms in the colony to eat dead roaches and the small grain pellets from this type of food.

[Zephyr]

Hmm... Interesting.
I've noticed that adding dried hardwood leaves to colonies considerably increases the overall health of the colony.

[reptileparadise]

Hardwood as in
Hardwood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ?

Never heard of that, but I'm keeping that in mind...
Don't know if its mentioned in the thread before, but tabaco leaves can also be a very good mite repellent. Insecticides kill roaches and mites, Tabaco makes the mites flee

[Zephyr]

Hardwood as in
Hardwood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ?

Never heard of that, but I'm keeping that in mind...
Don't know if its mentioned in the thread before, but tabaco leaves can also be a very good mite repellent. Insecticides kill roaches and mites, Tabaco makes the mites flee

I've never had a mite problem, aside from a few hisser mites here and there. They're like african millipede mites and seem to cause no harm to the roaches.
As for hardwood, yes: norwegian maple, elm, etc are good leaves to use. However, if you can find oak, use it. It has the highest nutrient value, "bad" mold resistance, etc.

[Lori P]

Aaaahhhhh layer pellets... I have those here for the chickens and ducks... and I too use the non medicated. Interesting, I'll offer the roaches some! I did put some of the horse's grain in there last week.

Kyle... question... I'm having trouble with the tarantula getting the roaches, as they burrow and hide from her. I was wondering if I could "off" them and offer them to her pre-killed. What's the best way to whack a roach?? (Meaning, the most humane and gut-less way)

[Zephyr]

Aaaahhhhh layer pellets... I have those here for the chickens and ducks... and I too use the non medicated. Interesting, I'll offer the roaches some! I did put some of the horse's grain in there last week.

Kyle... question... I'm having trouble with the tarantula getting the roaches, as they burrow and hide from her. I was wondering if I could "off" them and offer them to her pre-killed. What's the best way to whack a roach?? (Meaning, the most humane and gut-less way)

Hmm...
I've never had this problem with my T's *Always grab the roach right from the feeding tongs. >>* I'd say freezing. Seeing as roaches are invertebrates, the freezing should also kill off any POSSIBLE parasites to your T.

[adamanteus]

I'm not sure, but I don't think a tarantula will take dead prey. Correct me if I'm wrong!