Lobster roach escapee!

[NERVOUS]

Yesterday, while harvesting Lobster roaches from my bug farm I inadvertently let one escape. Those of you that have experience with and/or knowledge of this particular species of roach know this is NOT a good thing!

I was holding an egg crate over their bin gently shaking it in hopes of 5-7 larger adults cooperatively falling into a small bucket I use to sort feeders. Well, during one of my very gentle up-swings one of the more adventurous adult Lobster roaches decided to make a run for it... And jumped off! It landed on the screen top of an adjacent Dubia bin and QUICKLY scurried off to the opposite edge where it fell to the ground (behind the table I use for my bug farm). My heart sank as I instantly realized what had just happened.

I frantically begin researching the Internet (in its entirety) for a possible solution. Within ~5 minutes I'm racing to the nearest store to buy glue traps and poison... You know, to prepare for the impending infestation!

This is where the story gets good... Fast forward several hours to my nightly spot check of the bug farm and much to my surprise, I look up from my bug bins (towards the rafters of my garage) and sitting right there on the wall just out of arm's reach is the escapee Lobster roach from earlier that day!

I must say, I've never delivered a more deliberate and forceful slipper slap than the one I gave this particular Lobster roach... Suffice to say, there's no longer an impending infestation of Lobster roaches at my house!

Now for the million dollar question, what is your preferred method or process for harvesting feeders like Lobster roaches (i.e. super fast, capable of climbing anything, semi-capable of flight, etc)? Please share.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

I have no advice for the methods to use for roaches... I do however, have a sort-of similar story regarding crickets today.

So I moved into my new place this weekend. Took all day Friday, and all day Saturday. The very last thing out of the place to go to the new place, was the chameleon cage and all the feeders and anything chameleon-related. I was trying to get my panther to come out onto my finger. Most days, like, probably 90% of the time, he will come out on his own, in less than 30 seconds. He has become pretty tame. But today was different. Idk if all the moving around and carrying stuff startled him or what, but he just wouldn't budge or want to come onto my hand. So I decided the "LURE-ME" method ;-) It's this thing where I take my arm, fully extended, and place one finger on a branch near the chameleon. I then will take an insect and place it on that same arm, up near my elbow - or, I will hold an insect in my other hand, but up near my elbow of the extended arm.

The chameleon sees it, and if he wants it, he has no choice but to come out onto the arm and crawl out the cage all the way to get to it.

So now, I needed a bug. I was reaching into my cricket bin to grab a cricket, to break it's legs, and use it as bait to lure my lil man out. So I'm reaching into the cricket bin and they all hopping around. Playing hard to get. So I take one of the cricket tubes out of the cage, the ones that are typically in a cricket keeper for them to crawl up into and hide, and I set it aside to make grabbing a cricket easier. I get one out of the bin, and go to smash his legs a tad, and he goes to jump out my hands. I was in my kitchen and didn't want it to escape under the fridge or something, so I jerked my hand to catch it....

That tube I set out and set up against the wall for just a second.... yea, I accidentally hit that, and it tumbles to the floor. So out of the tube thingy, comes running about 6-10 crickets. All jumping around my kitchen floor at this point, I smash the original jumper, and begin frantically playing cat and mouse with these hopping insects as they begin heading for under the cabinets, fridge, and dishwasher. I catch 3, my gf catches 4, and we saw at least one for sure crawl under the dishwasher. We waited around for about 5 min to see if the thing would come back out, but it never did. And that is only the one we saw.... There could of been others we didn't catch. I was too busy panicking to count.

So now that we are moved into our new place.... Somewhere out there.... In my old apartment..... Under a dishwasher..... Is a cricket. At least 1 cricket.

At least it's not here where I live now hahaha. And I sure hope the landlords at the old place don't find it..... Just what I need, is all that drama.... lol.



So I feel your pain @NERVOUS

 

[Jpatter123]

There's always at least one random cricket found in our condo.

 

[absolutbill]

I must say, I've never delivered a more deliberate and forceful slipper slap than the one I gave this particular Lobster roach... Suffice to say, there's no longer an impending infestation of Lobster roaches at my house!

This is the best description I've ever heard of the desperation involved with escaped feeders! A couple of years ago I thought I'd try discoids (I live in Fl, so that's my only option). I was ok when they were small, but I fed off the wrong ones and ended up with all huge males. I only fed them to my panther who would cup feed so that I could be SURE none escaped. One day Kosby shot 1 but got 2, and as I watched the one fell off his tongue and scurried to the bottom of the cage. I wrapped the bottom of the drain pipe in tape in the hopes of keeping it contained within his cage and not escape into the house.

Fast forward about 6 months. Neither my mother or I had fessed up to my husband, but one day I went into the reptile room to find the escaped discoid on the outside of Kosby's cage. And it was the size of my palm!!! I had to convince my husband it came in from outside for him to trap it and then I took it outside to kill it before it killed me. No more discoids for this cham keeper, that's for sure!

 

[chamsarecool]

I would assume all feeders insects will eventually end up around the house. The good thing about crickets is they generally just die without incident.

 

[NERVOUS]

I would assume all feeders insects will eventually end up around the house. The good thing about crickets is they generally just die without incident.

Given the reproductive rate I'm observing, I have very little doubt about N. cinerea (aka Lobster roaches, aka Spekled roaches) being capable of infesting a home in anything even remotely resembling a tropical climate. Let's not forget, these things are found to be thriving - in the wild - all around the world.

That's said, I've become VERY serious whenever I handle them, like laboratory serious... And I'm happy to report no additional escapee incidents! Since my initial post above I've changed my harvesting and feeding methods dramatically. The single biggest change I've made is the way I grab individual roaches. I had been grabbing them (using forceps) by their legs; which are very difficult to grab given how fast these roaches are. Fortunately, their wings (which are only found on adults) are comparably easy to grab... And they don't break off like legs do from time-to-time.

Additionally, I now use a separate dedicated bin that's been specifically prepared for harvesting purposes. I had been simply holding an egg crate suspended over their bin while trying to pick off individual roaches. This is a bad idea (because of the issue described in my initial post). Now I pull a single egg crate out and immediately move it to the dedicate harvesting bin. From there I'm able to target adults that are hiding face-down in the crevices of the egg crate. This face-down position perfectly exposes their wings for me to grab.

Alll of that scary stuff aside, I will say this about N. Cinerea... They're GREAT feeders for Chameleons. The adults are perfectly sized... They're super easy to gut load... And they breed like a plague!

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

It seems like the roaches are forcing their keepers to evolve!

 

[Andie]

It seems like the roaches are forcing their keepers to evolve!

HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's so scary, Matt.

I'm loving these stories. Most of my female friends think I'm bonkers for my critter hobby. The other day, one was asking me what I fed the chams. When I got to the part about raising silkworms & all that's involved, I watched her horror & her face as she just tuned out.....LOL!

I've learned to just say, "I feed them insects,". Which causes them to recoil, which pretty much ends the conversation.