Just a few bugs

[jamest0o0]

@Persnickety Parson's asked for it! These aren't all of my colonies, but figured I'd show off a few that I haven't posted before. Just got these pictures today while doing bugroom maintenance.

I've been having trouble uploading photos with the new changes so I'm going to try to add them all and then go through and explain which species they are.


Porcellio hoffmannseggi isopods, among the largest isopod species. They get up to about 2". They are massive for an isopod and dwarf even the largest giant canyon isopod(which are my favorite bioactive CuC). Care can be a little tricky, too much moisture quickly kills these dry-loving isopods.

Eublaberus distanti, similar to ivory head, pantanal, and orangehead roaches. Very meat, active, great feeders. These guys are burrowers, so you're not seeing hundreds buried in the several inches of soil.

P. Hoffmannseggi on my giant hand to give you an idea.

My Archimandrita tesselata(peppered roaches) which have exploded FINALLY. They are extremely cool looking in person and very big. Giant caves might look larger by length and wings, but these are thicker and close in length. Overall more interesting IMO. They love moisture, dead wood, leaves, and burrowing. Tons of nymphs in the soil, they are great eaters!

Ember roaches, I set a little trap to get an idea of how many are in there, they love staying burrowed and compost pretty much anything. Adults are about the size of crickets and make nice soft small feeders.

Dwarf hissers. Very similar to halloweens, just even smaller. Adults are small enough for most chameleons to eat. They are also softer bodied, very underrated as feeders.

Shadow roaches(another pycnoscelus, like ember and surinam), see ember roach info, same just black pretty much hah.

Adult peppered roach, should have gotten a better picture to show of their size. Camera also doesn't capture their amazing patterns/peppery color.

One of my giant hisser colonies. Hundreds in here, one of my cham's favorite feeders. Very easy to keep.

Ivory roaches(similar to other eublaberus like orangehead, pantanal, distanti, etc). There is about 5" of soil in there where every handful has nymphs. The adults tend to hang out on the top and the nymphs burrow most of the time. Very meaty, activr roaches, another favorite feeder of mine.

 

[jamest0o0]

My one large death's head colonies. Much like slightly larger discoids in activity and looks as nymphs, they make a fancy halloween-like feeder!

Couple pictures of a wide horn hisser. The largest hisser species. These guys are pretty massive insects and make cool pets/feeders for large reptiles. Nymphs are still small too. Somewhat new-er colony I've been working on, I only have several adults and some nymphs ATM.

Pantanal eublaberus roaches. Like the other eublaberus, these are fantastic feeders. Have been one of my go-to's for my Parsons this winter. Seem to have endless appetites and are super active. They literally tackle food I throw in the bin lol. Breeding pretty well too.

My large halloween hisser colony. Not a great picture, but there are hundreds in there. They were a little sensitive when I first started working with them and are now very hardy, breeding like crazy. Softer than most hissers and a manageable size while also looking really cool. This was one of my first 'unique' roach species that I got for looks rather than only for feeding(not too long ago I hated roaches as much as anyone!). I credit them with opening the door for my roach appreciation.

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

At last, I feel peace.

 

[Arpretty]

Can’t believe I am “loving” your posts about colonies and insects boy, the chameleon world does change some of us... beautiful bugs!!

 

[jamest0o0]

Okay I just finished typing a little about each picture

 

[NikkiA]

Awesome to see your lair! Thank you for sharing it with us!

I went from my husband doesn't really want roaches to having colonies from you that we rarely feed off because my kiddos love them (and I don't think they're too bad).

Today, we fed one off. The first one in months. My kids were sad and I was a little sad to feed it off too. Our hissers don't hiss for us, but this one did as it was being gobbled up. ☹ I never thought that I would like roaches, but there are much more interesting than I had realized.

 

[jamest0o0]

Awesome to see your lair! Thank you for sharing it with us!

I went from my husband doesn't really want roaches to having colonies from you that we rarely feed off because my kiddos love them (and I don't think they're too bad).

Today, we fed one off. The first one in months. My kids were sad and I was a little sad to feed it off too. Our hissers don't hiss for us, but this one did as it was being gobbled up. ☹ I never thought that I would like roaches, but there are much more interesting than I had realized.

