Roaches infesting enclosure’s plants

[Troodlesn]

We currently feed my daughter’s cham, Yoda, Surinam roaches. (Thanks to @jamest0o0 for helping us get a colony going.) This has been going great, but we are realizing the roaches are sometimes escaping the “shooting gallery” feeder. Maybe we just need to upgrade to the bigger one, but I don’t want to do that and have the same problem.

I watched a few after putting them in the feeder recently and after awhile I heard one drop out of it. It fell out of the front (where the cham eats).

What do those of you who feed roaches use to feed them? Do you have a solution for this issue?

In addition, today my daughter and I went to swap a dying plant for a healthy one in Yoda’s enclosure and a couple of roaches dropped out of the pot of the dying plant. I decided to dig around in the pot and found it teaming with babies and eventually even dug out 35 adults!

The enclosure is a repurposed entertainment center, so there are plenty of cracks they could escape from if they are getting out of the feeder. In fact, we recently had two loose in my daughter’s bedroom (where the enclosure is located) and we couldn’t figure out how they had escaped. Now we know.

 

[Chameleoking]

Potted plants don’t attract cockroaches, but roaches will live in them if you use leftover food as a fertilizer and the soil’s moist enough. Plants provide cockroaches with moisture, shelter, and warmth. These are also the ideal conditions for roaches to lay their eggs. It’s rare for cockroaches to eat healthy plants, but they’ll consider them food once they begin to rot or decay

 

[Chameleoking]

To get rid of roaches on your houseplant, sprinkle your plant with a light coating of food-grade diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle it on the leaves, crevasses, soil and everywhere the cockroaches could hide. Let me say that even though it is food grade and is safe for pets. I believe it could dry out the skin of reptiles. So if you have a temporary enclosure to use while treating this one. That would be safe

 

[Troodlesn]

Potted plants don’t attract cockroaches, but roaches will live in them if you use leftover food as a fertilizer and the soil’s moist enough. Plants provide cockroaches with moisture, shelter, and warmth. These are also the ideal conditions for roaches to lay their eggs. It’s rare for cockroaches to eat healthy plants, but they’ll consider them food once they begin to rot or decay

Thank you, we don't fertilize the plants in the enclosure at all but there definitely would have been rotting roots and decay in that pot. I was so surprised that so many roaches could live in the pot without being fed. They must have been eating the decaying plant.

 

[Troodlesn]

To get rid of roaches on your houseplant, sprinkle your plant with a light coating of food-grade diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle it on the leaves, crevasses, soil and everywhere the cockroaches could hide. Let me say that even though it is food grade and is safe for pets. I believe it could dry out the skin of reptiles. So if you have a temporary enclosure to use while treating this one. That would be safe

Thanks, I will look into this if I think they're living in any of the other plants. The plant I found them all in was on its way out anyway, so after getting out the 35 and a bunch of the babies, I put the pot out in the snow to kill them that way. ha!

 

[MissSkittles]

Since Surinam are such good climbers, I’d cup feed them, making sure your chameleon eats them all and none escape. You may also want to set out some roach traps outside of your enclosure.

 

[Troodlesn]

Thank you! Two things we can definitely try!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

This has been going great, but we are realizing the roaches are sometimes escaping the “shooting gallery” feeder. Maybe we just need to upgrade to the bigger one, but I don’t want to do that and have the same problem.

I think it's likely they will escape from the larger one too.

I watched a few after putting them in the feeder recently and after awhile I heard one drop out of it. It fell out of the front (where the cham eats).

I've seen the occasional dubia fall out of my cham's mouth. From this, I conclude that chameleon lips are about as useful/useless as dog lips.

What do those of you who feed roaches use to feed them? Do you have a solution for this issue?

I (and many others here) use one of these:

They have a couple sizes. I have the smaller, and haven't had an escape from it, but I have dubia—not Surinam. OTOH, for $1.50, it's not much of a risk compared to some feeders.
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/you-and-me-plastic-bird-cage-cup

In addition, today my daughter and I went to swap a dying plant for a healthy one in Yoda’s enclosure and a couple of roaches dropped out of the pot of the dying plant. I decided to dig around in the pot and found it teaming with babies and eventually even dug out 35 adults!

It's dark, it's damp, and has decaying matter to feed on. They're particularly a problem in greenhouses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surinam_cockroach

P. surinamensis is a burrowing cockroach, commonly burrowing in loose soil, humus, mould, compost piles and lawn thatch, or hiding beneath rocks, rotten branches, trash and other debris.[2][4][5][9] It is considered peridomestic, found living only near human constructions or crops in a 1996 study, and may be considered synanthropic.[9] It has a relatively high rate of cutaneous water loss compared to non-burrowing species of cockroaches, and is nearly exclusively associated with moist soil across its range.[1]

 

[Lindasjackson]

I think it's likely they will escape from the larger one too.


I've seen the occasional dubia fall out of my cham's mouth. From this, I conclude that chameleon lips are about as useful/useless as dog lips.


