Post you Roach Enclosures...Please
- Thread starter element13
- Start date
MSMorgan
Avid Member
E13,
Welcome! Is your panther eating dubia currently? If not, make sure he likes them first. You can find tons of info here on the site regarding dubia as well as youtube and google. If you're just feeding the one cham., you can do with a small colony set up in a smooth sided plastic tub. 16 quart should work for a small colony.
Welcome! Is your panther eating dubia currently? If not, make sure he likes them first. You can find tons of info here on the site regarding dubia as well as youtube and google. If you're just feeding the one cham., you can do with a small colony set up in a smooth sided plastic tub. 16 quart should work for a small colony.
Thanks! I looked online and found a youtube video. The set up had a plastic container also but I was wondering if there were better options.
I travel for business for about 3-4 weeks twice a year. The boss will want nothing to do with these. If left alone for that period of time will the colony still be intact with losses of course.
I travel for business for about 3-4 weeks twice a year. The boss will want nothing to do with these. If left alone for that period of time will the colony still be intact with losses of course.
JoXie411
Chameleon Enthusiast
@jamest0o0 bug lord your assistance is needed
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a couple roaches, I'll try to get some pics. I suggest discoid or dusky cave roaches(get a little larger, similar activity levels). Orangehead, ivoryhead, and dubia are good too, but chams are sometimes finicky with them, especially dubia.
You could easily keep them alive for that time just provide with plenty of food/moisture before you leave.
You could easily keep them alive for that time just provide with plenty of food/moisture before you leave.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Here is one of my 45 gallon discoid tubs after a cleaning. Two rows of clear packing tape, 1 at the rim and 1 just below the inner "ridge line". My one suggestion, get as big of a food bowl as you can fit in the tub you choose. That bowl is a x-large repti rock and they plow through it within 2 days most of the time. The x-large bowl with a small portion of the colony in that one lol.
Edit: note, I don't use water crystals in the small green bowl anymore so ignore that part of this pic.
Edit: note, I don't use water crystals in the small green bowl anymore so ignore that part of this pic.
TheLetterAfterP(Q)
Avid Member
JoXie411
Chameleon Enthusiast
Something is wrong with me if I’m so in love with a roach colony lol I’m actually ordering dusky cave roaches next. Larry and Imelda better like them
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Nice set up, curious why do you use the packing tape when they can't climb? I guess for you being in florida, if anything does get it, it's not dying anytime soon lol.
Honestly I just drop the food on my substrate for the discoids, they clean it up so fast. Doesn't really matter what it is.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Rough guess, 2,000 +/- between nymphs, small, medium, adults in that tub atm. Tbh, not all chams will readily take them. Several of mine refuse to eat them while others will eat 5 or 6 adults at a time if I let them. One I have to let the roaches crawl on me (still seriously creeps me out a bit lol) to get a reaction from. The rest of the ones that will take them, take them from a deep rubbermaid dish with 10 or so in the tub. That seems to be a good number to keep them moving to attract attention while being small enough to make sure you can keep them in the tub. I've had a few nearly escape still but definitely manageable numbers.
For one cham a "small" colony should be plenty. I started with 500 1/4's Oct/ Nov 2017, killed off most of those with a malfunctioning heater. Bought another 500 Jan/ Feb 2018 and have been good since with the exception of adding small amounts of fresh blood here and there. I actually removed the heater altogether to slow mine down a bit but even being kept at 68/ 72 deg they still keep me stocked with plenty of roaches between the two tubs.
It's funny to me every time I read that lol. Though most of my nymphs stay in the frass, I can usually find 10/ 20 nymphs between the layers of tape. The bottom row of tape is right at the top of the egg crates though which I'm sure aids their way up between the rows. I've only seen them on the top row of tape a few times but they never make it past half way up that row that I've seen, yet. And yes, mine seem to have adapted to the cooler temps I keep my house pretty well and my wife would kill me if she saw one running around free lol. She fusses at me for the occasional isopod or cricket "running" across the living room so I can only imagine the reaction to one of my roaches running free
. Remind me if I send something up to you again and I'll split some of mine off for you to add to your colony. I took the heat off to slow them down on breeding probably 6/ 8 months ago and they still keep me stocked with enough even being kept at 68/ 72 deg. I should've sent some with the isos but I wasn't thinking clearly between my daughter and sister coming and going at that point lol.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Lol, if only my wife was like that. She's come to "accept" having two tubs full of them in the house though she doesn't like it. I wanted to do gbr too but she drew a very hard "line in the sand" on nothing that can crawl or fly their way out of their tubs. not that I want roaches free roaming but, I have to give her credit for only "fussing" when she sees a cricket or isopod running around lol. That usually leads to a very loud "you have another escapee running around come get it now!" lol. The things our loved ones put up with for us......
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JoXie411
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have the opposite problem. The husband just hates all the bugs I bring him and shove in his face to look at lol I end up chasing him around telling him to just touch the roach lolLol, if only my wife was like that. She's come to "accept" having two tubs full of them in the house though she doesn't like it. I wanted to do gbr too but she drew a very hard "line in the sand" on nothing that can crawl or fly their way out of their tubs. not that I want roaches free roaming but, I have to give her credit for only "fussing" when she sees a cricket or isopod running around lol. That usually leads to a very loud "you have another escapee running around come get it now!" lol. The things our loved ones put up with for us......
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
@dshuld ahhhh I gotcha, lol I understand that. My wife says if she finds a roach, she gets a new purse
, mine isn't into purses much but it was a threat no man wants to be told for me . I'd really rather not test her enjoyment of certain things to see if she ment it when she told me in not so kind of words I'd be a eunuch in the end .
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
My wife loves babies, be it roaches or isopods or chams that have come from our collections. But, she only wants to look at them in their homes under her terms (across the room for the roaches most of the time lol). She's getting better about them slowly though.
Chameleon Mike
Chameleon Enthusiast
You inspired me once again. Thanks for sharing.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Thanks for the kind words Mike. Baby tubs doing ok still?