Definitely one of the most misunderstood creatures. Extremely beneficial to life, more intelligent than you'd probably like an insect to be, and many of them look super cool. Their personalities and activity makes them a lot of fun to watch too.

Some species will even have intricate hierarchies with males guarding burrows and females bringing food to the nymphs.

 

[NikkiA]

Definitely one of the most misunderstood creatures. Extremely beneficial to life, more intelligent than you'd probably like an insect to be, and many of them look super cool. Their personalities and activity makes them a lot of fun to watch too.

Some species will even have intricate hierarchies with males guarding burrows and females bringing food to the nymphs.

I fully agree! Once we saw how they interacted with one another and with us we started seeing them in a different light. They really are interesting creatures.

My favorite are the Ivory roaches. I have not fed one off since I first purchased them from you. They are beyond interesting. I also find them very beautiful when full grown. Who would have thought I'd get sentimental about roaches?

 

[jamest0o0]

I fully agree! Once we saw how they interacted with one another and with us we started seeing them in a different light. They really are interesting creatures.

My favorite are the Ivory roaches. I have not fed one off since I first purchased them from you. They are beyond interesting. I also find them very beautiful when full grown. Who would have thought I'd get sentimental about roaches?

Yes they are, a lot of these roaches compost stuff nicely too. They make a rich soil/fertilizer.

I also feel bad feeding them off

 

[Madmango]

Wow that was a great series of pictures in the tidbits of information we’re great. You really take fantastic care of you insects
I hope I don’t become attached to them it’s hard enough feeding silkworms and then the moths to my big chams. My kids tell me that the chameleon needs them more then I do.

 

[GrayMadder]

View attachment 294100
My one large death's head colonies. Much like slightly larger discoids in activity and looks as nymphs, they make a fancy halloween-like feeder!
View attachment 294099View attachment 294098
Couple pictures of a wide horn hisser. The largest hisser species. These guys are pretty massive insects and make cool pets/feeders for large reptiles. Nymphs are still small too. Somewhat new-er colony I've been working on, I only have several adults and some nymphs ATM.
View attachment 294102
Pantanal eublaberus roaches. Like the other eublaberus, these are fantastic feeders. Have been one of my go-to's for my Parsons this winter. Seem to have endless appetites and are super active. They literally tackle food I throw in the bin lol. Breeding pretty well too.
View attachment 294101
My large halloween hisser colony. Not a great picture, but there are hundreds in there. They were a little sensitive when I first started working with them and are now very hardy, breeding like crazy. Softer than most hissers and a manageable size while also looking really cool. This was one of my first 'unique' roach species that I got for looks rather than only for feeding(not too long ago I hated roaches as much as anyone!). I credit them with opening the door for my roach appreciation.

Incredible!!

 

[jamest0o0]

Wow that was a great series of pictures in the tidbits of information we’re great. You really take fantastic care of you insects
I hope I don’t become attached to them it’s hard enough feeding silkworms and then the moths to my big chams. My kids tell me that the chameleon needs them more then I do.

Incredible!!

Thank you both, glad you liked it!

I talked about doing videos months back, never got around to it, but it's still in the plans lol. Would be cool to have a feeding video, especially when they all come out knowing it's feeding time before I even put food in.

 

[GrayMadder]

Thank you both, glad you liked it!

I talked about doing videos months back, never got around to it, but it's still in the plans lol. Would be cool to have a feeding video, especially when they all come out knowing it's feeding time before I even put food in.

Would be really neat to see! Should def do this!!
It's really impressive to see so many different types! I could never in a million years pull this off. haha.

 

[MissSkittles]

Wow! Finally @jamest0o0 that you share some info about your buggies! That pic with that monster roach on your hand though...that’s a big nope for me. I’ve evolved to being able to touch my baby roaches, but the adults are still too icky to me. I do enjoy watching them and trying to figure out their behaviors and patterns. It’s interesting that you mention that some stand guard. My discoids always have some that don’t seem to leave the higher cork pieces when it’s feeding time. I tend to anthropomorphize so have thought of them as guards. I also noticed a couple hanging out by a freshly dead adult for a few minutes (ignoring the food) and created a little thought that they were paying their respects. As icky as roaches are, they are quite fascinating.

