My last post here - a SERIOUS concern about roaches

I suppose we shouldn't have all started commenting on it-- but as said above, he pretty much said everyone steered him wrong about roaches which I don't think is the case. But whatever what's done is done
 
Franquixote said:
I'm not sure what you want me to say, James has a man crush on Brody and it borders on obsession how much he inserts himself into any conversation even when Brody is even tangentially involved- PMing me about how great Brody is when I was trying to find a new home for my cham and such.

OCD, no, but probably ADHD with hyper focus on things. Not insulted by that, I live with it and it's not really appropriate to use it as ammo since it's not something I can help.

There is nothing normal in the eyes of 99% of the world's population about living with large insects as house guests. It doesn't make me a "sissy" to take other people- especially my family- into consideration. They have put up with an awful lot on account of my interests. The first was when a BBF escaped and got into the ceiling where it laid eggs on rodent droppings and a month later large maggots were dropping out of the drop ceiling into our clean laundry.
My wife didn't "freak out" (to her credit) and has supported my hobbies including not only the roach colonies but also things like 5 gallon pails of black worms for a decade.

The point of my post was to clear up the false information I was given by members of this community that dubia roaches would die within a month or so of escape.

Of course they can't hurt you, but as I said the vast majority of people of people are not OK having cockroaches in their homes. I understand that fear is unfounded but again that's not the point.

The issue arises in the scenarios I described- leaving a rental with roaches so the next tenant feels uncomfortable, having large insects making an appearance when you have houseguests, or otherwise imposing your hobby on others that don't know if the bugs can bite or are a sign of living in filth, or just causing discomfort in others.

I KNOW that Dubias are relatively clean and harmless, but I made it clear from the start this wasn't about ME.

With that, I don't feel the need to check on this again and am logging out.
Thanks again to all that helped me along the way.
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Why did you get a chameleon in the first place ?? I guess you had not considered your family to begin with , Hmmmmm they eat bugs . You chose roaches over how many other bugs !!. You say because someone told you they only live a few weeks . You chose to bring them in your house . Did you think of your family at that point NO That’s Obvious. You come to a chameleon forum with this big roach crisis . Poor me oh and WARNING !!. I do believe fairies like sparkles . I prefer pink sparkles !!.
 
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I've been watching...

Now my 2 cents...

I have discoid roaches in my garage that Raistlin decided (right after ordering a bunch more) that he no longer likes. Yes, at the holidays I decided not to keep them inside for my guests to see. But the bigger issue is that they do not die. No water or food, and they will not die. Not reproducing, but very much alive.

Many have said there is no problem with infestation, and I agree, but think about the original point of the thread.

Why some need to take things to the level of insults is bothersome. We are not on Facebook and many can't see how we are different on this site. You are having an impact on participation; a negative one. Many do not participate like they used to because of the very way this thread went wrong. It is not OK.
 
Decadancin said:
I've been watching...

Now my 2 cents...

I have discoid roaches in my garage that Raistlin decided (right after ordering a bunch more) that he no longer likes. Yes, at the holidays I decided not to keep them inside for my guests to see. But the bigger issue is that they do not die. No water or food, and they will not die. Not reproducing, but very much alive.

Many have said there is no problem with infestation, and I agree, but think about the original point of the thread.

Why some need to take things to the level of insults is bothersome. We are not on Facebook and many can't see how we are different on this site. You are having an impact on participation; a negative one. Many do not participate like they used to because of the very way this thread went wrong. It is not OK.
Click to expand...

You also live in florida ;) OP lives in NJ(I think)
 
jamest0o0 said:
A little thing to add too. Dubia are pretty indestructible, even for roaches(that said, good luck finding a case where they infested), but there are plenty of roach species that are even more sensitive than our chams. If you're that worried about something surviving, maybe try a unique species that will die pretty soon after should it escape.
Click to expand...

"Killed one" yesterday by basically ripping its damn head off and fed it to the C. Murina living in the substrate for a protien boost. Found it this morning munching on the sweet potatoe i left in the bottom of his feeder cup for left over feeders...
 
I would like to add for any new potential roach farmers among us, I accidentally confirmed that dropping the temperature of my dubia colony into the low/mid 70's STOPPED the production of all new roaches. Once I corrected the temperature issue, the females immediately began producing again. Yes, they were alive and seemed happy in the 70's but NO BABIES WERE PRODUCED. This is something to keep in mind as well when breeding them as feeders for small collections. I maintain my roach colony using a Herpstat temp controller with overhead ceramic heater and can dial production up or down by adjusting the temperature from the low/mid 70's to 95 or more.

They will be able to breed in Texas in the summer but the winter and/or standard AC temperature home will do them in eventually.
 
Franquixote said:
I was fed misinformation. I know they can't harm me and we live with lots of NATIVE wildlife. This is different for a variety of reasons. Anyone renting for example would have to be pretty selfish to impose their hobby on future tenants. Just 1 example.
Click to expand...
If you can't handle the heat, stay out the kitchen.
tbh, Escapees come with the package. I've had all kinds of roaches escapees, from Dubias to red runners.. Haven't seen them again. They probably went ghost and are planning retaliation, but who knows.
 
