Keeping roaches contained

[christina1234]

Bought my first roach to try... Not used to roaches and am completely freaked out. They cannot bite me, right? Also, they can climb up the slick edges of the cup I have for my Panther, how do you contain them in the cage? My cham is not interested in it right now, but want to keep it in there so he can eat it at his leisure... What do you guys do?

 

[Montium]

Dubias don't climb very well or fly so I'm not sure what roaches you purchased. Unless you are in an area that won't allow them, they make easy feeders to raise. You can try Vaseline as a barrier in your roach container but for the cham enclosure I'm not sure what to suggest. As for biting, anything with mouth parts can bite. I had some horn worms trying to bite me today.

 

[tony19]

Use tape, the clear stuff

 

[Carlton]

Bought my first roach to try... Not used to roaches and am completely freaked out. They cannot bite me, right? Also, they can climb up the slick edges of the cup I have for my Panther, how do you contain them in the cage? My cham is not interested in it right now, but want to keep it in there so he can eat it at his leisure... What do you guys do?

The first thing I'd do is get used to handling an adult roach. If they are dubia roaches they won't be super fast movers and are pretty benign. I bet you'll get used to them fairly fast. They are interesting critters. The nymphs climb a little better than the adults, but none are great at it. Once in a great while one adult will attempt to fly, but the majority never do. I've never been bitten by one that I recall, or if I was it wasn't noticeable.

Instead of using a small cup for cage feeding I like to use a larger deeper critter keeper or plastic storage box. Then you could dab a little Vaseline around the rim if you really want to. I arrange a perch that goes down into the box (but doesn't reach the bottom) so the cham can climb down within shooting distance. If you put a little fresh gutload in the box the roaches tend to stay near it as long as they are not chilled or wet.

 

[Big Gulp]

Curious, why do you need to add Vaseline to the kritter keeper? Or tape? They cannot climb slick surfaces like glass/plastic (with no texture).

 

[christina1234]

They didn't have dubia so I was given a small hissing cockroach. Are they much different than Dubia? The one I was given is about an inch long.

 

[LookinRound]

Curious, why do you need to add Vaseline to the kritter keeper? Or tape? They cannot climb slick surfaces like glass/plastic (with no texture).

My experience (and I have 10k or so easily at the moment) is that the babies primarily, can climb the tubs if the humidity in the tub increases, or if there is debris on the sides. All my tubs I've put a rim of clear packing tape to help ensure they can't climb out even if these other conditions arise. I still get the occasional dubia that gets out and dies, but it minimizes it.


Regarding the males, they can't fly, but they can flutter some, so a top definitely helps keep them in.

 

[christina1234]

Can you help me understand how you use the clear packing tape? Do you put it perpendicular to the side of the container? Can you post a pic?

Thank you

 

[Olimpia]

Hissing roaches are a totally different ball game! Those suckers certainly do climb, and extremely well. Vaseline will keep adults from reaching the top but the nymphs can still climb it. I've never had a colony (they're illegal in Florida) so someone else will have to give you more pointers, I just know they are a little tough to keep in.

 

[Montium]

The hissers I dealt with, back when they were being sold at the big show here, I think it was in Orlando before it moved to Daytona. They can climb anything and are smooth like glass as babies. Discoids are a good feeder as well but are a bit slower to breed than Dubia.

 

[little leaf]

there is a product called " Slippery Feet " - I think one of the sponsors sell it ( not sure what one ) - but I hear even fr/ flies can not get a grip when you put this stuff on a surface - there is a vid/ on Youtube about it - I HATE my roaches