 

[Pickle-cham]

Bug city compared to my village going to upgrade my locust keep and have ago at breeding them other staples silkworms my new venture and calciworm hatchery. I only get roaches now and then, wanting to get a roache colony but still not decided which one. She wasn't overly keen on the dubias that i hoped would be a staple. What would be your recommendation on low maintenance non flying but irresistible roaches?

 

[jamest0o0]

Wow! Finally @jamest0o0 that you share some info about your buggies! That pic with that monster roach on your hand though...that’s a big nope for me. I’ve evolved to being able to touch my baby roaches, but the adults are still too icky to me. I do enjoy watching them and trying to figure out their behaviors and patterns. It’s interesting that you mention that some stand guard. My discoids always have some that don’t seem to leave the higher cork pieces when it’s feeding time. I tend to anthropomorphize so have thought of them as guards. I also noticed a couple hanging out by a freshly dead adult for a few minutes (ignoring the food) and created a little thought that they were paying their respects. As icky as roaches are, they are quite fascinating.

Hahaha, that hisser on my hand even had me a little iffy. Thinking if that girl bit me, it wouldn't be fun. Luckily hissers and most roaches are not bitey at all.

Could be the case, glowspots are known for having some of the most interesting community behavior. Having tunnels with males guarding the entrances and nymphs below with females caring for the nymphs. The largest roach species(rhino roaches) I hear have really cool nurturing behavior to their young.

You're among so many others that got roaches and started to find appreciation in them. They have become some of my favorite insects for sure. The colors and patterns on some species can't be beat, pair that with their interesting behavior...

 

[jamest0o0]

Bug city compared to my village going to upgrade my locust keep and have ago at breeding them other staples silkworms my new venture and calciworm hatchery. I only get roaches now and then, wanting to get a roache colony but still not decided which one. She wasn't overly keen on the dubias that i hoped would be a staple. What would be your recommendation on low maintenance non flying but irresistible roaches?View attachment 294155

Roaches like pycnoscelus and then red runner make nice cricket replacements. Adult male red runners will sometimes fly a little though. It's not bad, but I understand the concern lol.

For a meaty, staple roach. I'd probably go for something from the blaberus(discoid, deathshead, dusky cave, etc) or eublaberus which are probably my current favorite feeders(ivory, pantanal, distanti, orangehead). All of these are much more active than dubia and catch my cham's eye.

TBH, most roach species you could make work as feeders with some patience getting the colony started. If you have a hard time dealing with roaches, I'd just pick whichever one slightly interests you the most so it's a little more 'enjoyable' and then go from there. Like halloween hissers were my first roach purchase simply because they were unique and interesting. I never had anything like them before. After keeping them for a while I started to appreciate other species and added more. And BTW halloween hissers are popular with my chams too, they don't get too big and are softer than other hissers.

 

[Pickle-cham]

Roaches like pycnoscelus and then red runner make nice cricket replacements. Adult male red runners will sometimes fly a little though. It's not bad, but I understand the concern lol.

For a meaty, staple roach. I'd probably go for something from the blaberus(discoid, deathshead, dusky cave, etc) or eublaberus which are probably my current favorite feeders(ivory, pantanal, distanti, orangehead). All of these are much more active than dubia and catch my cham's eye.

TBH, most roach species you could make work as feeders with some patience getting the colony started. If you have a hard time dealing with roaches, I'd just pick whichever one slightly interests you the most so it's a little more 'enjoyable' and then go from there. Like halloween hissers were my first roach purchase simply because they were unique and interesting. I never had anything like them before. After keeping them for a while I started to appreciate other species and added more. And BTW halloween hissers are popular with my chams too, they don't get too big and are softer than other hissers.

I'll keep an eye out for them not seen them in uk so far ive found dubia, banana, pallid, lobster, hissing and red runner roaches but most are unavailable at the moment unfortunately only the dubia & pallid in stock

 

[nightanole]

Guess we can turn this into James's bugs appreciation

thread...

 

[jamest0o0]

I'll keep an eye out for them not seen them in uk so far ive found dubia, banana, pallid, lobster, hissing and red runner roaches but most are unavailable at the moment unfortunately only the dubia & pallid in stock

Ahhh yeah, I've heard pallid are basically like smaller lobster roaches so I never bothered with them. I'd get some red runners for sure next time they're available. Or any of them really, depends how much variety you want.