Need roach help!

MissSkittles

MissSkittles

Chameleon Enthusiast
OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!! I was just finishing setting up Kali’s big girl (bioactive) enclosure and it was time to add one of the small bin of isopods I’ve been keeping. As I’m just dumping the whole bin in, I noticed Surinam roaches! Apparently they’ve been having a good time breeding in with my isopods! As I’ve had the bin of isos for well over a year, I’m guessing the Surinams had time to make a decent sized colony...which is now in Kali’s enclosure! I need help! Do I just leave the roaches there and pray they don’t infest my house or do I take down the whole enclosure and start fresh? Keep in mind I live in Florida. I am so freaking out right now. @jamest0o0 @Persnickety Parson's @Hisserdude @Kaizen
 
American Horror Story Burn GIF by AHS
 
MissSkittles said:
Yes! That’s how I feel! I put so much work into getting Kali’s enclosure put together though and used the last bits of some things, that I’d hate to have to start fresh.
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Surinams are the ones that breed like crazy and can climb anything right? Maybe @snitz427 would have some ideas.

:oops:

I feel your frustration. Heck I freak if Beman drops one dubia down into the cage. I go on a hunting mission for extraction. :hilarious:
 
Beman said:
Surinams are the ones that breed like crazy and can climb anything right? Maybe @snitz427 would have some ideas.

:oops:

I feel your frustration. Heck I freak if Beman drops one dubia down into the cage. I go on a hunting mission for extraction. :hilarious:
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Yes, Surinam are great climbers and don’t need males to reproduce. No idea how the heck they got in the isopod bin. I got rid of my colony of them last year. As soon as I noticed them, I started grabbing them and throwing them back in the bin. 🤢 The babies are tiny though and I’ll never be able to find them all. I may have to pull the bioactive layer out, but can’t do anything more until next week.
 
Im sure they are mostly contained in the enclosure and soil/cork. So you could take the plant/soil outside and change it.

If it were me, I would gather as many isopods as you can find and put them in a cup. Then remove the cham and co2 bomb the hell out of the enclosure. The cham would need a temporary spot for at least a day.

You basically seal up the enclosure if it’s glass. If it is screen you can slide the whole thing in a contractor trash bag, or better yet, a clear bag, and try to seal it and tape it as best as you can. Then you basically build a fifth graders science project volcano! This is what frog keepers typically do when they find snails or slugs in their vivarium. It’s important to make it as airtight as possible because the CO2 will fall to the bottom of the enclosure and suffocate anything living in there. Once it’s done, after several hours, you need to ventilate the cage really well for several hours before putting the Chameleon back in. The Chameleon will probably be perfectly fine going in sooner than that but you definitely want to wait a few days before putting isopods back in. It tends to turn soil and water alkaline for a day or two, which can kill sensitive dart frogs even a day or two later.

That will knock out any plant pest that you have as well as the roaches. The longer it’s able to sit the better, but if you are using rhe black bag method you dont want to go too long. A few hours, max. Plants actually LOVE the co2, but only when light is available. So keeing them in a dark bag for extended periods w/o light isnt great, but a few hours is fine.

You can even remove some of the excess soil on the top of your plants to help it penetrate deeper. Then I would chocolate soil and replace it because there’s probably roach nets in it, too.
 
This is the method I use - its a lot easier than it looks. Basically just mixing vinegar and baking soda, and letting the gas exhaust into the vivarium.

I’ve use this technique with plants that I put into a been to treat for plant pass. Marijuana growers actually do this on purpose because it also encourages plant growth and blooms!

 
Eesh! I‘m not sure I can do all of that. As I pretty much assembled everything where it sits, which is in a small room with my other chams, I’d have to completely dissemble the entire enclosure. Since Surinam like to stay burrowed in the earth, I was thinking of just removing the entire root pouch and all plants and taking it outside…grabbing as many isopods as I can, dumping it all and starting fresh. I’m not too concerned about releasing the roaches outside as I’ve seen them in the wild here. I’ll just have to spray the perimeter of my house though…it’s due anyhow.
Stupid roaches!
 
MissSkittles said:
Eesh! I‘m not sure I can do all of that. As I pretty much assembled everything where it sits, which is in a small room with my other chams, I’d have to completely dissemble the entire enclosure. Since Surinam like to stay burrowed in the earth, I was thinking of just removing the entire root pouch and all plants and taking it outside…grabbing as many isopods as I can, dumping it all and starting fresh. I’m not too concerned about releasing the roaches outside as I’ve seen them in the wild here. I’ll just have to spray the perimeter of my house though…it’s due anyhow.
Stupid roaches!
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Yep that would be my plan b, too. Dump the soil, gently rinse the roots, and start over. If you have cork bark in there - take that out, too. Can bake that (they will hide in the crevices). So sorry
 
snitz427 said:
That’s why I got rid of my colony. They are way too prolific and able to reproduce asexually. So all it takes is for one to escape.
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Yes! I just hate that they are such good climbers and so fast, which is why I got rid of mine. No idea how they found their way to the isopod bin, but soo glad I use bins with gaskets.
 
Wow, wasn't expecting this! A few Surinams have escaped in my chameleon's bioactive enclosure but I guess the soil and temps aren't to their liking because they never established themselves. Same with Discoids - the ones that escaped my shooting gallery eventually died off. Not before leaving a ton of frass I can't clean up because it's in the side of the enclosure between the screen and bioactive bin. 😂

Maybe it's a sign your bioactive soil is very healthy? I agree you could switch out the soil and root pouch. But why not start a new Surinam + Isopod colony and gift it to someone else? If you put a layer of Vaseline on the tub sides they don't escape on their own.
 
bbyoda said:
Wow, wasn't expecting this! A few Surinams have escaped in my chameleon's bioactive enclosure but I guess the soil and temps aren't to their liking because they never established themselves. Same with Discoids - the ones that escaped my shooting gallery eventually died off. Not before leaving a ton of frass I can't clean up because it's in the side of the enclosure between the screen and bioactive bin. 😂

Maybe it's a sign your bioactive soil is very healthy? I agree you could switch out the soil and root pouch. But why not start a new Surinam + Isopod colony and gift it to someone else? If you put a layer of Vaseline on the tub sides they don't escape on their own.
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I did grab and remove all of the adult roaches that I could find and put them back in the bin. (Eww…I had to use my bare hand! 🤮) I haven’t been wanting Surinams again, but guess I have them now. I’ve got a ton of isopods! About 6 months ago I had to start a second bin of them as they were so crowded. I do try to keep my buggies healthy and from the reproduction rates, think I’m doing ok...maybe too ok.😂
 
MissSkittles said:
OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!! I was just finishing setting up Kali’s big girl (bioactive) enclosure and it was time to add one of the small bin of isopods I’ve been keeping. As I’m just dumping the whole bin in, I noticed Surinam roaches! Apparently they’ve been having a good time breeding in with my isopods! As I’ve had the bin of isos for well over a year, I’m guessing the Surinams had time to make a decent sized colony...which is now in Kali’s enclosure! I need help! Do I just leave the roaches there and pray they don’t infest my house or do I take down the whole enclosure and start fresh? Keep in mind I live in Florida. I am so freaking out right now. @jamest0o0 @Persnickety Parson's @Hisserdude @Kaizen
Click to expand...
They aren’t likely to infest your house. They need high humidity and temps. Unless your house boasts 80%+ humidity and ambient temps in the 80s, they’ll likely stick around the enclosure.

Also keep in mind that they occur in tropical nursery plants all the time. People buy a house plant Ficus, and unknowingly bring in a colony. But they don’t get noticed because they don’t like how us peeps be livin’.
 
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