I (and many others here) use one of these:
View attachment 319403
They have a couple sizes. I have the smaller, and haven't had an escape from it, but I have dubia—not Surinam. OTOH, for $1.50, it's not much of a risk compared to some feeders.
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/you-and-me-plastic-bird-cage-cup


It's dark, it's damp, and has decaying matter to feed on. They're particularly a problem in greenhouses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surinam_cockroach

This is what I use to feed dubia roaches in. They can’t climb out of it so it’s great.

 

[Troodlesn]

I think it's likely they will escape from the larger one too.


I've seen the occasional dubia fall out of my cham's mouth. From this, I conclude that chameleon lips are about as useful/useless as dog lips.


I (and many others here) use one of these:
View attachment 319403
They have a couple sizes. I have the smaller, and haven't had an escape from it, but I have dubia—not Surinam. OTOH, for $1.50, it's not much of a risk compared to some feeders.
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/you-and-me-plastic-bird-cage-cup


It's dark, it's damp, and has decaying matter to feed on. They're particularly a problem in greenhouses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surinam_cockroach

Thank you so much for the feedback and the recommended feeder. I will order one and we’ll give it a try.

 

[Troodlesn]

This is what I use to feed dubia roaches in. They can’t climb out of it so it’s great.

Good to hear, thanks!

 

[MissSkittles]

Surinam are great climbers, which is the primary reason I got rid of my colony. I kept them in a rather tall slick sided plastic bin with gasket. I spent more time preventing their escape that there was little time to find the size feeders I wanted. I dreaded opening their bin.

 

[Kaizen]

We currently feed my daughter’s cham, Yoda, Surinam roaches. (Thanks to @jamest0o0 for helping us get a colony going.) This has been going great, but we are realizing the roaches are sometimes escaping the “shooting gallery” feeder. Maybe we just need to upgrade to the bigger one, but I don’t want to do that and have the same problem.

I watched a few after putting them in the feeder recently and after awhile I heard one drop out of it. It fell out of the front (where the cham eats).

What do those of you who feed roaches use to feed them? Do you have a solution for this issue?

In addition, today my daughter and I went to swap a dying plant for a healthy one in Yoda’s enclosure and a couple of roaches dropped out of the pot of the dying plant. I decided to dig around in the pot and found it teaming with babies and eventually even dug out 35 adults!

The enclosure is a repurposed entertainment center, so there are plenty of cracks they could escape from if they are getting out of the feeder. In fact, we recently had two loose in my daughter’s bedroom (where the enclosure is located) and we couldn’t figure out how they had escaped. Now we know.

Surinam roaches are excellent feeders and provide much more mental stimulation compared to dubia. But they can climb, and they have established themselves in greenhouses the world over, due to their tendency to burrow, their fondness for plant matter, and their love of humidity. The good news is, they are unlikely to cause a problem in a house. Keep an eye on your plants, and if they show signs of being snacked on, you may have to practice some mild pest mitigation. Nothing to stress about right now.

 

[Troodlesn]

We aren’t having any issues with where the colony is kept. We have a couple inches of substrate in a glass terrarium with a screen slide-on cover. Vaseline around the top inside of the glass is precautionary because I have never seen any try to escape. I have had to perfect a method of capturing them for transfer (took a while), but now that end of things is good. If I was dealing with escapees at that end I would definitely be getting rid of them.

 

[Troodlesn]

Surinam are great climbers, which is the primary reason I got rid of my colony. I kept them in a rather tall slick sided plastic bin with gasket. I spent more time preventing their escape that there was little time to find the size feeders I wanted. I dreaded opening their bin.

We aren’t having any issues with where the colony is kept. We have a couple inches of substrate in a glass terrarium with a screen slide-on cover. Vaseline around the top inside of the glass is precautionary because I have never seen any try to escape. I have had to perfect a method of capturing them for transfer (took a while), but now that end of things is good. If I was dealing with escapees at that end I would definitely be getting rid of them.

 

[Troodlesn]

Surinam roaches are excellent feeders and provide much more mental stimulation compared to dubia. But they can climb, and they have established themselves in greenhouses the world over, due to their tendency to burrow, their fondness for plant matter, and their love of humidity. The good news is, they are unlikely to cause a problem in a house. Keep an eye on your plants, and if they show signs of being snacked on, you may have to practice some mild pest mitigation. Nothing to stress about right now.

This is really good to know! My husband wouldn’t let us get roaches until we assured him they couldn’t infest the house.

 

[Kaizen]

This is really good to know! My husband wouldn’t let us get roaches until we assured him they couldn’t infest the house.

Unless you keep your house at 80% humidity, you’re all good.

 

[Troodlesn]

Unless you keep your house at 80% humidity, you’re all good.

Not happening in February in Michigan.

 

[Kaizen]

Not happening in February in Michigan.

I’m Canadian: I sympathize. Nose bleed air!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Surinam are great climbers, which is the primary reason I got rid of my colony. I kept them in a rather tall slick sided plastic bin with gasket. I spent more time preventing their escape that there was little time to find the size feeders I wanted. I dreaded opening their bin.

Good to know.