So, I decided that as my monster is going through a buck in crickets a day, I'd switch over to dubia roaches as his primary and raise them myself.
My supplies:
A 12 gallon black tote with a yellow lid from the orange box store (with 4 2" vent holes on the sides covered by metal screen repair mesh).
A heat mat with heat controller (set to 85F).
A water spray bottle to occasionally spray in the container to keep a humidity around 40%.
A combination electronic thermometer/hygrometer (probes inserted through a small hole drilled in lid).
A small dish with a cut loofa inside for water (food just sits on the bottom (leftover veggies, apple pieces, romaine, etc)).
Lots of egg crate standing on side in half the container.
A quantity of assorted dubia roaches to establish the colony (30 or so of medium size, 5 breeding males, 20 breeding females).
An assorted beetle/grub clean up crew for a colony up to 1000 roaches.
First, a note on the 'breeding roaches'. They are BIG. Like bigger than your thumb big. Big enough to make noise. Oh, and the males have wings.
They don't bite, but having an insect walk up your arm that you can feel the weight of is a bit weird. My kids call them 'The Nightmare Bugs'.
Second, a note on allergies. After only a few days there is a distinct odor near and in the box. Its not a bad order, sorta like a pungent fruit, and mild. Apparently this can be a trigger to some allergies you may not know you have, or you may develop. Best keep your colony in the garage or basement and drop an air filer or carbon pack nearby.
Third, a note on escapes. Drop a few roach traps around your colony in case you have an escapee. Or drop your colony in a larger tub with water for a Medieval moat effect. If any escape, they breed like roaches.
On April 15 we dumped everything in and hit to go button.
Today is day 7.
No clue they were going to breed THIS fast or this prolifically, there are literally hundreds in the box as of this morning (most nymphs or tiny, but they are there and growing fast).
There are so many roaches of nymph to small medium size that they're going through an apple a day.
Be warned, if you're going to breed the problem seems not to be getting it going, that's easy as heck.
Problem seems to be controlling it.
If anyone is in the NJ Ocean County area I'm happy to pass some out.
My supplies:
A 12 gallon black tote with a yellow lid from the orange box store (with 4 2" vent holes on the sides covered by metal screen repair mesh).
A heat mat with heat controller (set to 85F).
A water spray bottle to occasionally spray in the container to keep a humidity around 40%.
A combination electronic thermometer/hygrometer (probes inserted through a small hole drilled in lid).
A small dish with a cut loofa inside for water (food just sits on the bottom (leftover veggies, apple pieces, romaine, etc)).
Lots of egg crate standing on side in half the container.
A quantity of assorted dubia roaches to establish the colony (30 or so of medium size, 5 breeding males, 20 breeding females).
An assorted beetle/grub clean up crew for a colony up to 1000 roaches.
First, a note on the 'breeding roaches'. They are BIG. Like bigger than your thumb big. Big enough to make noise. Oh, and the males have wings.
They don't bite, but having an insect walk up your arm that you can feel the weight of is a bit weird. My kids call them 'The Nightmare Bugs'.
Second, a note on allergies. After only a few days there is a distinct odor near and in the box. Its not a bad order, sorta like a pungent fruit, and mild. Apparently this can be a trigger to some allergies you may not know you have, or you may develop. Best keep your colony in the garage or basement and drop an air filer or carbon pack nearby.
Third, a note on escapes. Drop a few roach traps around your colony in case you have an escapee. Or drop your colony in a larger tub with water for a Medieval moat effect. If any escape, they breed like roaches.
On April 15 we dumped everything in and hit to go button.
Today is day 7.
No clue they were going to breed THIS fast or this prolifically, there are literally hundreds in the box as of this morning (most nymphs or tiny, but they are there and growing fast).
There are so many roaches of nymph to small medium size that they're going through an apple a day.
Be warned, if you're going to breed the problem seems not to be getting it going, that's easy as heck.
Problem seems to be controlling it.
If anyone is in the NJ Ocean County area I'm happy to pass some out.