I found all sorts of dubia burrowed in the soil of my cham cages while cleaning them this weekend. DIdn't phase me at all... but when I dropped one out of a piece of cork bark onto my kitchen floor - I did panic a little. Nothing a shop vac can't handle!

I also threatened a convict cricket that was hiding in the leaf litter and tried to make a run for it... I literally said "it looks like it's you or me, pal..." and then turned on the shopvac to suck him up. It literally jumped OVER the vacuum nozzle and ONTO MY FREAKIN HAND. I screamed and flailed like the girl that I am and ran out of the room (vacuum still running and cricket somewhere in my living room). So I guess moral of the story is suck them up and if all else fails, run like hell?
 
salty dog said:
I use glue traps to get escaped insects from going where I don't want them to go, I also have predatory insects free range to eat the escapees where they are kept
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Brodybreaux25 said:
So you’ve just got like packs of wild praying mantis shock and awe troopers just running loose in your Cham room?

You just became my hero.
Click to expand...
Agreed, but where you lead I cannot follow.
 
Franquixote said:
There is nothing normal in the eyes of 99% of the world's population about living with large insects as house guests. It doesn't make me a "sissy" to take other people- especially my family- into consideration.
Click to expand...

Umm what? You seem to have a very sheltered life in a nice area of a very big city, that must be sprayed with serious amounts of pesticides at all times.

Outside of Escapees, we get Black Crickets which are double the size of any cricket I feed. We get Mice, we get Black Widows, We get Brown Recluse, We get Wolf spiders the size of half dollars, and forest Ts the size of baseballs, we get Ants, smaller spiders, a beetle from time to time, you name it.

Those are not things we keep, but they are in our home. That's called living on planet Earth where we share this world with other lifeforms.

Now, granted I live in the middle of a forest town, with trees all around. However my days in the big desert city, were not much different.

We got scorpions, centipedes, American cockroaches, Black Crickets, Black Widows, Turkistan Cockroaches, beetles, and even some of those small white almost see through geckos would get in from time to time.

Now I get that adding to what is already naturally around, because you have wild bugs in your house whether you like it or not. Maybe isn't that ideal.

However the reactions to escapees, that you and your family seem to be having. Is uncalled for, and a spoiled foolish attitude. We share this earth, teach your children that. Teach your children they won't harm them, and are just trying to be alive same as you. I am not trying to insult you, or your family in anyway shape or form. Simply stating that dealing with bugs in your house, is a pretty normal part of life.

salty dog said:
I use glue traps to get escaped insects from going where I don't want them to go, I also have predatory insects free range to eat the escapees where they are kept
Click to expand...

Those actually worked for you? I tried to use those to deal with an ant problem in my Viv couple weeks ago, caught 1 ant :(. Ended up having to (very fearfully) break out the borax liquid bait. Thankfully my cham didnt eat enough of the ants to be hurt it seems, I did catch him I think eating a few of them, pre and post ant trap, but he seems fine. They were the small Odorous ants, so he would have had to eat ALOT of them to have any ill effects I think.
 
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cyberlocc said:
Umm what? You seem to have a very sheltered life in a nice area of a very big city, that must be sprayed with serious amounts of pesticides at all times.

Outside of Escapees, we get Black Crickets which are double the size of any cricket I feed. We get Mice, we get Black Widows, We get Brown Recluse, We get Wolf spiders the size of half dollars, and forest Ts the size of baseballs, we get Ants, smaller spiders, a beetle from time to time, you name it.

Those are not things we keep, but they are in our home. That's called living on planet Earth where we share this world with other lifeforms.

Now, granted I live in the middle of a forest town, with trees all around. However my days in the big desert city, were not much different.

We got scorpions, centipedes, American cockroaches, Black Crickets, Black Widows, Turkistan Cockroaches, beetles, and even some of those small white almost see through geckos would get in from time to time.

Now I get that adding to what is already naturally around, because you have wild bugs in your house whether you like it or not. Maybe isn't that ideal.

However the reactions to escapees, that you and your family seem to be having. Is uncalled for, and a spoiled foolish attitude. We share this earth, teach your children that. Teach your children they won't harm them, and are just trying to be alive same as you. I am not trying to insult you, or your family in anyway shape or form. Simply stating that dealing with bugs in your house, is a pretty normal part of life.



Those actually worked for you? I tried to use those to deal with an ant problem in my Viv couple weeks ago, caught 1 ant :(. Ended up having to (very fearfully) break out the borax liquid bait. Thankfully my cham didnt eat enough of the ants to be hurt it seems, I did catch him I think eating a few of them, pre and post ant trap, but he seems fine. They were the small Odorous ants, so he would have had to eat ALOT of them to have any ill effects I think.
Click to expand...
I love it when you decide to randomly pop back up from The dead just to stir the pot once more!
 
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